Kamil Stoch led the list of Polish winners after securing ski jumping gold in both the men's large hill and normal hill competitions in Sochi, claiming two of six medals for Poland at the Games.

Stoch was joined by fellow gold medal winners Justyna Kowalczyk, who secured the women's 10 kilometre cross-country skiing title and men's 1,500 metre speed skating champion Zbigniew Bródka.

Bródka was also part of the Polish team that claimed bronze in the team pursuit event along with Konrad Niedzwiedzki and Jan Szymański, while Katarzyna Bachleda-Curuś, Natalia Czerwonka, Luiza Złotkowska and Katarzyna Woźniak secured silver in the women's competition.

The ceremony was attended by a host of dignitaries including Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski and the country's Prime Minister, Donald Tusk.

Zbigniew Bródka won speed skating gold and bronze at Sochi 2014 ©Getty Images



"Polish success in the Sochi Games was great and I thank you all for your contribution," said President Komorowski, who also acknowledged the efforts of the Polish team coaches in preparing the athletes for competition at the Games.

"The success in Sochi was so huge that surely these distinctions are not equal to what we received in the form of joy, emotion and, sometimes, anxiety.

"Thank you sincerely for everything associated with this great sporting success."

Sochi 2014 was Poland's best ever performance at a Winter Olympics and although they matched their haul of six medals from Vancouver 2010, only one of those was gold.

International Olympic Committee (IOC) member and three-time Olympic champion Irena Szewińska was also honoured on the night for her "distinguished merit for developing and propagating sports and for contributing to the spread of Olympic ideals in Poland and the world", according to Komorowski.

Szewińska is a former President of the Polish Athletics Federation and has been a member of the IOC since 1998.

After claiming 4x100m gold at Tokyo 1964, she won individual gold in the 200m at Mexico City 1968 before securing 400m gold in Montreal in 1976.

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