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Journalism of Courage
Julia Szeremeta became a national hero in Poland in August of 2024 after she took silver at Paris Olympics, the country’s first since 1992 when Wojciech Bartnik won at Barcelona. Also the circumstances of her Paris final, where a gender controversy erupted concerning her opponent, meant the 21-year-old went home to a mammoth reception and was on the TV and at national events for months, becoming a celebrity whose every social media moment was analysed like a showbiz star.
It wouldn’t have surprised Indian Jaismine Lamboria then that at her Liverpool final, a large, raucous contingent of Polish fanatics arrived to cheer for their home hero. And when the Indian received the 4-1 split decision, Polish social media went into a frenzy, that’s usually reserved for Robert Lewandowski or other football stars, or like for cricket in India.
The in-stadia fans aside, the Olympic Association bigwigs were following the bout, which was on three top sports channels, and premium Polsat streams, as an entire country tuned in. While Polish media largely acknowledged that Jaismine fought well and was physically superior to Szeremeta, the usual whingeing after she lost, brought out huge outpouring of support for the Pole hailing from Chelmno.
As such, the Poles had reckoned that Szeremeta had closed in on the gold after she beat Kazakh, Karina Ibragimova, whom they considered her biggest opponent in the quarters. But here’s what Radislaw Piesiewicz would tweet as the head of the Poland Olympic body, ahead of the final: “Well done Julia, you’ve paved the way for gold which is why you went there! We’re rooting for you and keeping our fists up! You’re capable of winning this tournament.”
MMA star Jan Blachowicz would chime in his support in a country that has frenetically adopted Szeremeta as their national icon, searching for success in combat sports globally. The loss to Jaismine, expectedly evoked raw bitterness.
TVP journalist Piotr Jagiełło was quoted by Sport.interia.pl as revealing, that the clearly disappointed athlete had ended up mouthing a profanity, “I didn’t lose this fight, f***… ” as she came to terms with the judges’ final decision. “It’s hard for me to say anything. It was a close fight, I thought I’d win. I don’t want to talk about it right now,” she told Jagiello.
There was also sympathy and consideration for the adored athlete who Jagiełło revealed Julia had been fighting with a serious right hand injury (“badly bruised not broken”) since the quarterfinals, where she even considered withdrawing from the tournament. “She won the semifinals with an injured hand, and in the final, she boxed fantastically. For me, she’s a ring heroine after what she achieved in Liverpool,” Jagiełło was quoted as saying by Sport.interia.pl.
“Theoretically, the doctor wouldn’t let me box, but I couldn’t imagine backing out. I came here for gold, not bronze. When I heard he forbade me from fighting, tears welled up in my eyes. But I kept fighting,” the Pole had told Jagiello.
But it’s not an exaggeration to say that every move that Szeremeta makes gets followed and splashed on Polish social media. Like
Sport.interia.pl describing how the Olympic “vice-champion” (silver medallist) and now also world vice-champion, handed a little fan a sheep figurine she had received (those stuffed mascots).” This despite her heartbreaking loss.
While Poland went completely berserk for their newfound boxing star last August, in November of 24, Szeremeta not competing at the Poland Nationals became front page news after she cited not maintaining good health that preventing her from competing at highest level at Walbrzych. Right before that event, Szeremeta posted a picture of her breakfast tray. The hearty meal – fish with chips and cherry tomatoes, tea with lemon, cinnamon, as per Sport.interia.pl, also had a packet of medication. Literally, her every sneeze became a topic of discussion in Poland. The picture captioned, “Cold flu medication – paracetamol & pseudoephedrine.”
Even ahead of the Liverpool World’s, a clickbaiting “Julia knocked out” headline, by a journalist and presenter of Ring TVP Sport, sent tremors through Poland. Szeremeta was in fact facing off on a gaming console in EA FC 25, where she was Liverpool and Jagiello was Manchester United, the Devils winning 4-2 and posting, “this is to build anger in Julia ahead of quarters.”
Though she had tired of the constant celebrity hood and event appearances after Paris, Szeremeta had always shown flair for public life. Sport.interia.pl quoted that a few months before arriving in the French capital, the athlete had tried her hand at politics, wanting to run for the Lublin Voivodeship Assembly on the “Confederation and Non-Partisan Local Government” electoral committee in constituency counties of Chełm, Łęczna, Krasnystaw, Świdnica, and Włodawa.
“Ultimately, she garnered 1,409 votes – effectively 1% of her district’s vote. This meant she didn’t win a seat,” the publication stated.
It’s not uncommon for boxers from Russia, Ukraine and even Philippines to aspire to government office – the culture encourages it even. But she arrived in Liverpool as the biggest hope for Poland to win a World’s medal
The constant stardom however led to privacy invasions and Szeremeta had once said, “People keep popping up around me, but it’s calmed down now. I can see them looking at me, wondering if I should approach them or not —but it’s more relaxed now. It’s the worst at certain events, like the Olympic Picnic. I didn’t know how to escape, because I was still taking my motorboat license exams—which I passed. People kept coming up to me.”
With Szeremeta’s TV appearances and outreach, Szeremeta had emerged as one of the top personal brands among Polish women, with Forbes valuing her wealth at a staggering 255 million złoty (622 crore INR). She’s a little behind Iga Swiatek.
When Sport.interia.pl asked her about her typical day back in December, she said, “Two days ago I had a photo shoot. From there, on the way, I joined the army and went straight to a tournament in Gliwice, where I was at the opening. The next day I stayed at the competition to watch the girls fight without helmets, and at 1 a.m. I returned to Lublin, and in the morning I had a meeting with the city mayor. Then I went to Warsaw, where Monika Pyrek from the foundation was presenting a show. I should add that it was very cool, because it was related to boxing, so it was worth it. I got up this morning, had another interview. I’m going back to Warsaw to join the army. As you can see, it’s still an intense period, mostly in the car.”
Just as well Jaismine Lamboria didn’t know just how fantastically followed a Pole she was in the ring with. Or how all of Poland now knows her as the world champion, who beat back their superstar boxer.
