Roman Polianskyi
Ukrainian Paralympic rower
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Roman Oleksandrovych Polianskyi (Ukrainian: Роман Олександрович Полянський; born September 1, 1986[1]) is a Ukrainian pararower. He is the 2016 and 2020 Summer Paralympics gold medalist in the men's single sculls.
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Polianskyi at the 2024 Summer Paralympics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Native name | Роман Олександрович Полянський | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | September 1, 1986 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Home town | Verkhnia Krynka, Donetsk Oblast, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Para-rowing | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| PR1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Event | PR1 Men's single sculls | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Early life
Polianskyi is originally from the village Khanzhenkovo near Makiivka in the Donetsk Province of Ukraine.[2] He started doing sports at the age of four, at the urging of his father. Polianskyi started experiencing symptoms of Strumpell disease at the age of ten.[2] He moved to Odesa in spring 2014, at the start of the 2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine.[2]
Polianskyi was training in rowing for two years prior to the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games. During that time he trained with coach Yuri Bondarenko in Dnipro.[3]
When Polianskyi was 18, his father died from a mining accident; his mother died two years later. Polianskyi has a younger sister.[2]
Polianskyi now uses a wheelchair.[4]
Athletic career
Initially Polianskyi competed in para-canoeing but switched to para-rowing once canoeing was not included in the Rio 2016 Summer Paralympics program.[5] Polianskyi competes in men's PR1 single sculls in para-rowing events. The PR1 classification designates those para-rowing athletes who compete while mainly using their arms and shoulders.[6]
Polianskyi has the medical condition called hereditary spastic paraplegia.[7] The condition is also known as Strumpell disease.[8]
Polianskyi's first para-rowing sports race was in 2014 in Gavirate, Italy, where he came fourth.[5]
He won the gold medal in men's single sculls at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro.[9][10] In the final race Polianskyi came ahead of the world champion, Erik Horrie of Australia, and the 2008 Paralympic champion, Tom Aggar of Great Britain. In that race Polianskyi also set a new Paralympic record, with the time of 04:39.56.[11][a]
Polianskyi won the silver medal in men's PR1 single sculls at the 2017 World Rowing Championships at Sarasota[13] and also the 2018 World Rowing Championships in Plovdiv.[14]
He won the gold medal in the same discipline at the 2019 World Rowing Championships in Linz Ottensheim.[15] There he also set the new world record in PR1 men's single sculls, at 09:12.99, improving the previous world record by almost 4 seconds.[16][17] The victory qualified Polianskyi for participation in the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics.[18]
Polianskyi won the gold medal in PR1 single sculls at the Para Rowing International Regatta in Gavirate, Italy in 2017, and again in 2018.[19][20]
For his 2016 Paralympic victory, Polianskyi was awarded the Order of Merit, 3-d Class, by the President of Ukraine.[21]
Polianskyi holds the rank of Candidate for Master of Sport of Ukraine.[22]
