For the first time in sporting history, Poland managed to secure a podium finish in the World Volleyball League finals on Sunday, beating Argentina 3-0 to take the bronze in the championships (mistrzostwa).

Poland almost took third position in previous league finals, although lost out to Cuba 2-3 in Belgrade in 2005, as well as suffering a 3-1 defeat to the USA in Katowice two years later.

Volleyball in Poland is a popular team sport (popularny sport zespołowy). It is the second most popular sport after football (piłka nożna). The Men’s national team is ranked 5th and the Women’s team is ranked 9th in the FIVB World Rankings. Both teams have a wide amount of success in international competitions (międzynarodowych zawodach).

The Poland national men’s volleyball team is controlled by the Polski Związek Piłki Siatkowej (PZPS), which represents the country in international competitions and friendly matches. It is one of the world’s strongest teams, being the 2009 European Champions and ranked fifth in the FIVB world ranking. Poland achieved some of its best results in the 1970s, with gold medals at 1974 FIVB Men’s World Championship and the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal. They also won five consecutive silver medals at the European Volleyball Championships, between 1975 and 1983. Poland’s most recent success is gold at the 2009 European Championship, after defeating France in the finals.

The team has also competed in the FIVB World League ever since 1998.

złoty medal – gold medal

srebrny medal – silver medal

brązowy medal – bronze medal

podium, podest – podium

siatkówka – volleyball

siatka – net

mecz – game, match

gra – game , play

trener – coach

zespół, drużyna – team

zwycięstwo – win, victory

sędzia – judge

punkt – point

Do następnego razu… (Till next time…)