PARTYKA Natalia

Grip
Shakehand (ITTF, 02 Aug 2016)

Style of play
Attack (ITTF, 02 Aug 2016)

General
PLANNING FOR PARIS
She says she plans to continue competing for the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris. "I am still a young player and I still have a huge will to play and to combine Para table tennis and table tennis. I worked really hard for all my achievements. If my health allows, I will do my best to compete at the next editions of the Olympic and Paralympic Games [in 2024], but I'm not going to chase a record like Ni Xialian, who represents Luxembourg and is in her late 50s still playing at a high level." (onet.pl, 03 Feb 2020)

ABLE-BODIED COMPETITION
She was born without a right hand or forearm and has competed in both Para and able-bodied table tennis, including representing Poland at both the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2008, 2012 and 2016. She says criticism when she started to compete among able-bodied athletes provided extra motivation. "When I started to compete in professional tournaments [in able-bodied table tennis] I would often hear people saying, 'What she is doing? Why does she want to play with able-bodied athletes if she doesn't have a forearm?' It was painful, but it also gave me motivation to prove I can do it. Because of that I have pushed the boundaries and it has driven me to work even harder on myself." She hopes her example can inspire others. "Maybe someone will see me and realise that their own disability is not the end of the world. Maybe someone will look at me and think they can achieve something bigger than they thought. If I'm an inspiration, I can't complain." (gala.pl, 18 Mar 2021; businessinsider.com, 02 Aug 2012)

FOUNDATION
In 2015 she set up the Natalia Partyka Foundation to support young athletes. "Everything started when the city of Gdansk did not grant me a scholarship. There was a media hype and many people decided to help me. I got a big amount of money and we did not know what to do, so we decided to create a foundation to support young athletes." (przegladsportowy.pl, 21 Jun 2017)

At age 15 years and 63 days, she became the youngest Polish table tennis player to win gold at the Paralympic Games when she triumphed in class 10 singles at the 2004 Games in Athens. (SportsDeskOnline, 25 May 2021)