| Poland at the Olympics | |
|---|---|
 | |
| IOC code | POL |
| NOC | Polish Olympic Committee |
| Website | www |
| Medals Ranked 23rd |
|
| Summer appearances | |
| Winter appearances | |
| Other related appearances | |
 Russian Empire (1900, 1912) Austria (1908–1912) | |
Poland first participated at theOlympic Games in1924, and has sent athletes to compete in everySummer Olympic Games since then, except for the1984 Games, when they were forced to be part of theSoviet-led boycott of the 1984 Summer Olympics. Poland has also participated in everyWinter Olympic Games.
Polish athletes have won a total of 331 medals (80 gold, 100 silver, 151 bronze) in 21 different summer and 5 different winter sports and the country currently ranks 21st in theall-time Olympic Games medal count, withathletics as the top medal-producing sport. Poland is the second most successful country in total medals of those who have never hosted the Olympics. The nation's best overall performance at the Olympics occurred at the1976 Summer Olympics inMontreal, with the country's athletes winning 7 gold, 6 silver and 13 bronze medals and finishing sixth in the medal table.
Its most successful teams have been football and volleyball. Poland ranks fifth all-time inmodern pentathlon, seventh inathletics, and has also been successful inweightlifting,martial arts andnordic skiing.
TheNational Olympic Committee for Poland is thePolish Olympic Committee (Polish:Polski Komitet Olimpijski, PKOl). The entity was created in 1918 and recognized in 1919.[1]
Poland officially made its debut at the Olympics in 1924, however, Polish athletes did participate in earlier editions of the Olympic Games representing other nations. The first ever Olympic medal for Poland (silver) was won by track cyclists in team pursuitFranciszek Szymczyk,Jan Lazarski,Józef Lange andTomasz Stankiewicz at the1924 Summer Olympics inParis while the first gold medal for Poland was won by discus throwerHalina Konopacka at the1928 Summer Olympics inAmsterdam.[2] The first Polish sportsperson who individually won two Olympic medals (silver and bronze) was equestrianMichał Antoniewicz in 1928.
After setting its gold medal record (7) inMontreal at the1976 Summer Games, Poland won its largest number of medals to date (32) at the1980 Summer Olympics inMoscow. Poland was forced to boycott thenext Summer Olympic Games inLos Angeles by the Soviet Union, alongside another 13Eastern Bloc countries in response to theAmerican-led boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow in protest of theSoviet invasion of Afghanistan. The most successful Polish Olympian to date isIrena Szewińska with seven Olympic medals altogether.[3] With four gold medals,Robert Korzeniowski is the most successful Polish Olympian in terms of the number of gold medals.[4]
| Games | Athletes | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 1900 Paris | as part of the Russian Empire (RU1) | |||||
 1904 St. Louis | did not participate | |||||
 1908 London | as part of Austria (AUT) | |||||
 1912 Stockholm | as part of the Russian Empire (RU1) and Austria (AUT) | |||||
 1920 Antwerp | did not participate | |||||
| 1924 Paris | 65 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 22 |
 1928 Amsterdam[Art] | 93 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 21 |
| 1932 Los Angeles[Art] | 51 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 14 |
 1936 Berlin[Art] | 143 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 22 |
| 1948 London[Art] | 37 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 34 |
 1952 Helsinki | 125 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 20 |
 1956 Melbourne | 64 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 9 | 17 |
 1960 Rome | 185 | 4 | 6 | 11 | 21 | 9 |
 1964 Tokyo | 140 | 7 | 6 | 10 | 23 | 7 |
 1968 Mexico City | 177 | 5 | 2 | 11 | 18 | 11 |
 1972 Munich | 290 | 7 | 5 | 9 | 21 | 7 |
 1976 Montreal | 207 | 7 | 6 | 13 | 26 | 6 |
 1980 Moscow | 306 | 3 | 14 | 15 | 32 | 10 |
| 1984 Los Angeles | boycotted | |||||
 1988 Seoul | 143 | 2 | 5 | 9 | 16 | 20 |
 1992 Barcelona | 201 | 3 | 6 | 10 | 19 | 19 |
| 1996 Atlanta | 165 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 17 | 11 |
| 2000 Sydney | 187 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 14 | 14 |
 2004 Athens | 194 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 10 | 23 |
 2008 Beijing | 268 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 11 | 17 |
| 2012 London | 218 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 11 | 24 |
 2016 Rio de Janeiro | 242 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 11 | 33 |
| 2020 Tokyo | 210 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 14 | 17 |
 2024 Paris | 213 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 10 | 42 |
| 2028 Los Angeles | future event | |||||
| 2032 Brisbane | ||||||
| Total (23/30) | 3,924 | 73 | 93 | 142 | 308 | 20 |
| Games | Athletes | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1924 Chamonix | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – |
 1928 St. Moritz | 26 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – |
| 1932 Lake Placid | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – |
| 1936 Garmisch-Partenkirchen | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – |
| 1948 St. Moritz | 29 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – |
 1952 Oslo | 30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – |
| 1956 Cortina d'Ampezzo | 51 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 12 |
| 1960 Squaw Valley | 13 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 11 |
 1964 Innsbruck | 51 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – |
| 1968 Grenoble | 31 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – |
| 1972 Sapporo | 47 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 13 |
| 1976 Innsbruck | 56 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – |
| 1980 Lake Placid | 30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – |
 1984 Sarajevo | 30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – |
| 1988 Calgary | 32 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – |
| 1992 Albertville | 53 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – |
| 1994 Lillehammer | 28 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – |
| 1998 Nagano | 39 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2002 Salt Lake City | 27 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 21 |
| 2006 Turin | 45 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 20 |
| 2010 Vancouver | 47 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 15 |
| 2014 Sochi | 58 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 11 |
| 2018 Pyeongchang | 62 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 20 |
| 2022 Beijing | 57 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 27 |
| 2026 Milano Cortina | future event | |||||
| 2030 French Alps | ||||||
| 2034 Salt Lake City | ||||||
| Total (24/24) | 884 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 23 | 24 |
| Sport | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Athletics | 29 | 20 | 18 | 67 |
 Boxing | 8 | 10 | 26 | 44 |
 Weightlifting | 6 | 6 | 22 | 34 |
 Wrestling | 5 | 9 | 13 | 27 |
 Fencing | 4 | 9 | 10 | 23 |
 Rowing | 4 | 4 | 12 | 20 |
 Shooting | 4 | 3 | 5 | 12 |
 Judo | 3 | 3 | 2 | 8 |
 Modern pentathlon | 3 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
 Equestrian | 1 | 3 | 2 | 6 |
 Swimming | 1 | 3 | 2 | 6 |
 Football | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
 Sailing | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 |
 Gymnastics | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
 Volleyball | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
 Sport climbing | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
 Canoeing | 0 | 9 | 14 | 23 |
 Cycling | 0 | 8 | 4 | 12 |
 Archery | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
 Handball | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
 Tennis | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (21 entries) | 73 | 93 | 142 | 308 |
| Sport | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Ski jumping | 4 | 3 | 3 | 10 |
 Cross country skiing | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
 Speed skating | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 |
 Biathlon | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
 Nordic combined | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (5 entries) | 7 | 7 | 9 | 23 |
In addition to its accomplishments in sport, Poland has also earned recognition in Olympicart competitions—one of the threenon-sports events once included in the Olympic Games. The country won a total of eight art competition medals (3 gold, 2 silver, and 3 bronze), across the1928,1932,1936, and1948 Summer Olympics.[7] These events were part of the official Olympic program in seven Summer Games, from 1912 to 1948. In 1952, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) formally discontinued all non-sport events (including art competitions), as well as awards for feats (such asalpinism andaeronautics). These were subsequently removed from official national medal counts.[8][nb 1]
| Medal | Name | Games | Event | Piece |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Gold | Kazimierz Wierzyński | 1928 Amsterdam | Literature, Lyric works | "Laur Olimpijski"[9][10] |
 Bronze | Władysław Skoczylas | 1928 Amsterdam | Painting, Drawings | "Archer"[11][12] |
| Gold | Józef Klukowski | 1932 Los Angeles | Sculpture, Medals And Reliefs | "Sport Sculpture II"[13] |
 Silver | Janina Konarska | 1932 Los Angeles | Painting, Graphic Arts | "Stadium"[14] |
| Silver | Józef Klukowski | 1936 Berlin | Sculpture, Reliefs | "Ball"[15] |
| Bronze | Jan Parandowski | 1936 Berlin | Literature, Epic works | "Olympic Discus"[16][17] |
| Bronze | Stanisław Ostoja-Chrostowski | 1936 Berlin | Painting, Applied Arts | "Yachting Club Certificate"[18][19] |
| Gold | Zbigniew Turski | 1948 London | Music, Compositions for Qrchestra | "Olympic Symphony"[20][21] |
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