WHATTT????!!!???
One of the our favorite Polish players of all time has officially announced his retirement from playing as a professional athlete. His farewell match will be on April 19th during the first match of the Polish League Finals between his team Skra Belchatow and Zaksa at Atlas Arena in Lodz.
“Due to health reasons, Michal decided to end his career. It’s mainly the back injury he’s been dealing with for years that prevents him from competing in high level.” says a source.
In case you didn’t know, the 33 year old retired from the national team in 2014 right after Poland won the World Championship crown in front of their home fans. He represented Poland in 240 matches. Together with the World Championship title, Michal won a silver medal at the 2006 World Champs, silver medal at the 2011 World Cup and gold medal at the 2012 World League. Professionally, he won the Champions League crown with Trentino during the 2009-2010 season.
His individual awards as an athlete include the Best Receiver award at the 2008 Olympics and Best Blocker award at the 2009 Champions League. According to Wikipedia, Winiarski received a state award granted by the Polish President, Bronisław Komorowski: the Officer’s Cross of Polonia Restituta for outstanding sports achievements and the promotion of Poland in the world in 2014.
Two other great Polish players have also announced their retirement and they are legendary setter Paweł Zagumny and libero Piotr Gacek.
Polish volleyball will never be the same without them.
Thank you for all the memories and enjoy the next chapter in life!