KNAPIK-MIAZGA Renata

Personal Information

Family Husband Damian Miazga

Residence United States

Occupation Athlete, Coach

Languages English, Polish

Higher education Mechanical Engineering - Cracow University of Technology: Poland

License number 15071988001

Club KS AZS AWF KRAKÓW

Upcoming Events

Sport Specific Information

When and where did you begin this sport? She began fencing at age 10 in Tarnow, Poland.

Why this sport? She joined a fencing group that was set up at her primary school. "My sport teacher was a foil coach. I was trying to find a sport for myself, I trained also in volleyball, but I went to foil classes out of curiosity. Fencing is an extremely interesting sport in terms of variety of activities, technical and tactical solutions and it develops motor features."

Club / Team AZS AWF Krakow [POL] / Grenoble Parmentier [FRA]:

Name of coach Radoslaw Zawrotniak [AZS AWF Krakow], POL; Bartlomiej Jezyk [national], POL

Handedness Left

General Interest

Hobbies Relaxing at home, watching films, visiting friends. (knapik-miazga.pl, 19 Jun 2017)

Sporting philosophy / motto "Never give up." (knapik-miazga.pl, 23 Dec 2015)

Other information OTHER ACTIVITIES
In 2024 she began working as an assistant fencing coach at Pennsylvania State University in the United States of America. She has served as president of the Malopolska Regional Fencing Association in Poland, and has coached the sport at the Tarnow Fencing Academy in Poland. Between 2015 and 2017 she owned a web design company and electronics store. (gopsusports.com, 07 Feb 2024; LinkedIn profile, 01 Dec 2023; rp.pl, 12 May 2021; Facebook profile, 20 May 2019; sportowymagazyn.pl, 12 Apr 2017)

COACH TRIBUTE
She dedicated her gold medal at the 2020 Polish National Championships in Wroclaw to AZS AWF Krakow coach Piotr Hammer, who passed away in mid-2020. "I am very happy I managed to get this gold, I wanted to fight as best as possible for myself and for our coach, who left us quite recently. I wanted to dedicate this gold to him, so that he would be proud of my bouts and what we achieved during this whole period of working together." (radiokrakow.pl, 19 Oct 2020)

VASCULAR PROBLEM
At age 14 she was diagnosed with a vascular problem in her right arm that forced her to learn how to fence left-handed. She also switched from foil to epee during this period. "After four years of practising foil, my doctor basically advised me against fencing because my [right] arm would be exposed to blunt injuries. I was so stubborn. It took me two years of intensive work. My dedication paid off when I was called up to the Polish team." (sport.tvp.pl, 01 Aug 2023; sport.pl, 30 Jun 2023; knapik-miazga.pl, 23 Dec 2015)

FATHER'S INFLUENCE
She recognises the sacrifices her father made when she was young and just getting into fencing. "I owe my presence in the sport to my father. As a teenager, I lived in Tarnow but my club was in Krakow. He drove me to class three times a week, one-and-a-half hours each way. It was a big sacrifice on his part that made me realise that, although sport requires a huge commitment, it's worth making sacrifices to succeed." (knapik-miazga.pl, 23 Dec 2015)