Photo: Forum-0458418482
From Paris to Paris 1924-2024. Poles at the Olympic Games.
Part I
Over the past 100 years, Poles have taken part in the Summer Olympics over 20 times. The performance in Paris will be the 23rd time our team has taken part in the Games. The debut in 1924 ended with two medals. And how was it later?
After Paris in 1924, the next games were held in Amsterdam from 28 July to 12 August 1928. The flag bearer for the Polish team at the opening ceremony was the wrestler Marian Cieniewski. A total of 76 athletes were sent to the games. Halina Konopacka was the first person from Poland to win the most valuable trophy in most sports – Olympic gold. In total, we won five medals.
The trip of the Polish national team to the Games of the 10th Olympiad in Los Angeles (30 July – 7 August 1932) was financed by the Polish-American community. Given the high costs of the expedition, it was decided to send only the best athletes with a chance of very high positions, including medals. The team therefore consisted of only twenty athletes. The participation of the athletes proved to be the greatest success: Kusociński and Walasiewicz, who won gold medals. The start in rowing was also highly appreciated, as the Polish teams won no less than three medals.
A large Olympic team set off for the Games of the 11th Olympiad in Berlin (1-16 August 1936), hoping to deliver the best performance in history. A total of 114 athletes, including 11 women, competed in the Olympic arenas. The athletes competed in 14 sports – including two team sports: football and basketball. At the opening ceremony, our flag was carried by athlete Klemens Biniakowski, a participant in the 4×400m relay. The overall result of the Games was average – six medals were won, but unfortunately not a single gold. The greatest disappointment came from the representatives of combat sports (boxers and fencers), who were undoubtedly contenders for the podium, but ended up with two fourth places.
After the war, the next games were held from 29 July to 14 August 1948. Poland’s small team of 24 athletes, including lightweight boxer Mieczysław Łomowski, brought home just one medal – a bronze for lightweight boxer Aleksej Antkiewicz. But his achievements, and those of the two athletes who finished just off the podium, were nothing to be ashamed of after so much destruction and loss during the years of occupation. In London, for the last time in the history of the Games, awards were presented to artists whose work had been entered in the literary and artistic competition. Composer Zbigniew Turski won a gold medal for his ‘Second Olympic Symphony’.
The Summer Olympics, held in the Finnish capital from 19 July to 3 August 1952, brought us four medals, including one gold. The team’s flag bearer was rower Teodor Kocerka. The most valuable medal in Helsinki went to a boxer – Zygmunt Chychła. In total, we won four medals – one gold, two silver and one bronze.
At the next Games in Melbourne, Australia (22 November – 8 December 1956), the only gold for our colours was won in the long jump by the twenty-two-year-old Elżbieta Duńska-Krzesińska. She jumped 6.35m, breaking her own world record. The flag bearer was jumper Tadeusz Rut. At the end of these Olympics, in which 65 of our athletes took part, including 16 women, a closing ceremony was held for the first time. In total, Poland won nine medals (one gold, four silver and four bronze).
Teodor Kocerka carried the red and white flag at the opening ceremony of the Rome Games from 25 August to 11 September 1960 for the second time, but the greatest hopes for a gold medal at the 17th Olympic Games were pinned on the performance of the world record holder in the triple jump, Józef Schmidt, who became the first man ever to clear the 17-metre mark. The Pole did not disappoint his fans at home, winning the Olympic title in style. The red-and-white team consisted of 205 athletes, including 30 women.
In 1964, the performance of the Polish Olympic team in Tokyo confirmed the very high level of our sport, especially in strength sports and athletics. The 144-member team (including 26 women) finished one place lower in the medal table than in Rome (seventh) but won a greater number of medals – 23. At the forefront was the success of the boxers from the Feliks Stamm school, who reached the peak of their performance at the Tokyo Games, winning no fewer than seven medals, including three gold. The other rings of the most precious medal were won by Józef Schmidt, Egon Franke in fencing, weightlifter Waldemar Baszanowski and the women’s relay team in athletics (4x100m).
Irena Szewinska /https://pzla.pl/
The Games of the 19th Olympiad were held in Ciudad Mexico from 12 to 27 October 1968. Many of our medallists from four years earlier were back on the Olympic podium. The most notable of these were those who took home gold again: boxer Jerzy Kulej, weightlifter Waldemar Baszanowski, who carried the Polish flag at the Olympic opening ceremony for the second year running, and athlete Irena Szewińska.
The Olympic Games were held in Munich from 26 August to 11 September 1972. One of the most memorable sporting events in Munich was the excellent performance of the football team, which won the Olympic amateur tournament. Gold medals were also won by Władysław Komar in shot-putting, Zygmunt Smalcerz in weightlifting, Jan Szczepański in boxing, Witold Woyda individually and with his team partners in fencing and Józef Zapędzki in shooting. In total, we won 21 medals (seven gold, five silver and nine bronze). Poland was represented in almost all disciplines.
The next Summer Games were held in Montreal, Canada, from 17 July to 1 August 1976. For the 207-strong Polish team, the start in Canada was very successful: the red and white team won a total of 26 medals (including seven gold, six silver and 13 bronze), won by the volleyball team, boxer Jerzy Rybicki, pole vaulter Tadeusz Ślusarski, athlete Irena Szewińska, high jumper Jacek Wszoła, pentathlete Janusz Pyciak-Peciak and wrestler Kazimierz Lipień. Poland finished a very high fifth in the points classification and sixth in the medals table at the Montreal Games.
Krzysztof Szujecki
Source: DlaPolonii.pl
