President Duda awards Paralympic Games heroes

"While presenting the decoration, I thanked each of you for the joy and pride you bring us through your hard work, your efforts, and your results," Duda said.

"A deep gratitude for how you show people with disabilities how barriers can be overcome, how one can fight and live effectively, displaying excellence, potential, and capability," the president added.

Andrzej Duda emphasized that 23 medals won by the Polish team, consisting of 84 athletes, "is truly an outstanding achievement." He especially congratulated table tennis player Patryk Chojnowski, absent from the ceremony due to illness, and swimmer Kamil Otowski, both of whom won two gold medals each.

The president highlighted how much Paralympic sports have evolved since 1972, when Polish athletes first participated in the Games, to the present day.

"This is no longer an amateur pastime where success comes easily. It is a fierce competition at the highest level, demanding no less effort than professional, Olympic sports practiced by non-disabled athletes," he stressed.

The Officer's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta was awarded to gold medalists from Paris in table tennis, Rafał Czuper and Piotr Grudzień, their coach Marek Iwanicki, as well as swimmer Kamil Otowski, who stood on the top podium twice.

The Knight’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta was awarded to table tennis player Dorota Bucław, archer Łukasz Ciszek, shooter Marek Dobrowolski, fencer Kinga Dróżdż, track and field athlete Lucyna Kornobys, cyclist Zbigniew Maciejewski, and coaches Maciej Bielski and Zbigniew Stajkiewicz.

The Polish team won a total of 23 medals at this year’s Paralympics, including eight gold, six silver, and nine bronze.