Gabriela Weronika Sasnal (née Janik; born 10 March 1993) is a Polish artistic gymnast who represented Poland at the 2020 Summer Olympics. She is a five-time medalist on the FIG World Cup series and has competed in six World Championships.
Gabriela Sasnal | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Full name | Gabriela Weronika Sasnal | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Nickname(s) | Gabrysia, Gabi | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Country represented | Poland | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Kraków, Poland | 10 March 1993|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Discipline | Women's artistic gymnastics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Years on national team | 2008-present | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Club | CWZS Zawisza Bydgoszcz | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Head coach(es) | Piotr Mikolajek | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Personal life
Gabriela Janik was born on 10 March 1993, in Kraków. She studied at the University of Technology and Life Sciences in Bydgoszcz.[1] In May 2021, she married fellow artistic gymnast Filip Sasnal.[2]
Career
2008-2012
Sasnal competed at the 2008 Junior European Championships and finished seventh in the vault final.[3] She won the silver medal on vault behind teammate Paula Plichta at the 2010 FIG World Cup in Osijek.[4] She made her World Championships debut at the 2010 World Championships alongside Plichta, Marta Pihan-Kulesza, Katarzyna Jurkowska, Monika Frandofert, and Joanna Litewka, and they finished 17th in the team qualification round.[5]
At the 2011 FIG World Cup in Osijek, Sasnal won the bronze medal on vault behind Valeria Maksyuta and Brittany Rogers.[6] She then competed at the 2011 European Championships and finished 29th in the qualification round, which made her the first reserve for the all-around final.[7] She competed at the 2011 World Championships where she finished 72nd in the qualification round. Because Marta Pihan-Kulesza placed higher than her and Poland was only allowed one spot, Sasnal did not qualify for the 2012 Olympic Games.[8] At the 2012 FIG World Cup in Ostrava, Sasnal finished seventh in the vault final and fifth in the uneven bars final.[9]
2014
Sasnal helped the Polish team win the gold medal at the 2014 Austrian Team Open.[10] Then at the International Women meet in Brno, she tied with Elisa Hämmerle for the silver medal in the all-around and won gold with the Polish team.[11] She competed at the 2014 European Championships with Marta Pihan-Kulesza, Katarzyna Jurkowska-Kowalska, Claudia Chmielowska, and Alma Kuc, and the team finished tenth.[12] She then competed at the 2014 World Championships alongside Chmielowska, Pihan-Kulesza, Jurkowska-Kowalska, Kuc, and Paula Plichta, and the team finished 17th.[13] In November 2014, she had shoulder surgery and stopped training for six months to recover.[1]
2015
Sasnal began the 2015 season at the Polish International where she finished fourth in the all-around. In the event finals, she won gold on vault and uneven bars and bronze on balance beam and floor exercise.[14] She competed at the European Games with Katarzyna Jurkowska-Kowalska and Paula Plichta. The team finished 11th in the team competition.[15] Individually, she finished 12th in the all-around final with a total score of 51.532.[16] She finished fourth in the vault final with a score of 13.966.[17] She was a part of the Polish team that finished second at a friendly meet against Hungary and Austria.[18] Then at a friendly meet against the Czech Republic and Latvia, Poland won the gold medal.[19] She then competed at the World Championships with Claudia Chmielowska, Katarzyna Jurkowska-Kowalska, Klara Kopeć, Alma Kuc, and Marta Pihan-Kulesza, and the team finished 19th in the qualification round.[20]
2016
Sasnal began the season at the Austrian Team Open where Poland won the bronze medal behind Switzerland and Hungary.[21] Then at the DTB Team Challenge, the Polish team finished fourth.[22] At the FIG World Challenge Cup in Cottbus, she won the bronze medal on the uneven bars behind Sophie Scheder and Zhu Xiaofang.[23] She then competed at Olympic Test Event and finished 35th in the all-around. Because Poland was only allowed to qualify one spot and Katarzyna Jurkowska-Kowalska placed higher than her, Sasnal did not qualify for the 2016 Olympic Games.[8] Then at the Polish Championships, she finished second behind Jurkowska-Kowalska.[24] She competed at the 2016 European Championships alongside Jurkowska-Kowalska, Klara Kopeć, Alma Kuc, and Paula Plichta, and they finished 11th.[25]
2017
Sasnal began the season at the Polish Senior Cup and won the all-around gold.[26] Then at the Stella Zakharova Cup, she won the gold medal on uneven bars, silver on balance beam behind Hanna Traukova, and bronze on floor exercise.[27] She was the second reserve for the vault event final at the European Championships.[28] At the FIG World Cup in Osijek, she won the bronze medal on the uneven bars behind Anastasia Iliankova and Zsófia Kovács.[1] She swept the gold medals at the Polish Championships.[29] She then competed at the Summer Universiade, and she finished seventh in the all-around final with a total score of 52.050, and she finished fifth in the vault final. At the FIG World Cup in Cottbus, she finished seventh in the vault final.[30]
2018
Sasnal won the all-around gold at the Unni & Haralds Trophy in Oslo.[31] She also won the all-around gold at the Polish Cup.[32] At the FIG World Cup in Guimarães, she won the silver medal on vault behind Yeo Seo-jeong.[33] Then at the Polish Championships, she won the silver medal in the all-around behind Marta Pihan-Kulesza.[34] She then competed at the 2018 European Championships with Katarzyna Jurkowska-Kowalska, Wiktoria Łopuszanska, and Marta Pihan-Kulesza, and the team finished 13th.[35] The same team competed at the World Championships and finished 22nd.[36]
2019
Sasnal began the season at the Doha World Cup where she finished seventh in the vault final.[37] She competed at the European Championships, and she was the second reserve for the all-around final.[38] She then swept the gold medals at the Polish Championships.[39] She competed with a mixed team at the FIT Challenge that finished ninth.[40] At the European Games, she finished 13th in the all-around final with a total of 50.033.[41] Additionally, she finished fourth in the vault final.[42] She finished seventh in the vault final at the Paris World Challenge Cup.[43] At the World Championships, Sasnal finished 79th in the all-around, and she qualified an individual spot for the 2020 Olympic Games.[44]
2021
Sasnal won the all-around silver medal at the Polish Senior Cup behind Marta Pihan-Kulesza.[45] She withdrew from the 2021 European Championships due to an ankle injury.[1] She returned to competition at the FIT Challenge and finished 32nd in the all-around.[46] At the Olympic Games in Tokyo, Sasnal finished 54th in the all-around during the qualification round with a total score of 50.932.[47][48]