Ewa Swoboda is one of Europe’s most recognisable sprinters and has asserted her spot on the global stage for the past decade.
Her first European senior medal came at the Belgrade 2017 European Athletics Indoor Championships where she won silver over 60m, and since then she has been one of the sports most consistent faces over the short indoor sprint.
But here are 10 things that you may not have known about the Polish rocket:
One of a kind Barbie doll
In 2024 ahead of the Paris Olympics Swoboda was amongst the nine female athletes to have a one-of-a-kind Barbie made of them, celebrating their individual uniqueness. Swoboda’s featured her iconic tattoos, perfect brows, and lilac Puma kit.
She’s everything.
— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) May 22, 2024
Ewa Swoboda 🤝 @Barbie
A collaboration you love to see.
📸Ewa Swoboda pic.twitter.com/2w7oUENGQP
She became part of the exclusive group of women in athletics that have had a Barbie modelled on them, this includes Great Britian’s 2019 200m world champion Dina Asher-Smith and Poland’s Anita Wlodarczyk, women’s hammer world record holder.
More tattoos than you can count
💕 Favourite tattoo
— European Athletics (@EuroAthletics) June 11, 2024
🥶 Most painful tattoo
Ewa Swoboda reveals all! 🤫#Roma2024 pic.twitter.com/BgHn46QzCy
Speaking of tattoos, if you hadn’t noticed, Swoboda has a lot of them! From the classic Olympic rings to artwork of her four cats, she has it all.
She has more than 10 tattoos on her left thigh alone, with her art also including a declaration of love to her parents, a gun on her right bicep, the angel number 777, a skull on her palm, multiple hearts, and a sword.
Senior debut as a teenager
At just 17-years-old Swoboda made her international senior debut, where she reached the 60m final of the Prague 2015 European Athletics Indoor Championships, which was won by Dafne Schippers.
In the final she also ran her fastest time that year of 7.20 after clocking 7.24 in the heats and 7.22 in the semifinal. She was the youngest in the field by two years, with teenage Asher-Smith winning silver.
Animal lover
We mentioned her cats, names, but Swoboda is just an all round animal lover and has owned multiple dogs, cats and even geckos. She also has a tattoo of a bird on her arm along with a butterfly on her left thigh.
Each Christmas Swoboda shares a festive message with a picture of her by her Christmas tree embracing at least one of her fur babies that are just like family.
U20 indoor world record holder
The year after her senior global debut, Swoboda continued to impress particularly in the 60m where she benefited from her incredibly explosive start.
Her season opener in 2016 was not quite up to Swoboda’s usual standard but those times didn’t stand alone for long, as she soon clocked 7.13 in Luxembourg less than a week later.
After consistently running sub 7.20, the historic run came in Torun at the Copernicus Cup final; she stormed to an unheard of 7.07, breaking the indoor world U20 record over 60m.
The record was previously set by Nigeria’s Joan Uduak Ekah, who ran 7.09. Swoboda still holds the record now despite Jamaica’s Tina Clayton running 7.02 over the same distance in 2023 as this was ran outdoors.
Abuse nearly drove Swoboda away
In 2018 Swoboda detailed how she was struggling, and how the abuse she received nearly drove her away from the sport altogether.
She said: “I had thoughts of stopping training. It was all because of people’s hatred. In 2018, things weren’t going well for me. Athletes have bad times. It’s normal.
“However, my self-confidence was completely destroyed. I was ashamed to show myself as I was. It was the hardest period in my life.”
Song about Swoboda
There’s not many athletes with a song written about them, certainly not in track and field anyway, but that is just one more thing that Swoboda can tick off a very cool bucket list.
The song is by a band called Komplet and they released the single “Sprint like Ewa Swoboda” in October 2025.
Modelling career
It is undeniable that Swoboda is really popular with sprinting fans, but she’s so popular that she released a 2024 calendar.
The Pole did a photoshoot based around the four elements to create a unique calendar for her fans
Home championship revenge
Heading into the Torun 2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships, Swoboda had the perfect story lined up; she would be defending her title at home.
But the poster girl caught COVID-19 and so was unable to compete and appease the home crowds that had hoped to see her retain the gold.
Now, five years later, an international championships returns to Poland, but this time it’s the World Athletics Indoor Championships.
Swoboda will have the chance to right the unfair nature of her missing out on a home championships as she prepares to welcome the world to her back garden.