Natalia Partyka

Natalia Partyka
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Personal information
Full name	Natalia Partyka
Nationality	Poland
Born	(1989-07-27) 27 July 1989 Gdańsk, Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland
Highest ranking	48 (May 2010)
Height	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Medal record Women's table tennis Representing Poland European Championships 2009 Stuttgart Team 2008 St. Petersburg Doubles Paralympic Games 2004 Athens Class 10 2008 Beijing Class 10 2012 London Class 10 2008 Beijing Team class 6–10 2012 London Team class 6–10

Natalia Partyka (born 27 July 1989) is a Polish table tennis player. Born without a right hand and forearm, she participates in competitions for able-bodied athletes as well as in competitions for athletes with disabilities. Partyka reached the last 32 of the London 2012 Olympic women's table tennis.

Early life

Partyka began playing table tennis at the age of seven. She won her first international table tennis medal in 1999 at the disabled World Championships. At the age of 11, she competed at the 2000 Summer Paralympics in Sydney, becoming the world's youngest ever Paralympian. In 2004, she won a gold medal in the singles event and silver in the team event at the Athens Paralympics. Also in 2004, she won two gold medals at the International Table Tennis Federation's European Championships for Cadets, which was open to able-bodied competitors. In 2006, Partyka won three gold medals at the European Paralympic Championships, one gold and two silvers at the International Paralympic Committee's Table Tennis World Championships for Disabled, and a silver in the team event at the ITTF European Junior Championship. She also won two silver medals and one bronze at the 2007 edition of that competition. Also in 2007, Partyka won three gold medals at the European Paralympic Championships, and a bronze at the ITTF World Junior Teams Championships.

Olympics and Paralympics performance

Partyka competed for Poland both the 2008 Summer Olympics and the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing – one of only two athletes to do so, the other being Natalie du Toit in swimming. They were her third Paralympic Games, and her first Olympics. Competing in class 10 at the Beijing Paralympics, she won gold by defeating China's Fan Lei by three sets to nil.

In 2008, she won a gold medal in the singles event and a silver in the team event at the Beijing Paralympics, repeating her Athens Paralympics result.

She competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics and 2012 Summer Paralympics in London. In the Olympics, she competed in women's singles table tennis. On 3 September 2012 Partyka defeated China's Qiang Yang 3–2 in the gold medal match to become Paralympic champion. On 8 September 2012 she won bronze in the women's team class 6–10, after defeating France 3–2.

Awards and recognitions

For her sport achievements, Partyka received:
Knight's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (5th class) in 2008.

See also

• List of athletes who have competed in the Paralympics and Olympics
• Natalie du Toit

External links

• Natalia Partyka International Table Tennis Federation
• Zawodnik: Natalia Partyka Tenis Stołowy Ping Pong - Official profile, Polish Table Tennis Magazine (Polish)
• Natalia Partyka, Official website (Polish)
• PARTYKA Natalia (POL) ITTF Database