Sławomir Szmal

Sławomir Szmal, born on 2 October 1978 in Strzelce Opolskie, is a Polish former handball player, a goalkeeper who played for the Poland men's national handball team after his debut against Lithuania on 19 August 1998. He won silver at the 2007 World Championship, losing the final to Germany, and bronze medals at the 2009 and 2015 World Championships. In 2009 he was voted IHF World Player of the Year, ahead of Igor Vori and Nikola Karabatic. He received the Gold Cross of Merit in 2007 and the Knight's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta in 2015, and he later became president of the Polish Handball Association.