# Natalia Bukowiecka

Natalia Bukowiecka (née Kaczmarek, born 17 January 1998) is a Polish sprinter who specialises in the 400 metres. She is the 2024 European champion as well as the European silver medalist from 2022. She also won the bronze medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics. Bukowiecka earned several global medals as part of 4 x 400 m relays, including gold in the mixed event and silver in the women's event at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
She was the 400 m 2019 European under-23 champion.

## Career

Running in the heats as part of the women's 4 × 400 metres relays, Natalia Kaczmarek won the silver medal at the 2018 World Indoor Championships and a gold at the 2018 European Championships.
In the same relay event, she earned the bronze medal at the 2021 European Indoor Championships. In May, she took two gold medals at the European Team Championships, whose Super League events took place in Chorzów, Poland. Besides women's 4x400 metres relay victory she won the individual 400 metres event.
Kaczmarek won two medals at the delayed Tokyo Olympics in 2021, a gold with Poland's mixed 4x400 relay team (alongside Karol Zalewski, Justyna Święty-Ersetic and Kajetan Duszyński), and a silver as a member of women's 4×400m relay with Iga Baumgart-Witan, Małgorzata Hołub-Kowalik and Święty-Ersetic. Kaczmarek went out of the individual 400m event in the third semi-final in a time of 50.79 seconds.
In May 2022, she won 400m race at the Golden Spike meet in Ostrava, smashing her previous personal best with a time of 50.16 seconds, the second-fastest mark on the Polish all-time list.
On 6 August 2022, she improved her personal best to 49.86 seconds at the Kamila Skolimowska Memorial in Chorzów, becoming only the second Polish woman after Irena Szewińska to run 400 metres under 50 seconds.
On 15 February 2023, Kaczmarek became the first Polish woman to break the 51-second barrier in the indoor 400 m with a time of 50.90 seconds, finishing second behind only Femke Bol at the prestigious Meeting Hauts-de-France Pas-de-Calais in Liévin, France.
On 23 August 2023, she competed in the Women's 400 metres event at the 2023 World Athletics Championships achieving 49.57 seconds and winning the silver medal. She became the first Polish athlete to win a medal in this event since Irena Szewińska.
On 10 June 2024, Kaczmarek won the European title in the 400 metres in a time of 48.98 seconds at the European Athletics Championships in Rome. This time broke the long-standing Polish national record of Irena Szewińska, which had stood since 1976.

## Personal life

On 28 September 2024, Kaczmarek married Polish shot putter Konrad Bukowiecki with whom she had been in a relationship since 2018.

## Personal bests

Information from her World Athletics profile unless otherwise noted.

### Individual events

* 100 metres – 11.73 (+1.8 m/s, Jelenia Góra 2022)
* 200 metres – 22.70 (Golęcin Stadion, Poznan (POL) 23 JUN 2024)
** 200 metres indoor – 23.30 (Toruń 2023)
* 300 metres – 35.52 (Potchefstroom 2024) NR
** 300 metres indoor – 36.20 (Spała 2022) NR
* 400 metres – 48.90 (London 2024) NR
** 400 metres indoor – 50.83 (Toruń 2023) NR

### Team events

* 4 × 400 metres relay – 3:20.53 (Tokyo 2021) NR
** 4 × 400 metres relay indoor – 3:28.59 (Belgrade 2022)
* 4 × 400 metres relay mixed – 3:09.87 (Tokyo 2021) European record

## Competition results

Information from her World Athletics profile unless otherwise noted.

### International competitions

Representing  Poland :
| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | Time | Notes |
| 2015 | World Youth Championships | Cali, Colombia | 9th (sf) | 400 m | 54.25 | |
| 2015 | World Youth Championships | Cali, Colombia | 5th | 4 × 400 m mixed | 3:24.64 | |
| 2016 | World U20 Championships | Bydgoszcz, Poland | 18th (sf) | 400 m | 54.32 | |
| 2016 | World U20 Championships | Bydgoszcz, Poland | 6th | 4 × 400 m relay | 3:36.95 | |
| 2017 | European U20 Championships | Grosseto, Italy | 7th | 400 m | 54.27 | |
| 2017 | European U20 Championships | Grosseto, Italy | 4th | 4 × 400 m relay | 3:34.48 | |
| 2018 | World Indoor Championships | Birmingham, United Kingdom | 2nd (heats) | 4 × 400 m relay i | 3:32.07 | |
| 2018 | European Championships | Berlin, Germany | 1st (heats) | 4 × 400 m relay | 3:28.52 | |
| 2019 | European U23 Championships | Gävle, Sweden | 1st | 400 m | 52.34 | |
| 2019 | European U23 Championships | Gävle, Sweden | 1st | 4 × 400 m relay | 3:32.56 | |
| 2021 | European Indoor Championships | Toruń, Poland | 3rd | 4 × 400 m relay i | 3:29.94 | |
| 2021 | World Relays | Chorzów, Poland | 2nd | 4 × 400 m relay | 3:28.81 | |
| 2021 | European Team Championships Super League | Chorzów, Poland | 1st | 400 m | 51.36 | |
| 2021 | European Team Championships Super League | Chorzów, Poland | 1st | 4 × 400 m relay | 3:26.37 | EL |
| 2021 | Olympic Games | Tokyo, Japan | 12th (sf) | 400 m | 50.79 | |
| 2021 | Olympic Games | Tokyo, Japan | 2nd | 4×400 m relay | 3:20.53 | NR |
| 2021 | Olympic Games | Tokyo, Japan | 1st | 4 × 400 m mixed | 3:09.87 | OR AR |
| 2022 | World Indoor Championships | Belgrade, Serbia | 7th (sf) | 400 m i | 51.87 | |
| 2022 | World Indoor Championships | Belgrade, Serbia | 3rd | 4 x 400 m relay i | 3:28.59 | SB |
| 2022 | World Championships | Eugene, OR, United States | 15th (sf) | 400 m | 51.34 | |
| 2022 | World Championships | Eugene, OR, United States | 4th | 4 × 400 m mixed | 3:12.31 | SB |
| 2022 | European Championships | Munich, Germany | 2nd | 400 m | 49.94 | |
| 2022 | European Championships | Munich, Germany | 2nd | 4 × 400 m relay | 3:21.68 | SB |
| 2023 | World Championships | Budapest, Hungary | 2nd | 400 m | 49.57 | |
| 2023 | World Championships | Budapest, Hungary | 6th | 4 × 400 m relay | 3:24.93 | |
| 2024 | World Relays | Nassau, Bahamas | 6th (h) | 4 x 400 m mixed | 3:13.53 | |
| 2024 | World Relays | Nassau, Bahamas | 2nd | 4 x 400 m relay | 3:24.71 | |
| 2024 | European Championships | Rome, Italy | 1st | 400 m | 48.98 | NR |
| 2024 | European Championships | Rome, Italy | 6th | 4 x 400 m relay | 3:23.91 | |
| 2024 | Olympic Games | Paris, France | 3rd | 400 m | 48.98 | |