Ewa Swoboda is a Polish track and field athlete who specializes in the short sprints. She is a three-time European Indoor Championships medalist in the 60m, as well as World Indoor Championships silver medalist.
Ewa Nikola Swoboda was born on July 26, 1997 in Zory, Poland. She started competing in athletics from a young age and joined the UKS Czworka Zory athletics club. She won the Polish youth titles in 2011 and 2012. The following year she won the national indoor junior 200m race.
Ewa Swoboda started her competitive career in 2011, winning the 100m title at the Kędzierzyn-Koźle Polish U16 Championships. The same season, she also won the 100m gold at the Chorzow Liga Juniorow, as well as the Krakow Samsung Athletic Cup.
In 2012, she continued being one of the top young athletes of Poland, winning the 100m national title at the Slubice Polish U16 Championships. She triumphed with the 100m gold at several more local events in Bielsko-Biala, Chorzow, and Czestochowa.
Ewa Swoboda made her first major international appearance in 2013, finishing 4th in 100m at the Donetsk IAAF World Youth Championships. Although missing the medal, she made a wonderful performance. During the season, she won the 100m gold at the Bydgoszcz European Athletics Festival and Lodz Polish U18 Championships, where also triumphed in the 200m. She proved her talent also at the Lodz Polish University Championships in 4x100m and Spala Polish U18 Indoor Championships in 200m, where also earned the gold.
In 2014, Ewa Swoboda started the season by winning the 60m gold at the Spala Polish U18 Indoor Championships. During the outdoor season, she made a fantastic performance at the Eugene IAAF World Junior Championships, finishing 5th in 100m, but also competed in 200m and 4x100m. She also competed at the Nanjing Youth Olympic Games, after winning Baku European Youth Olympic Trials in 100m. At the major competition, she finished 8th in the 8x100m relay and competed also in the 100m. However, during the season, she won her first major international honor, winning the bronze at the Sollentuna Folksam GP in 100m.
Ewa Swoboda started the 2015 indoor season by winning the national youth title at the Torun Polish Junior Indoor Championships and the silver at the Torun Copernicus Cup in 60m. She continued performing strongly and won her first senior national title, winning the 60m gold at the Polish Indoor Championships and competed at the Praha European Indoor Championships, where finished 8th. During the outdoor season, Ewa Swoboda won the 100m and 4x100m relay bronze medals at the Cheboksary European Team Championships, as well as the 100m gold and 4x100m relay silver at the Eskilstuna European Junior Championships. Meanwhile, she kept her pace and won the 100m gold at the Biala Podlaska Polish Junior Championships.
In 2016, Ewa Swoboda won the 60m gold at the Kirchberg Vectis Indoor Meeting, Lodz Pedro’s Cup, and Torun Copernicus Cup, as well as 60m bronze at the Glasgow Indoor Grand Prix. During the outdoor season, she won the 100m gold at the Janusz Kusociński Memorial and Bydgoszcz Polish Championships, as well as the 100m silver at the Bydgoszcz IAAF World U20 Championships. She competed at the Rio 2016 Olympics in the 100m and 4x100m relay but failed to reach the final in both events. In the 4x100m relay, she competed at the Amsterdam European Athletics Championships, finishing 6th. However, she made a great achievement in the 4x100m relay, winning the silver at the Golden Label’s Roma Golden Gala – Pietro Mennea.
Ewa Swoboda recorded her most successful season in 2017, winning the 60m silver at the Beograd European Indoor Championships. Meanwhile, during the indoor season, she won another national trophy in the same event, triumphing at the Torun Polish Indoor Championships, but also won the gold at the Lodz Orlen Cup. During the outdoor season, Ewa Swoboda won the 100m gold at the Bydgoszcz European U23 Championships. She competed at the London IAAF World Championships in Athletics but failed to reach the final. Meanwhile, she won the prestigious 100m bronze at the Turku Paavo Nurmi Games and the 100m national title at the Bialystok Polish Championships. In the 4x100m relay, she won the gold at the Bydgoszcz European Athletics Festival and the bronze at the Hengelo FBK Games.
In 2018, Ewa Swoboda continued dominating the local competition, winning the 60m gold at the Torun Polish Indoor Championships and competed at the Birmingham IAAF World Indoor Championships, but failed to qualify for the final. She earned the silver at the Dusseldorf PSD Bank Meeting and won the gold at the Czech Indoor Gala. During the outdoor season, Ewa Swoboda won the 100m national title at the Lublin Polish Championships and triumphed with the gold at the Kamila Skolimowska Memorial and Janusz Kusociński Memorial. At the Berlin European Athletics Championships, she failed to overcome the semi-finals in 100m and finished 6th in the final in the 4x100m relay.
In 2019, Ewa Swoboda started the season by winning the 60m gold at the IAAF World Indoor Tour’s ORLEN Copernicus Cup and Meeting Villa de Madrid, as well as the silver at the PSD Bank Leichtathletik Meeting. She triumphed with the gold at the Glasgow European Indoor Championships. During the outdoor season, she won the 100m gold at the ORLEN Memorial Janusza Kusocińskiego and the silver at the Irena Szewinska Memorial, before triumphing with the gold at the Gavle European U23 Championships. Ewa Swoboda won the 100m gold at the Radom Polish Championships and the 100m silver and 4x100m relay bronze at the Bydgoszcz European Athletics Team Championships. By the end of the season, she triumphed with the gold at the Kamila Skolimowska Memorial and ISTAF and also competed at the Doha IAAF World Championships in Athletics.
Ewa Swoboda defended her 100m national title in 2020 at the Wloclawek Polish Championships, but due to the short season, she took part in just a few events, winning the 100m silver at the Janusz Kusocinski Memorial, Irena Szewinska Memorial, and Kamila Skolimowska Memorial.
She had a short season also in 2021, as she was unable to participate at the Torun European Athletics Indoor Championships after testing positive for COVID-19 and also did not compete at the postponed Tokyo 2020 Olympics due to injury. During the season, she won the 60m gold at the Torun Polish Indoor Championships and Lodz Orlen Cup 2021, as well as the bronze at the Copernicus Cup. During the outdoor season, she won the 100m silver at the 67° ORLEN Janusz Kusocinski Memorial but failed to qualify for the finals of the Poznan Polish Championships.
In 2022, Ewa Swoboda returned in form and during the indoor season was unstoppable, winning the 60m gold at the Orlen Cup 2022, ISTAF Indoor Dusseldorf, ORLEN Copernicus Cup, and Torun Polish Indoor Championships. She also finished 4th at the Beograd World Athletics Indoor Championships. During the outdoor season, Ewa Swoboda won again the national title in 100m, triumphing at the Suwalki Polish Championships, but also won the gold at the 68° ORLEN Janusz Kusociński Memorial and Kladno hazí a Kladenske Memoriály 2022. She finished 4th in 100m at the Munich European Athletics Championships but won the silver in the 4x100m relay. At the Eugene World Athletics Championships, however, she failed to reach the final in both 100m and 4x100m relay.
In 2023, Ewa Swoboda won the 60m silver at the Istanbul European Athletics Indoor Championships. In the same event, she won the gold at the Torun Polish Indoor Championships, ORLEN Cup Lodz 2023, and ISTAF INDOOR Dusseldorf, as well as the silver at the Init Indoor Meeting Karlsruhe and ORLEN Copernicus Cup. Although failing to win a medal in the 100m and 4x100m relay at the Budapest World Athletics Championships, Ewa Swoboda made a fantastic achievement at the Diamond League winning her first honor at the Silesia Kamila Skolimowska Memorial Chorzow, where earned the bronze in 100m. In the Diamond League competitions, she finished 6th at the Oslo Bislett Games and 4th at the Athletissima Lausanne. She also won the 100m gold at the Gorzow Wielkopolski Polish Championships and the silver at the 69° ORLEN Janusz Kusociński Memorial.
Ewa Swoboda started the 2024 season with her biggest achievement so far, winning the 60m silver at the Glasgow World Athletics Indoor Championships. Meanwhile, she won the 60m gold at the ORLEN Copernicus Cup, Orlen Cup Lodz, and Torun Polish Indoor Championships. After such a strong start to the season, her ambition is to win an honor at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Ewa Swoboda photos
