2011 Summer Universiade, Shenzen: hammer throw gold (78.14m); 2013 Summer Universiade, Kazan: hammer throw gold (79.99m); 2015 Summer Universiade, Gwangju: hammer throw gold (80.05m); 2017 Summer Universaide, Taipei: hammer throw gold (79.16m).

Speaking to insidethegames in 2017, Oleg Matytsin, President of the International University Sports Federation, said: "We know that many of our Universiade participants will go on to the Olympic Games and to World Championships in Olympic sports.

"South Africa's Wayde van Niekerk is a Universiade legend and now we have been watching him compete at the Athletics World Championships in London. 

"Another athlete, the Polish hammer thrower Pawel Fajdek, came to London looking to add his third World Championship gold medal to the three Universiade titles he's won."

In the same month that he won that third world title, Fajdek added a fourth Universiade title in Taipei. And after taking European silver in Berlin in 2018, he brought his world title total level with his Universiade tally at Doha 2019.

Fajdek is one of the greatest examples of an athlete who has developed into a global champion having won at the summer Universiade. But, by a quirk of fate, this affable Pole has never managed to win an Olympic medal of any colour.

A throw of 78.14 metres was enough to earn Fajdek his first Universiade gold at the 2011 edition in Shenzhen, China, finishing more than four metres clear of Slovakia's Marcel Lomnicky, who reached 73.90m.

Fajdek beat Lomnicky to the title again two years later in the Russian venue of Kazan, although this time it was closer, 79.99m to 78.73m.

In between these wins, however, the 6ft 1in Pole suffered disappointment as he only finished 11th at the 2011 World Championships and then failed to register a mark at the London 2012 Olympics.

Having successfully defended his Universiade title, Fajdek went on to claim his first world title in Moscow in 2013, where he won with 81.97m, adding the Jeux de la Francophonie gold later in the year.

A throw of 82.05m at the Zurich 2014 European Athletics Championships only earned him a silver, but the following year he successfully. He then retained his world title in Beijing with an effort of 80.88m.

The latter triumph took place despite the fact that his then 80-year-old coach, Czeslaw Cybulski, was recovering in hospital after surgery to his leg after being accidentally hit by his hammer in training.

In 2016, Fajdek swapped silver for gold at the European Championships in Amsterdam, throwing 80.93m, but his form faltered again at the Rio 2016 Olympics, where he failed to qualify for the final having managed a best of 72.00m.

The following year witnessed business as usual, however, with his wins in Taipei, where he reached 79.16m, and London, where he won with 79.86m. 

And after his European silver in Berlin, Doha offered him the opportunity to win a record fourth men's hammer world title with an effort of 80.50m.

"It was a very difficult season with a very good end," Fajdek said. "I had to go from zero to 100 per cent in just one year, coming back from injury. I basically had only seven months for the preparation.

"I had some back problems, knee problems, but that is our job to deal with it. It is normal. 

"Now, taking the fourth World Championship title – it is very emotional for me and I feel very proud tonight."

Describing his mindset after the London 2012 Games, he said: "After the London Olympics that was a disaster for me, I told myself I want to win 10 medals during the next seven years. Medals of any colours."

Doha 2019 brought his post-London 2012 collection to nine golds and two silvers.