Spikes26 Apr 2017


A tale of two brothers

FacebookTwitterEmail

Tomasz and Marcin Lewandowski (© lewandowski-team.pl)

Over the past three decades, the Lewandowskis have been at each other's side – brothers in arms, come what may.

Marcin Lewandowski’s first races were not on a track, and they weren’t even against kids his own age. Instead they were against his brother, Tomasz, sprinting up 11 flights of stairs to their family’s apartment in their hometown of Police, Poland.

Tomasz was six years older, already an accomplished athlete, so all Marcin knew in those early years was defeat, not that it ever discouraged him.

Little did they know, but the athletic journey the brothers began on those steps would eventually lead them to three world finals, three European titles, and an Olympic final.

For the past 16 years, they have been more than just brothers; they have been coach and athlete, or, as Marcin puts it, “I’m the car and he is the driver”.

In the upper echelons of elite sport, such an arrangement is rare, perhaps for obvious reasons given how often brothers fall out. Tomasz, however, insists his younger brother has always been the perfect protégé.

“Marcin has an iron will to win,” he says. “He is very patient and knows nothing is for free. He is stubborn and does not give up. I know exactly what he had to go through to get there and I guarantee that not many people could handle it.”

Marcin admits the relationship can occasionally become strained, but deep down knows his big brother always has his best interests at heart.

“I have to follow what he says, even if I don’t like it,” he says. “I respect him. He used sport as a tool to prepare me for adult life, to not just make me a good athlete but also a good man.”

If you need evidence of that, consider this past indoor season.

Running for a cause

In truth, Marcin had no plans to compete after missing a month of training in January through illness. However, he was soon told about Zuzi Wachowicz, a one-year-old Polish girl suffering from a life-threatening heart condition that required a series of expensive surgeries.

To raise funds for Wachowicz, Lewandowski decided to enter a 1500m race at the Copernicus Cup in Torun. He finished second in 3:38.24, a result that made him think a tilt at the European Indoors in Belgrade was back on the cards. 

“I ran for her,” says Marcin. “Everything I earned there I gave to her. It was special feeling to use the power of athletics to collect money to help save her life. She is alive and safe now after surgery.”

He has continued the fundraising efforts in recent weeks, auctioning off t-shirts signed by a phalanx of athletics stars to keep the funds rolling in for Wachowicz. At the European Indoors, the good karma came back around as Lewandowski sprinted to victory in the 1500m. 

Marcin Lewandowski after winning gold in the European Indoor 1500m final in Belgrade

“If you share the good, it comes back to you even bigger,” he says. “She helped me as well. Because of that race I decided to run in Belgrade even though I skipped the whole season.”

Tomasz knows his brother well, so the win in Belgrade and his approach to it came as no surprise.

“Marcin is real champion,” he says. “He shares knowledge, supports young athletes, helps others by giving money to charity and is always looking to inspire. He achieved a lot, but is still humble.”

Tomasz also knows how driven his brother is – a necessary trait given the workload he has laid down for him in their 16 years as coach and athlete.

Creating a champion

Instead of focusing on short-term success, Tomasz created a plan for Marcin’s entire career while he was still in his teens, aimed at making him a complete athlete, and not just a runner.

“He used to go to a swimming pool, play football and other team games,” recalls Tomasz. “He used to attend sports gymnastics sessions and at my early training sessions I made him dance. We worked on special co-ordination up to his early twenties. I added pilates and yoga and altogether, those things prepared him very well for the running routine.”

Marcin was more interested in football in his early teens, but after Tomasz became a coach and teacher he invited him to a schools race, which he won in a stadium record.

“Marcin, you can be a good football player,” he told him, “but you can be a great runner.”

And make no mistake, for all the methodical emphasis on technique embedded in the Polish system, Lewandowski still runs – a lot.

“He runs 170-180km a week during the winter months,” says Tomasz. “He gets one day off each week, usually Sunday. He never strictly prepares for the indoor season. We treat it as a break to see the effects of training. His training is a mixture of all motor aspects: he is able to clock 10.5 for 100m, 47.0 for 400m and also get under 30 minutes for 10km, all in training.”

Tomasz’s philosophy has been developed through decades of experience and by absorbing information like a sponge from world-class athletes and training environments.

“I travelled to see how other coaches and athletes train, how they behave,” he says. “I went to China, New Zealand, the US, Spain, France, Germany, Italy, Kenya, Ethiopia, Norway, Sweden, the UK and more. I talked to experts of psychology, physiology, physiotherapists, biomechanics, nutritionists and physicists. I talk to coaches for sprints, jumps, throws, but not only athletics – I joined swimming groups, football, volleyball, cyclists, judo, wrestling, rowing and I always took something away.”

Knowing the lengths Tomasz goes to, Marcin has full trust in the programme, and indeed his brother.

“He lets athletes blossom and leads them to their peak,” he says. “If they lose the way, Tomasz shows the way back.”

Of course, among the many highlights of Lewandowski’s career there have been inevitable frustrations.

He has twice finished fourth – that sweet and sour position – in world championship 800m finals, the first of which, in 2011, a collision may have cost him a medal.

“I moved forward and Abubaker Kaki hit me with his elbow in my chest,” he recalls. “I went on the grass, lost my speed and couldn’t breathe. Still I came fourth, so it was a great race in the circumstances.”

At the 2014 world indoors in Sopot, he was disqualified after finishing third in the 800m, a protest by the British team highlighting that he stepped inside the line on the final bend. “It didn’t change my performance,” says Lewandowski, “and runners know that, which is why even [eventual bronze medallist] Andrew Osagie congratulated me on a medal.”

At the 2016 Olympics, Lewandowski finished sixth in the 800m final, a performance he reflects on with great pride, given he was the first ever Pole to accomplish such a feat.

“We had very good 800m runners, and none of them could achieve an Olympic final,” he says. “I prepared as best I could and executed the semi-final perfectly. In the final I ran the first lap too fast, the fastest of my life, and it cost me. I had no energy left in the home straight, but maybe I could have been fourth, at best. I needed to run under 1:43 to finish third and I wasn’t ready for that – not yet!”

They’re the key words – not yet – because despite turning 30 this summer, Lewandowski feels his best years are still ahead of him, as does his brother.

“Right now Marcin is only halfway through all the stages of his progress,” says Tomasz. “We know what’s ahead of us, what resources we can utilise and he can improve by developing untapped ability.”

London calling

Lewandoswki opened his outdoor season at the IAAF World Relays in the Bahamas last weekend, where he anchored Poland to bronze medals in the 4x800m behind USA and Kenya. 

Some of the specifics of his outdoor season are yet to be determined, but it will include the European Team Championships, a race near his hometown in Szczecin, and several stops on the IAAF Diamond League circuit, where he plans to mix the 1500m with his favoured event.

Of course, all roads will eventually lead to London, where Lewandowski, and indeed his brother, will be hoping his first global medal finally awaits.

Tomasz, as always, will be there every step of the way, as he was years ago as the brothers raced to the 11th floor.

One final question, though, for each of them: how would you sum up your brother?

“He is very demanding,” says Marcin. “A tough guy, a perfectionist in everything he does. Tomasz is a leader and is crazy about sport – a maniac.”

And what does the ‘maniac’ – the man who dealt Marcin his first defeats and has since guided him to a string of success – think of his younger brother?

“Marcin is my hero,” says Tomasz. “Even when he faces defeat, he never stops trying and because of that, he will eventually win. He is a champion.”

Pages related to this article
AthletesDisciplines