Karolina Naja
- Country
- Poland
- Club
- KS Posnania Poznań
- Born
- 1990
Karolina Naja is the most decorated Polish kayaker in Olympic history, with four medals across three consecutive Games. She took bronze in the K2 500 at London 2012 and Rio 2016 alongside Beata Mikołajczyk, then upgraded in Tokyo with K2 500 silver next to Anna Puławska and a K4 500 bronze. A professional soldier decorated with the Knight's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta, she races for KS Posnania. The Olympic haul is only part of the story. Her first world title came in the K1 4×200 m relay in 2014, and 2022 in Dartmouth was the season of her life: world golds in both the K2 500 with Puławska and the K4 500, on top of a double European title in Munich. In all, she has collected six European championship golds spread across a full decade, from 2012 to 2022 — and she carried the Polish flag at the Tokyo closing ceremony. What sets her apart is longevity. Naja has raced at four straight Olympic Games, from London to Paris, where in 2024 she placed fourth in the K4 500 final and reached the K2 500 semifinal with Puławska — all while combining an elite career with motherhood and returning to the podium after the birth of her son. She was still collecting silverware in 2025, with three runner-up finishes across K1, K2 and K4 racing, and she remains the reference point for a [Polish squad](/news/kadra-walcz-czerwiec-2026-en) now building towards Los Angeles 2028.