A second-successive Chengdu World Cup podium, consistently scoring top 20 finishes on the World Triathlon Championship Series, 13th place on Olympic debut... Roksana Slupek has been flying for the past 12 months. Then a freak bike crash at WTCS Hamburg left her with a broken scapula and the prospect of two months out of action.
At 26 years old, The Rocket has become Poland’s most recognisable triathlete, but the path to the Paris 2024 start line of her dreams 12 months ago was as much about surviving internal battles as it was about overcoming the external ones.
So for Slupek, the accident has been another brutal test in her progress through the sport that she loves, and on the latest episode of the World Triathlon Podcast she reveals the fear she felt in the hospital she might never want to get on a bike again, and the people that helped her through it.
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Dialling in from her family home in Poland where she has returned to heal after the crash, Slupek is honest about the bleak aftermath of that Hamburg incident.
“We have such a good team around us as athletes, but on the start line or in your biggest crisis with injuries or an accident, in the end, you are alone. Those hours in the hospital, with no phone, no people around me… that was kind of crazy.”
In the end, it was the efforts of a cousin that came to her rescue with a mobile phone, and ultimately prevented her facing the prospect of being discharged at 2am still in her bike shoes and tri-suit.
It seems that many of the highest points of Slupek’s career have been punctuated with overwhelming emotion. Very open about her past battle with depression, the road back for her was neither straight nor easy.
The turning point didn’t come in the form of a medal or result, it was as simple as waking up and wanting - really wanting - to train again. To go beyond the minimum that the coach had put on the board.
“The other things that just made me sure I’m going in the right direction was just feeling normal. Feeling normal was like feeling amazing.”
From there, and going through what she described as “robot mode,” she finally secured her Paris 2024 qualification at the Samarkand World Cup.
“I honestly, sometimes I don’t know how I did it. I felt like I was a robot… from one task to the other, focus on the goal. That moment and then the Olympics… it was so special. I know that it's cool to say everything was worth it, blah, blah, but I don’t know if I'm ready to say that my worst moments in my life were worth that. But what I am sure about is that the crazy qualification and then being at the Olympics, and then a good result there made all of this journey super special. Not only for me, but for for my coach, for my teammates, for my friends, and all of fans of triathlon from Poland.'
That mix of disbelief and pride reflects the heart of Slupek’s journey: talent blended with the kind of stubborn grit that keeps showing up and overcoming the obstacles that are thrown at her.
“ This year I'm full of reflection about what happened, how it happened, and you know, now I'm, again, in a bad situation, but it's nothing compared to what I went through.”
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