Polish sprinter
Rafał Omelko
Full name Rafał Konrad Omelko Nationality Polish Born (1989-01-18 ) 18 January 1989 (age 35) Wrocław , Poland Education Academy of Physical Education[ 1] Height 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) Weight 82 kg (181 lb) Sport Running Event Sprints Club AZS AWF Wrocław Coached by Marek Rożej
Rafał Omelko (Polish pronunciation: [ˈrafaw ɔˈmɛlkɔ] ; born 16 January 1989) is a retired Polish athlete who specialised in the 400 metres .[ 2] He won two medals in the 4 × 400 metres relay at the European Athletics Championships .
Omelko finished fourth at the 2013 Summer Universiade and reached the semifinals at the 2014 World Indoor Championships .
His personal bests in the event are 45.14 seconds outdoors (2016) and 46.08 indoors (2017).
Omelko and his teammates qualified to the 4 × 400 metres relay final at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro , Brazil.
The Polish quartet of Karol Zalewski , Rafał Omelko, Łukasz Krawczuk , Jakub Krzewina broke the world indoor record in the men's 4x400m with a stunning finish to the final track event of the 2018 World Indoor Championships in Birmingham. Krzewina overtook the leaders from the beginning - Americans on the last straight and achieved the greatest success in their career.[ 3]
Year Competition Venue Position Event Notes Representing Poland 2008 World Junior Championships Bydgoszcz, Poland 5th 4 × 400 m relay 3:08.65 2010 European Championships Barcelona, Spain 24th (h) 400 m hurdles 52.54 2011 European U23 Championships Ostrava , Czech Republic 2nd† 4 × 400 m relay 3:05.96 (h)† 2013 European Indoor Championships Gothenburg, Sweden – 4 × 400 m relay DQ Universiade Kazan, Russia 4th 400 m 45.69 World Championships Moscow, Russia 7th (h) 4 × 400 m relay 3:01.73 2014 World Indoor Championships Sopot, Poland 9th (sf) 400 m 46.94 4th 4 × 400 m relay 3:04.39 IAAF World Relays Nassau, Bahamas 19th (h) 4 × 400 m relay 3:05.16 European Championships Zürich, Switzerland 21st (sf) 400 m 46.69 3rd 4 × 400 m relay 2:59.85 2015 European Indoor Championships Prague, Czech Republic 3rd 400 m 46.26 2nd 4 × 400 m relay 3:02.97 IAAF World Relays Nassau, Bahamas 9th 4 × 400 m relay 3:03.23 Universiade Gwangju, South Korea 13th (sf) 400 m 46.62 3rd 4 × 400 m relay 3:07.77 World Championships Beijing, China 11th (h) 4 × 400 m relay 3:00.72 2016 European Championships Amsterdam, Netherlands 6th 400 m 45.67 2nd 4 × 400 m relay 3:01.18 Olympic Games Rio de Janeiro , Brazil 19th (sf) 400 m 45.28 7th 4 × 400 m relay 3:00.50 2017 European Indoor Championships Belgrade, Serbia 2nd 400 m 46.08 PB 1st 4 × 400 m relay 3:06.99 IAAF World Relays Nassau, Bahamas 9th (h) 4 × 200 m relay 1:24.78 3rd (B) 4 × 400 m relay 3:07.89 World Championships London, United Kingdom 18th (sf) 400 m 45.37 7th 4 × 400 m relay 3:01.59 Universiade Taipei, Taiwan 3rd 400 m 45.56 – 4 × 400 m relay DNF 2018 World Indoor Championships Birmingham, United Kingdom 8th (sf) 400 m 46.39 1st 4 × 400 m relay 3:01.77 WIR European Championships Berlin, Germany 5th 4 × 400 m relay 3:02.27 2019 European Indoor Championships Glasgow, United Kingdom 4th 4 × 400 m relay 3:08.40
† : Competed only in heat.
2000 : Czech Republic (Mužík , Poděbradský , Tesařík , Bláha ) 2002 : Poland (Plawgo , Rysiukiewicz , Gąsiewski , Maćkowiak ) 2005 : France (Maunier , Wallard , Panel , Raquil ) 2007 : Great Britain (Garland , Tobin , Taylor , Green ) 2009 : Italy (Marin , Galvan , Rao , Licciardello ) 2011 : France (Macedot , Djhone , Hanne , Décimus ) 2013 : Great Britain (Levine , Bingham , Strachan , Buck ) 2015 : Belgium (Watrin , D. Borlée , J. Borlée , K. Borlée ) 2017 : Poland (Kozłowski , Krawczuk , Waściński , Omelko ) 2019 : Belgium (Watrin , J. Borlée , D. Borlée , K. Borlée ) 2021 : Netherlands (Dobber , Bonevacia , Angela , van Diepen ) 2023 : Belgium (Watrin , Doom , D. Borlée , K. Borlée )
1991: Germany (Lieder , Carlowitz , Just , Schönlebe ) 1993: United States (Hall , Irvin , Rouser , Everett ) 1995: United States (Tolbert , Davis , Long , Atwater ) 1997: United States (Rouser , Everett , Maye , Minor ) 1999: United States (Morris , Johnson , Minor , Campbell ) 2001: Poland (Rysiukiewicz , Haczek , Bocian , Maćkowiak ) 2003: United States (Davis , Young , Campbell , Washington ) 2004: Jamaica (Haughton , Colquhoun , McDonald , Clarke ) 2006: United States (Washington , Merritt , Campbell , Spearmon ) 2008: United States (Davis , Torrance , Nixon , Willie ) 2010: United States (Torrance , Nixon , Tate , Jackson ) 2012: United States (Wright , Smith Jr. , Mitchell , Roberts ) 2014: United States (Clemons , Verburg , Butler III , Smith Jr. , Parros , Babineaux ) 2016: United States (Clemons , Smith Jr. , Giesting , Norwood ) 2018: Poland (Zalewski , Omelko , Krawczuk , Krzewina ) 2022: Belgium (Watrin , Doom , Sacoor , K. Borlée ) 2024: Belgium (Sacoor , D. Borlée , Iguacel , Doom , De Smet )