Let the Games Begin: Memorable Moments in Polish Olympic History
One year after the original games were slated to take place, the Tokyo 2020 Olympics are finally upon us! In honour of the games and the wonderful athletes representing Poland in the coming weeks, join Culture.pl in celebrating nine memorable moments in Polish Olympic history.
Like pretty much anyone with access to Twitter or a television set, the global enthusiasm associated with the Olympics is something I look forward to every few years. Whether it involves listening to my mom’s childhood stories of her and my uncles’ rollerblade-reenactments of Eric and Beth Heiden’s speed skating feats, or me and my sister cartwheeling around the living room during Shawn Johnson’s Beijing 2008 balance beam routine, to me, the Olympics have always been capable of connecting people of all backgrounds.
This has become especially evident this summer as an American working with Culture.pl. At a time where so many are desperate to regain a sense of normalcy after a year and a half of hardship, enjoying the excitement of sports tournaments like EURO 2020 and now, the Tokyo Olympics, has promoted a sense of camaraderie that transcends borders, culture, and even language. So to celebrate the long-awaited ‘2020’ Summer Olympic games, below are some of the most notable Polish Olympic moments that will remain in Poland’s – and the world’s – consciousness for generations to come.
Irena Szewińska's world record-breaking 400 metre dash at the 1976 Montreal Olympics
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Poland's Irena Szewińska (227) sprints to gold in a world record time in the Women's 400 Metre event at the Summer Olympic Games in Montreal, Canada, 29 July 1976, photo: AP Photo / East News
As Poland’s most successful Olympian ever, many of sprinter Irena Szewińska’s athletic moments are (unsurprisingly) unforgettable. It was her performance in the 1976 Montreal Summer Olympics, however, that many believe to be her most memorable. After already having won two gold medals at the 1964 Tokyo and 1968 Mexico City Olympics, Szewińska won her final gold medal in Montreal in 1976, with a world record time of 49.28 seconds in the 400 metre race. Szewińska is also the only athlete – male or female – to ever hold the world record in the 100 metre, 200 metre and 400 metre dashes.
Artur Partyka’s high jump at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics
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Artur Partyka’s 2.37 metre high jump at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, photo: Teodor Walczak / PAP
After competing in the 1988 Seoul Olympics and earning a bronze medal in Barcelona in 1992, high jumper Artur Partyka joined the ranks of record-breaking Polish Olympians with his 2.37 metre jump at the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics. While Partyka placed second after American jumper Charles Austin at the games (who set the Olympic high jump record with a 2.39 metre jump), Partyka’s jump maintains the overall Polish Olympic high jump record to this day. Partyka is also one of 21 high jumpers ever to clear a jump height of 2.38 metres or more in competition after successfully making a 2.38 metre jump in Eberstadt, Germany in August 1996.
Anita Włodarczyk’s hammer throw at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics
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Anita Włodarczyk of Poland competes in the Women's Hammer Throw final at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, photo: Alexander Hassenstein / Getty Images
Wondering who to look out for this year in Tokyo? How about Poland’s ‘hammer queen’ Anita Włodarczyk! Widely considered the best women’s hammer thrower in history, she is the first woman to ever throw a hammer further than 80 metres.
Włodarczyk’s performance in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 was particularly astounding, as she not only broke her own world record by a full 2 metres but also surpassed the 2016 men’s winning hammer throw by over 4 metres (for reference: the winning men’s throw in Rio was 78.68 metres while Włodarczyk’s was 82.98 metres). Poland’s hammer queen, indeed!
Kamil Stoch’s large hill jump at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics
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Kamil Stoch’s large hill jump in the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympic games, photo: AFP / Christof Stache / East News
With an impressive legacy in Polish sports history and ski jumping overall, one of ski jumper Kamil Stoch’s most notable career moments came during the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang. After a short second jump in the normal hill event resulted in a fourth-place finish, Stoch ended up coming back on the large hill with a 136.5 metre jump that secured him a gold medal – his third.
After his win in 2018, Stoch, aged 30, became the oldest individual gold medalist in the entire history of ski jumping. He remains an extremely popular sports personality in Poland, something made especially clear in April 2018 when the Polish postal service issued a stamp with his image!
Franciszek Gąsienica Groń’s performance in the Nordic combined at the 1956 Cortina d'Ampezzo Olympics
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Franciszek Gąsienica Groń at the1956 Winter games in Cortina d'Ampezzo, photo: Jerzy Baranowski / PAP
A generally lesser-known Polish Olympian, Poland’s first-ever medal in the Winter Olympics came from Nordic combined athlete Franciszek Gąsienica Groń, who took bronze in Cortina d’Ampezzo in 1956. What’s especially interesting about Groń, though, are the circumstances leading up to this medal. Groń took up the Nordic combined discipline a mere two years before his Olympic debut, after completing his compulsory military service. He also only received a spot on the Olympic team when Polish national team coach Marian Orlewicz threatened to resign.
To this day, Groń’s medal remains the only one ever won by a Pole in the Nordic combined events at the Olympics. Groń’s grandson Tomasz Pochwała is also a Polish Olympian, having competed in the normal and large hill ski jumping events in the 2002 Winter games before changing sports to the Nordic combined in 2008.
Justyna Kowalczyk’s sprint finish in the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics
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Poland's Justyna Kowalczyk celebrates her gold medal in the women's 30 kilometre Classical at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games, photo: ITAR-TASS / Alexei Filippov / PAP
Like any Olympic nail-biting finish, cross-country skier Justyna Kowalczyk’s completion of the women’s 30 kilometre classical at the 2010 Winter games had the entire world holding its breath. Posting a total time of 1 hour, 30 minutes, and 33.7 seconds, it was Kowalczyk’s final sprint that won her a gold medal, beating Norwegian runner-up Marit Bjørgen’s time by only 0.3 seconds. To top it off? Kowalczyk’s 0.3 second winning margin in Vancouver was the narrowest in the entire history of the women’s 30 kilometre classical.
Jerzy Pawłowski’s win in the individual sabre event at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics
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Fencer Jerzy Pawłowski, photo: Włodzimierz Werner / PAP
Fencer Jerzy Pawłowski’s 1968 win marked the first time a non-Hungarian had won gold in the sabre event in 48 years. Though Pawłowski’s decades-long fencing career garnered five Olympic medals, recognition as the ‘greatest fencer of all time’ by the International Fencing Federation, and the title of ‘undisputed sports hero of Poland’ by Time Magazine, this moment is especially unique considering that Pawłowski acted as a double agent for the United States Central Intelligence Agency and Polish intelligence during this Olympic appearance
In 1976, Pawłowski was sentenced to 25 years in prison for espionage on behalf of the United States CIA and his fencing achievements were removed from Poland’s official sports history. He was eventually released in 1985 via a spy exchange between Cold War powers and remained in Poland until his death.
Robert Korzeniowski’s 20 kilometre men’s race walk at the 2000 Sydney Olympics
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Robert Korzeniowski of Poland celebrates after winning the 20 kilometre Men's Race Walk at the 2000 Summer Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia, photo: Imago Sportfotodienst / East News
On top of the exhilarating near-sprint finish that allowed him to clinch the gold, Polish racewalker Robert Korzeniowski’s 20 kilometre racewalk in the 2000 Summer Olympics was the moment he became the first athlete to ever win a gold medal in both long and short distance racewalking. After taking home a gold medal in the 1996 games for his performance in the 50 kilometre racewalk, Korzeniowski went on to win a second gold medal at the event in Sydney, as well as one for the 20 kilometre race.
His Olympic feats have secured him a prestigious spot in Polish athletic history, with Korzeniowski currently ranking first in the number of Olympic gold medals among Polish athletes (four).
Pole vaulter Władysław Kozakiewicz's arm gesture at the 1980 Moscow Olympics
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Polish pole vaulter Władysław Kozakiewicz makes a gesture to the crowd after setting a world record in the Olympic pole vault final in Moscow, 30 July 1980, photo: AFP / East News
Both a significant moment in Olympic and Cold War history, pole vaulter Władysław Kozakiewicz’s performance at the 1980 games is noteworthy for reasons more than just his world-record-breaking jump.
Facing a crowd of mostly Soviet spectators, the ambience in the stadium was relatively hostile when it came time for Kozakiewicz’s turn to jump. As a result, when Kozakiewicz made a 5.70 metre jump – the highest so far of that day, he showed the ‘bras d’honneur’ gesture to the hecklers in the crowd. Despite the mixture of shock, anger, and for some, delight, that the gesture aroused in the stadium onlookers, Kozakiewicz went on to repeat the gesture a second time after his second jump broke the world record at a height of 5.78 metres.
Kozakiewicz eventually faced harsh backlash from some of the communist authorities in Poland and the Soviet Union, whose ambassador demanded that he be stripped of his medal. This was halted only when the future chief of the International Olympic Committee, Juan Antonio Samaranch, advocated on his behalf, eventually leading the committee to drop all charges against Kozakiewicz (learn more about the story from the man himself in this episode of Culture.pl’s podcast Stories From the Eastern West!)
What new feats can we expect from our athletes this year? Tune into the Tokyo 2020 Olympics from 23rd July to 8th August to cheer on Team Poland as they take the global stage!
Written by Brooke Weichel, Jul 2021
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