NAPLOSZEK Slawomir

Olympic qualifying results
He earned a quota place for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo through his performance at the 2021 Final Qualifier in Paris, France. (sport.onet.pl, 24 Jun 2021)

General
RETIREMENT AND COMEBACK
He made his Olympic debut at the 1992 Games in Barcelona, but quit archery after he was not selected to compete at the 1996 Games in Atlanta. He was encouraged to resume training in 2008 by family and friends. "Before the 1996 Games in Atlanta, the then president of the Polish federation decided to send someone else to the Games. I was in good form and it destroyed a piece of my life. It disgusted me completely. I was shooting for a while, but I felt that mentally I couldn't do it." He did not compete at the 2012 or 2016 Olympic Games before he earned a quota place for Poland for the 2020 Games in Tokyo at the 2021 Final Qualifier in Paris, France. "When I knew I guaranteed the spot for Tokyo, I was close to crying - me, a guy over 50. I was very emotional having already gone through so much in my sporting career." (sport.onet.pl, 24 Jun 2021; gazetazoliborza.pl, 05 Jul 2021)

POSITIVE LOCKDOWN
Outside of sport he works as an IT specialist at a bank in Poland. He says that being forced to work from home during the COVID-19 pandemic helped him to be better prepared for qualification events ahead of the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. "Last year [2020] I was not as strong as I am now. By working from home, some tasks could be done faster, so there was time for additional training. During lockdown together with my daughters, who are also archers, we would spend hours in the corridor of our apartment shooting from a distance of two or three metres." (sport.onet.pl, 24 Jun 2021)