Robert Maćkowiak

Rober Maćkowiak

Rober Maćkowiak in 2007.
Personal information
Nationality	Polish
Born	13 May 1970 Rawicz, Poland
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Weight	78 kg (172 lb)
Sport
Sport	Athletics
Event(s)	200 metres, 400 metres
Medal record Men's Athletics Competitor for  Poland World Championships 1999 Seville 4×400m relay[1] 1997 Athens 4×400m relay World Indoor Championships 2001Lisbon 4×400m relay 1999 Maebashi 4×400m relay European Championships 1998 Budapest 400 m 1998 Budapest 4x400 m relay European Indoor Championships 2002 Vienna 4×400 m relay 1998 Valencia 400 metres 2002 Vienna 200 metres

Robert Maćkowiak (born May 13, 1970 in Rawicz, Wielkopolskie^[2]) is a former Polish sprinter. Together with Tomasz Czubak, Jacek Bocian and Piotr Haczek he won the gold medal in 4 x 400 metres relay at the 1999 World Championships in Athletics.^[1] Maćkowiak has also won other relay medals as well as individual medals in the 200 metres and 400 metres.

He belonged to the most famous and successful Polish relay team in the 1990s together with Tomasz Czubak, Piotr Haczek and Piotr Rysiukiewicz. Unfortunately, numerous injuries prevented them from joining the best relays of all time. The worst disaster happened in the Olympic Games in Sydney. The Polish team was one of the favourites to win a medal (after unstoppable U.S. really there were two main rivals: Jamaica and Bahamas). On the second leg (on the first ran Rysiukiewicz) Maćkowiak was leading, but he ran into a starting box (Polish team ran on the eighth lane) and Poland lost their medal chances. The relay finished seventh in the competition. Maćkowiak also competed in the individual race in which he finished fifth.

Maćkowiak was also one of the favourites in the World Championships in Edmonton 2001). His main rival was German runner Ingo Schultz who had best times in qualification runs. Maćkowiak was a candidate for silver but he got an injury a few days before final and he lost all medal chances. He also didn't start in the relay run which took place a few days after individual start.

He officially retired at the end of the 2006 season.

Competition record

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Notes
Representing  Poland
1989	European Junior Championships	Varaždin, Yugoslavia	7th	200 m	21.59
			1st	4x100 m relay	40.00
1991	World Championships	Tokyo, Japan	9th (sf)	4x100 m relay	39.08
1992	European Indoor Championships	Genoa, Italy	5th	200 m	21.76
1994	European Championships	Helsinki, Finland	6th	4x400m relay	3:04.22
1995	World Championships	Gothenburg, Sweden	31st (h)	200 m	20.83
			5th	4x400 m relay	3:03.84
1996	European Indoor Championships	Stockholm, Sweden	–	200 m	DQ
	Olympic Games	Atlanta, United States	20th (qf)	200 m	20.61
			6th	4x400 m relay	3:00.96
1997	World Indoor Championships	Paris, France	4th	400 m	45.94
	World Championships	Athens, Greece	9th (qf)	400 m	45.26 (NR)
			3rd	4x400 m relay	3:00.26
1998	European Indoor Championships	Valencia, Spain	3rd	400 m	46.00
	Goodwill Games	Uniondale, United States	2nd	4x400 m relay	2:58.00 (NR)
	European Championships	Budapest, Hungary	2nd	400 m	45.04
			2nd	4x400m relay	2:58.88
1999	World Indoor Championships	Maebashi, Japan	2nd	4x400 m relay	3:03.01 (iAR)
	World Championships	Seville, Spain	9th (qf)	400 m	45.23
			1st	4x400 m relay[1]	2:58.91
2000	Olympic Games	Sydney, Australia	5th	400 m	45.14
			7th	4x400 m relay	3:03.22
2001	World Indoor Championships	Lisbon, Portugal	15th (h)	400 m	47.24
			1st	4x400 m relay	3:04.47
	World Championships	Edmonton, Canada	3rd (sf)	400 m	44.84[3]
2002	European Indoor Championships	Vienna, Austria	3rd	200 m	20.77
			1st	4x400 m relay	3:05.50
	European Championships	Munich, Germany	–	4x400 m relay	DQ
2005	European Indoor Championships	Madrid, Spain	–	4x400 m relay	DQ
	World Championships	Helsinki, Finland	5th	4x400 m relay	3:00.58

Personal bests

Outdoor

• 200 metres - 20.61 s (1996)
• 400 metres - 44.84 s (2001)

Indoor

• 200 metres - 20.68 s (2002)
• 400 metres - 45.94 s (1997)

See also

• Polish records in athletics

Notes

1. The USA 4x400 team originally finished first in 4x400 m relay but was disqualified in 2008 due to Antonio Pettigrew confession of using human growth hormone and EPO between 1997 and 2003.
2. Sports-Reference profile
3. Did not finish in the final

References

• Robert Maćkowiak profile at IAAF
• sports-reference