The Most Famous

WRESTLERS from Poland

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This page contains a list of the greatest Polish Wrestlers. The pantheon dataset contains 1,027 Wrestlers, 4 of which were born in Poland. This makes Poland the birth place of the 37th most number of Wrestlers behind Egypt, and Puerto Rico.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Polish Wrestlers of all time. This list of famous Polish Wrestlers is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Polish Wrestlers.

Photo of Kazimierz Lipień

1. Kazimierz Lipień (1949 - 2005)

With an HPI of 41.31, Kazimierz Lipień is the most famous Polish Wrestler.  His biography has been translated into 16 different languages on wikipedia.

Kazimierz Lipień (6 February 1949 – 12 November 2005) was a featherweight Greco-Roman wrestler from Poland. He competed at the 1972, 1976 and 1980 Olympics and placed third, first and sixth, respectively. Between 1971 and 1979 he collected 12 medals at the world and European championships, including five gold medals. His twin brother Józef was also an Olympic Greco-Roman wrestler. Lipień was born in a large family, and besides Józef had four brothers, Edward, Stanisław, Bogdan and Zbigniew, and two sisters, Ewa and Michalina. He graduated from a technical school in 1972, and in 1980 received a coaching degree in Warsaw. In 1981 he moved to Sweden, where he won three national titles (in 1981 and 1985 in Greco-Roman and in 1982 in freestyle wrestling) and trained wrestlers at various clubs for ten years. In 1991 he returned to Poland and headed the national junior wrestling team. He died in the United States. He had a wife (Antonina) and two sons, Peter and Jacob.

Photo of Waldemar Legień

2. Waldemar Legień (b. 1963)

With an HPI of 38.29, Waldemar Legień is the 2nd most famous Polish Wrestler.  His biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Waldemar Legień (born 28 August 1963) is a Polish retired judoka. He won two Olympic gold medals in different weight classes, in 1988 and 1992. He is also the first person to win back-to-back two Olympic gold medals in Judo. For his achievements, he received the Commandor's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta in 2019 (previously Knight's Cross in 1988 and Officer's Cross in 1992). Legień is the manager of Racing Club de France in Paris.

Photo of Andrzej Wroński

3. Andrzej Wroński (b. 1965)

With an HPI of 36.42, Andrzej Wroński is the 3rd most famous Polish Wrestler.  His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Andrzej Adam Wroński (born 8 October 1965 in Kartuzy, Pomorskie) is a Polish wrestler (Greco-Roman style) who has won two Olympic gold medals. He carried the flag at the opening ceremony of the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia.

Photo of Monika Michalik

4. Monika Michalik (b. 1980)

With an HPI of 30.25, Monika Michalik is the 4th most famous Polish Wrestler.  Her biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Monika Ewa Michalik (Polish pronunciation: [mɔˈnika ˈɛva miˈxalik]; born 2 May 1980 in Międzyrzecz) is a freestyle wrestler from Poland. She participated in Women's freestyle 63 kg at 2008 Summer Olympics. In the last 16, she beat Volha Khilko from Belarus. In the quarter-finals Michalik lost to the French wrestler Lise Golliot-Legrand. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, Michalik once again reached the quarter-finals, losing to eventual silver medallist Jing Ruixue of China. At the 2016 Summer Olympics, she won the bronze medal defeating Inna Trazhukova of Russia. Her brother Tadeusz is also a wrestler. He won a bronze medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

Photo of Denis Kudla

5. Denis Kudla (b. 1994)

With an HPI of 28.84, Denis Kudla is the 5th most famous Polish Wrestler.  His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Denis Maksymilian Kudla (born 24 December 1994) is a German Greco-Roman wrestler. He won a bronze medal at the 2016 European Wrestling Championships. Kudla won a bronze medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics at 85 kg. He lost to eventual winner Davit Chakvetadze of Russia.

Photo of Julia Kowalczyk

6. Julia Kowalczyk (b. 1997)

With an HPI of 0.00, Julia Kowalczyk is the 6th most famous Polish Wrestler.  Her biography has been translated into different languages.

Julia Kowalczyk (born 30 September 1997) is a Polish judoka. She won the gold medal in the women's 57 kg event at the 2018 European U23 Judo Championships held in Győr, Hungary. She won a medal at the 2019 World Judo Championships. In 2021, she won one of the bronze medals in her event at the Judo Grand Slam Antalya held in Antalya, Turkey. In June 2021, she competed in the women's 57 kg event at the World Judo Championships held in Budapest, Hungary. She competed in the women's 57 kg event at the 2020 Summer Olympics held in Tokyo, Japan.

Photo of Xu Shiyan

7. Xu Shiyan (b. 1997)

With an HPI of 0.00, Xu Shiyan is the 7th most famous Polish Wrestler.  Her biography has been translated into different languages.

Xu Shiyan (born 15 March 1997) is a Chinese judoka. In 2021, Xu competed in the women's +78 kg event at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. Xu is the gold medallist of the 2021 Judo Grand Slam Tbilisi in the +78 kg category.

Photo of Agata Perenc

8. Agata Perenc (b. 1990)

With an HPI of 0.00, Agata Perenc is the 8th most famous Polish Wrestler.  Her biography has been translated into different languages.

Agata Perenc (born 19 March 1990) is a Polish judoka. Perenc is the silver medallist of the 2018 Judo Grand Prix Cancún in the ‍–‍52 kg category. In 2021, Perenc represented Poland at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. She competed in the women's 52 kg event.

Photo of Angelika Szymańska

9. Angelika Szymańska (b. 1999)

With an HPI of 0.00, Angelika Szymańska is the 9th most famous Polish Wrestler.  Her biography has been translated into different languages.

Angelika Szymańska (born 16 October 1999) is a Polish judoka who competes in international judo competitions. She is a two-time Grand Slam bronze medalist, a European U23 champion and European Junior silver medalist. Szymańska began judo in 2007 and was trained by Olympic silver medalist Aneta Szczepańska and Roman Stawisiński.

Photo of Sarra Hamdi

10. Sarra Hamdi (b. 1999)

With an HPI of 0.00, Sarra Hamdi is the 10th most famous Polish Wrestler.  Her biography has been translated into different languages.

Sarra Hamdi (born 13 March 1999) is a Tunisian freestyle wrestler. She is a silver medalist at the African Games and a five-time medalist, including gold, at the African Wrestling Championships. She competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics, in the women's 50 kg event.

People

Pantheon has 11 people classified as Polish wrestlers born between 1949 and 1999. Of these 11, 10 (90.91%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Polish wrestlers include Waldemar Legień, Andrzej Wroński, and Monika Michalik. The most famous deceased Polish wrestlers include Kazimierz Lipień. As of April 2024, 7 new Polish wrestlers have been added to Pantheon including Kazimierz Lipień, Julia Kowalczyk, and Xu Shiyan.

Living Polish Wrestlers

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Deceased Polish Wrestlers

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Newly Added Polish Wrestlers (2024)

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