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KNAPIK-MIAZGA Renata
NOC Poland   
GenderWomen
Born 15 Jul 1988 in Tarnów, POL
Height1.82 m
Human Interest
Further Personal Information
Residence Kraków, POL
Sport Specific Information
Club / Team AZS AWF Krakow [POL] / Grenoble Parmentier [FRA]:
Further Personal Information
Higher education Mechanical Engineering - Cracow University of Technology: Poland
Sport Specific Information
Why this sport? She joined a fencing group that was set up at her primary school. "My sport teacher was a foil coach. I was trying to find a sport for myself, I trained also in volleyball, but I went to foil classes out of curiosity. Fencing is an extremely interesting sport in terms of variety of activities, technical and tactical solutions and it develops motor features."
Name of coach Radoslaw Zawrotniak [AZS AWF Krakow], POL
Handedness Left
When and where did you begin this sport? She began fencing at age 10 in Tarnow, Poland.
Further Personal Information
Occupation Athlete, Coach
Languages English, Polish
General Interest
Other information COACH TRIBUTE
She dedicated her gold medal at the 2020 Polish National Championships in Wroclaw to AZS AWF Krakow coach Piotr Hammer, who passed away in mid-2020. "I am very happy I managed to get this gold, I wanted to fight as best as possible for myself and for our coach, who left us quite recently. I wanted to dedicate this gold to him, so that he would be proud of my bouts and what we achieved during this whole period of working together." (radiokrakow.pl, 19 Oct 2020)

VASCULAR PROBLEM
At age 14 she was diagnosed with a vascular problem in her right arm that forced her to learn how to fence left-handed. She also switched from foil to epee during this period. "It took me two years of intensive work. My dedication paid off when I was called up to the Polish team." (knapik-miazga.pl, 23 Dec 2015)

FATHER'S INFLUENCE
She recognises the sacrifices her father made when she was young and just getting into fencing. "I owe my presence in the sport to my father. As a teenager, I lived in Tarnow but my club was in Krakow. He drove me to class three times a week, one-and-a-half hours each way. It was a big sacrifice on his part that made me realise that, although sport requires a huge commitment, it's worth making sacrifices to succeed." (knapik-miazga.pl, 23 Dec 2015)

OTHER ACTIVITIES
She has served as president of the Malopolska Regional Fencing Association in Poland, and has coached the sport at the Tarnow Fencing Academy in Poland. Between 2015 and 2017 she owned a web design company and electronics store. (LinkedIn profile, 13 Apr 2023; rp.pl, 12 May 2021; Facebook profile, 20 May 2019; sportowymagazyn.pl, 12 Apr 2017)
Hobbies Relaxing at home, watching films, visiting friends. (knapik-miazga.pl, 19 Jun 2017)
Sporting philosophy / motto "Never give up." (knapik-miazga.pl, 23 Dec 2015)
Further Personal Information
Family Husband Damian Miazga

Major Results
Year Rank Event Venue
Olympic Games
2020 6 Team Epee Tokyo, Japan
World Championships
2023 1 Team Epee Milan, Italy
2022 3 Team Epee Cairo, Egypt
2019 8 Team Epee Budapest, Hungary
2018 Final 7-8 Team Epee Wuxi, China
2017 3 Team Epee Leipzig, Germany
European Championships
2023 (Team) Final 7-8 Team Epee Kraków, Poland
2022 7 Team Epee Antalya, Turkey
2019 1 Team Epee Düsseldorf, Germany
2018 2 Team Epee Novi Sad, Serbia
2018 8 Individual Epee Novi Sad, Serbia
2017 Final 5-6 Team Epee Tbilisi, Georgia
2016 3 Individual Epee Torun, Poland
2013 3 Individual Epee Zagreb, Croatia