Men
POL
Rafal Anikiej
POL- Date of birth12 Aug 1999
- Height1740 CM
- ProfessionAthlete
- HometownBialystok
- Place of birthBialystok
- Start skating Club He took up the sport at age 11 in Bialystok, Poland. Juvenia Bialystok: Poland
- HobbiesCooking. (interia.pl, 29 Dec 2020)
- LanguagesEnglish, Polish
- Other nameRaff (Instagram profile, 02 Oct 2022)
- CoachN/A
- ChoreographerN/A
- Former CoachN/A
- Practice low seasonN/A
- Practice high seasonN/A
- General Interest
- Sport Specific Information
He received the 2020 Best Athlete award at the annual sports awards in Bialystok, Poland. (bialystokonline.pl, 27 Sep 2021)
"No pain, no gain." (Athlete, 12 Feb 2016)
Russian short track skater Victor An, US basketball player Kobe Bryant, US boxer Mike Tyson. (Athlete, 07 Feb 2020)
His parents. (Athlete, 07 Feb 2020)
Winning the 500m B final at the 2020 European Championships in Debrecen, Hungary. (Athlete, 07 Feb 2020)
TRAINING IN CANADA
He trained alongside the Canadian short track team under coaches Sebastien Cros and Frederic Blackburn ahead of the 2019/20 season. However, he was unable to return to Canada to train ahead of the 2020/21 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. "Already before my departure I knew that I would skate well after training in Canada. I had to spend all the money I had saved during the previous years of competition, but my parents and club also helped me. Due to the pandemic I couldn't prepare like I wanted and where I wanted, because I was not able to go to Canada in the epidemic situation." (interia.pl, 29 Dec 2020; wyborcza.pl, 18 Oct 2019, 10 Jul 2020)
FUTURE PLANS
He enjoys cooking and says he aspires to train as a chef and establish his own restaurant following his retirement from short track. "In my spare time I enjoy cooking. It gives me great pleasure and after finishing my sports career I would like to train in this profession. I would like to open my own restaurant." (interia.pl, 29 Dec 2020; pzls.pl, 28 Feb 2018)
He trained alongside the Canadian short track team under coaches Sebastien Cros and Frederic Blackburn ahead of the 2019/20 season. However, he was unable to return to Canada to train ahead of the 2020/21 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. "Already before my departure I knew that I would skate well after training in Canada. I had to spend all the money I had saved during the previous years of competition, but my parents and club also helped me. Due to the pandemic I couldn't prepare like I wanted and where I wanted, because I was not able to go to Canada in the epidemic situation." (interia.pl, 29 Dec 2020; wyborcza.pl, 18 Oct 2019, 10 Jul 2020)
FUTURE PLANS
He enjoys cooking and says he aspires to train as a chef and establish his own restaurant following his retirement from short track. "In my spare time I enjoy cooking. It gives me great pleasure and after finishing my sports career I would like to train in this profession. I would like to open my own restaurant." (interia.pl, 29 Dec 2020; pzls.pl, 28 Feb 2018)
"I went to sports class not being aware that we were going to train ice skating. I immediately liked it, even if I was not the best at the beginning. In this sport you never know what will happen."
