Anastazja Kuś, 19, won the world junior title in the 400 metres on Saturday in Eugene, Oregon, clocking 51.06 seconds. Two days later she is set to race for Poland in the senior European Championships mixed 4x400 metre relay in Birmingham, England.
The result places Kuś second on Poland's senior 400m depth chart, behind national leader Natalia Bukowiecka, who is already in Birmingham for the championships that begin Monday. Bukowiecka's personal best is 48.90 seconds.
Poland is set to compete for a medal in the mixed 4x400m relay on Monday, and Kuś is expected to run for the team despite fatigue from her races in the United States, a long flight and a change in time zone.
A former teammate's perspective
Anna Kiełbasińska, a former Polish 400m runner who won Olympic and world silver medals in the 4x400m relay and a European bronze in the individual 400m, discussed Kuś's whirlwind schedule and career. Kiełbasińska said the outcome would depend largely on how quickly Kuś's body recovers, but noted that her youth and current form should make the turnaround easier for her than it would be for an athlete a decade older performing at a similarly high level. Kiełbasińska said Kuś would likely want to show she is Poland's number two in the 400m, and suggested the idea of becoming number one might already be forming in her mind.
Kiełbasińska said that in the minds of ambitious athletes, big goals arise quickly, and predicted Kuś would want to demonstrate on Monday that she had handled the turnaround well in just two days. She said the body is capable of more than people think, that mindset is the key factor, and that Kuś's young body should recover quickly. Kiełbasińska also referenced tension within the Polish relay team following the Paris Olympics, where Kuś ran in the relay heats before Poland was eliminated, after which experienced teammate Iga Baumgart-Witan publicly criticized her performance and said the coach admitted to misjudging the team lineup.
Kiełbasińska's own history with the relay
Kiełbasińska recalled her own experience at the 2022 World Championships in Eugene, where she became an outsider among her relay teammates. She said that period was the peak of a longer exclusion she had quietly felt before, and suggested Kuś faces something similar because she conducts her career differently from other athletes, which she said tends to provoke fear and rejection from the majority. Kiełbasińska said Kuś and her mother, who closely supports her daughter, have positioned themselves in opposition to that dynamic. Despite this, Kiełbasińska said it would be foolish to leave out an athlete who runs as fast as Kuś, and said Kuś clearly wants to perform well on Monday.
Kiełbasińska called the potential medal an achievable and compelling story: a young athlete flying across the ocean as world junior champion and winning a senior European medal two days later, calling it a scenario that could make Kuś a national hero.
Response to criticism over social media images
Kiełbasińska was asked about a comment from Polish broadcaster TVP journalist Aleksander Dzięciołowski, who said Kuś is "building a career through her backside," a reference to revealing photos Kuś posts on social media. Kiełbasińska called it a strong opinion but said it is sometimes hard not to feel there is some truth to it. She said that even so, Kuś's junior world title shows she can excel at both. Kiełbasińska added that popular athletes with success inevitably become authority figures, including for young girls, and that success brings responsibilities beyond money and attention, such as reporting daily whereabouts for anti-doping testing and being mindful of the image projected as a public figure. She said not every young viewer of such content looks like a supermodel, has the money to dress that way, or has help creating an image, and that many still want to imitate what they see because it draws attention online.
Kiełbasińska noted that Kuś's Instagram account has nearly 300,000 followers. She said most female track athletes, especially sprinters, have strong physiques because running shapes the body well, and that most could promote themselves the way Kuś does if they chose to, saying such choices are often just a few taps away on a phone. She said it is better to keep certain things for a private, close audience only.
On her own choices and boundaries
Asked directly whether she herself was tempted to show more of her body on Instagram, given her own athletic career, Kiełbasińska acknowledged that doing so would make some things easier. She said posts without visible body and focused on meaningful values get little engagement, while a simple swimsuit photo draws attention within minutes. She said the issue comes down to setting personal boundaries and deciding what truly matters, adding that becoming an authority figure comes with responsibility not to worsen other people's problems.
Kiełbasińska said she is not a fan of what happens on Kuś's social media accounts, nor of the fact that Kuś's family supports it, noting they might argue Kuś loses nothing since she succeeds both in sport and academically, having recently received a high school diploma with honors. Kuś began posting modeling-style photos before turning 18, Kiełbasińska noted.
On Kuś's running style
Kiełbasińska said she tried talking with Kuś directly but always received vague, evasive answers, and that she spoke more often with Kuś's mother than with Kuś herself. She said she does not fully know who Kuś is as a person, but has followed her running with great interest since Kuś first appeared, liking her natural, light forward motion. Kiełbasińska said Kuś previously lacked strength but now has it, which shows in her results. She compared her first impression of Kuś to seeing Bukowiecka (formerly Kaczmarek) for the first time and immediately sensing future success, though she said Kuś's style reminds her more of Belgian runner Femke Bol, which she called a good sign nonetheless.
Kiełbasińska described Kuś as relaxed, rhythmic, with a natural stride and light forward movement, saying that athletically everything checks out and that the only controversies concern her image and how it is presented on social media. She said that despite her reservations, she wishes Kuś the very best.
