Polish officials have strongly condemned the International Olympic Committee’s recommendation to allow Belarusian and Russian athletes to compete under a neutral flag.

On Tuesday, the IOC’s Executive Board recommended that Russians and Belarusians be allowed to compete in individual sports as neutral athletes, provided that they did not actively support the war in Ukraine and are not associated with military organizations.

In a post on Twitter, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki called the IOC’s decision “a scandal and a betrayal of the true spirit of sport,” saying Poland “would do everything in its power to keep sport free from Russian influence.”

A senior official from the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Piotr Wawrzyk, called the IOC’s move “a very bad decision” in an interview with the Polish Press Agency (PAP), claiming it would “serve [Russian President] Vladimir Putin’s propaganda.”

Poland and Ukraine have previously threatened to build an international coalition to boycott the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris if Russians and Belarusians are allowed to participate, even under a neutral flag.

Source: Radio Gdańsk, Polskie Radio

Scientists from Poland and Canada recently announced the discovery of a new gene whose mutations are linked to an increased risk of breast cancer.

The discovery of the new ATRIP gene was announced by Cezary Cybulski, a geneticist from the Pomeranian Medical University in Szczecin and leader of an international research team along with Dr. Mohammad Akbari of Toronto University.

The Polish-Canadian research team found that for some 25,000 Polish women with “one repeated mutation in the ATRIP gene,” the risk of breast cancer “likely more than doubles to over 20 percent” and “to more than 30 percent if they have a relative with breast cancer.”

According to the researchers, the discovery may lead to an improvement in the diagnosis and treatment of women with breast cancer, which is the leading cause of cancer-related death for women worldwide.

Cybulski said he hoped the findings would enable the creation of “a simple and cheap test to detect the mutation in the ATRIP gene” that would be available to Polish women before the end of 2023.

The complete findings of the study were published earlier this week in the prestigious “American Journal of Human Genetics.”

Source: Polskie Radio

Magda Linette and her Croatian-American partner Bernarda Pera are celebrating today after advancing to the semi-finals in the women’s doubles competition of the Miami Open tennis tournament.

The Polish-American duo defeated Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania and Anhelina Serhiyivna Kalinina of Ukraine (6-3, 7-6) yesterday in two hard-fought sets.

They will face Canadian Leylah Annie Fernandez and American Taylor Townsend on Thursday for a shot at the finals.

Both Linette and Hurkacz were knocked out of the singles competition earlier this week, with Linette losing to American Jessica Pegula in the Round of 16 and Hurkacz losing to Adrian Mannarino of France on Tuesday in the Round of 32, ending his hopes for a trophy at this year’s Miami Open.

World No. 1 Iga Świątek withdrew from the tournament earlier this month due to a rib injury.

Source: atptour.com, wtatennis.com

Folk musicians and artists from Pomerania have until Friday, March 31st, to apply for a chance to participate in the second annual “Jawor” folk art competition.

Candidates for the “Jawor – at the source of culture” award can apply in three categories: as a vocal or instrumental soloist, as part of a “folk ensemble” which includes bands, children’s and youth groups, or as a creator of “handicrafts and folk art.”

Winners in the “soloist” and “folk ensemble” categories will have the chance to perform and record in the Janusz Hajdun Concert Studio at Radio Gdańsk, while the winner in the „handicraft and folk art” category will be allowed to present their work during a special exhibition.

Winners of the “folk ensemble” and “folk art” categories will also represent the region of Pomorskie during a nationwide competition in June organized by Radio Kielce and financed by Radio Gdańsk.

Applications can be submitted to jawor@radiogdansk.pl until March 31, 2023. Details on the competition are available HERE.

Source: Radio Gdańsk

Weather

Today will start out sunny with very little chance of rain and clouds starting to gather in the afternoon, accompanied by a light breeze from the southwest. Temperatures will be similar to yesterday, with highs of 8°C or 47°F dropping to below freezing at -3°C or 27°F overnight. Slightly warmer weather is expected tomorrow, with a chance for some rain late tomorrow morning and again on Friday.

Listen to the broadcast:

Elizabeth Peck/ol