Marek Sitnik
Quick Facts
Biography
Marek Sitnik (born April 20, 1975 in Olsztyn) is a retired amateur Polish Greco-Roman wrestler, who competed in the men's heavyweight category. Sitnik has claimed two silver medals in the 90-kg division at the 1993 and 1994 European Junior Championships, and later represented his nation Poland in two editions of the Olympic Games (2000 and 2004). Throughout his sporting career, Sitnik trained full-time for Śląsk Wrestling Club in Wrocław, under his personal coach and mentor Jerzy Adamek.
Sitnik made his official debut at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, where he competed in the men's super heavyweight division (130 kg). Sitnik delivered a mediocre effort inside the ring after losing out three straight matches each to Turkey's Fatih Bakir by a sudden death point, Czech Republic's David Vála (0–3), and Israel's Yuri Evseitchik, who eventually placed fourth at the end of prelim pool. Sitnik failed to advance further into the quarterfinals, as he finished seventeenth in the final standings.
At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Sitnik qualified for his second team, as a 29-year-old veteran, in the men's 96 kg class by rounding out the top eleven spots from the 2003 World Wrestling Championships in Créteil, France. He lost his opening match to Egypt's Karam Gaber, who later took home the gold at the end of the tournament, but redeemed himself to pull Kazakhstan's Asset Mambetov off the mat on his second bout with an effortless 3–0 decision. Facing off against the host nation's Georgios Koutsioumpas and by the delight of the crowd inside the Ano Liossa Olympic Hall, Sitnik could not exert enough power to subdue him into the ring, and lost the match by a quick single-point deficit. Finishing third in the prelim pool and fourteenth overall in the final standings, Sitnik's performance fell short to put him further into the game.