BAUMGART-WITAN Iga

General
NEW TEAMMATE
She is coached by her mother Iwona Baumgart. In the early part of 2020 Iwona began working with Patrycja Wyciszkiewicz-Zawadzka, who also represents Poland in the 400m. It was a new situation for Baumgart-Witan, who had always trained under guidance of her mother alone. "In the past I always thought that I would never be able to train with a rival, or that a rival could be coached by my mother, because my rival might be better than me and what then? But in this case I was happy that it would be the two of us and happy for my mother, who can develop as a coach. I hope that because of this cooperation, my mother will have two medallists at the world championships and the Olympic Games. I knew that it might be difficult, because we might compare ourselves to each other, and at the beginning it looked like this might be the case so it was more like a competition. But later it changed and we don't think about it as a rivalry, because now when I see her results I say, 'Wow, what a great run' and she also cheers for me. We both are noticing each other mistakes and what can be improved, praising each other for good things, and of course we motivate each other." (Za Linia Mety YouTube channel, 13 Aug 2020)

MATUSINSKI'S ANGELS
She has been a member of the Polish women's 4x400m relay team since 2011. Led by national coach Aleksander Matusinski, the team is known in Poland as 'Matusinski's Angels'. "We have a very good relationship. We meet not only during competitions or on the track, but also in our private lives. We live together, we trust each other and I think that's a reason why our results are so good. I think that without this kind of bond, it would be impossible to achieve what we have." (rp.pl, 18 Oct 2019)

CONSIDERING QUITTING
She considered retiring after the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro due to a lack of motivation and disappointment at her results in Rio. "My parents and my husband convinced me to stay on and fight for myself. I took up the challenge, and we decided that we would decide year by year. In autumn [2016] I returned to training and started to prepare for the next events and I am still in the sport. I think that if I had not returned to the track, it would have been the biggest mistake in my life." (magazynbieganie.pl, 01 Oct 2018)