This could prove to be a landmark year for many Polish athletes with both the Euro 2012 soccer championships and the London Olympics set to offer the country's sports stars a chance to write their names in history. Below, WBJ.pl takes a look at the Polish athletes currently making the news and assesses their chances of success over the next 12 months.

Agnieszka Radwańska

Kraków-born tennis player Agnieszka Radwańska is still chasing her first Grand Slam title, but 2012 could be the year where she finally makes it in the big time, with four majors up for grabs and the chance of an Olympic medal come August.

The 21-year-old, who is ranked number eight in the world by the ATP, is currently making good progress at the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam of the 2012 calendar. Having beaten Bethanie Mattek-Sands by two sets to one in the first round, she then overcame Argentina's Paula Ormaechea with a comfortable 6-3, 6-1 win to reach round three, where she will face Kazakhstan’s Galina Voskoboeva.

And the form guide suggest Ms Radwańska has some chance of lifting the main prize, after a good start to 2012. She has already reached the semi-finals of the Sydney International tournament, becoming the first Polish woman to defeat a reigning world number one, when she beat Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki in the quarter-final.

Justyna Kowalczyk

Cross-country skier Justyna Kowalczyk is now one of the most decorated Polish athletes of all time, after capturing the 2011/2012 Tour de Ski title earlier this January. This was the third time in a row that Ms Kowalczyk had won cross-country skiing's most prestigious event, meaning she is now able to add another title to her already bulging trophy cabinet, having already won two World Championship golds in both the 15 km and 30 km events, and an Olympic gold at the 2010 Vancouver Games.

Ms Kowalczyk has a busy calender before she once again challenges for top honors at the World Cup in Sweden this March. And it would be difficult to bet against her once again taking home a winners medal.

Robert Lewandowski and Wojciech Szczęsny

Unquestionably the biggest sporting story in Poland this coming year is Euro 2012, which offers Poland's international soccer players the opportunity to become national heroes, should they progress through the group stages or even do the unthinkable and win the whole tournament.

Arguably Poland's two best players from the current batch are 23-year-old Borussia Dortmund striker Robert Lewandowski and Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny. Mr Lewandowski is currently enjoying a great second season in Germany's Bundesliga, having scored 12 league goals in just 17 games this season, including a hat-trick in a 4-0 demolition of FC Augsburg.

Mr Szczęsny has had a more mixed season. Despite firmly establishing himself as Arsenal's first-choice keeper at the tender age of 21, he has also made a number of high-profile mistakes this season, leading some to question whether he is ready for the challenges of regular Premier League and Champions League action.

But if Poland is to have any chance of progressing through a first round group that includes the Czech Republic, Greece and Russia, it will definitely need both players to be on top form come June 8 – when the tournament's opening match is scheduled to be held.

Robert Kubica

One Polish sports star who definitely won't have a successful 2012 is Formula 1 driver Robert Kubica.

In February last year the Kraków-born driver was involved in a horrific car accident while competing in the Ronde di Andora rally race. The crash left him with multiple fractures to his right arm and leg and a severe hand injury, ruling the Renault driver out of both the 2011 and 2012 seasons.

Then, on January 11 this year more bad luck struck Mr Kubica when he slipped outside his Italian home and re-broke the same leg, further putting back his recovery date.

It now remains to be seen whether he can make a full recovery and return to Formula 1 for the 2013 season, or if his career at the top level of motor sport is over.