.jpg) Szewińska in 1975 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1946-05-24)24 May 1946 Leningrad,Russian SFSR, Soviet Union |
| Died | 29 June 2018(2018-06-29) (aged 72) |
| Height | 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in) |
| Weight | 60 kg (132 lb) |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Athletics |
| Club | Polonia Warszawa |
Medal record | |
Irena Szewińska (néeKirszenstein;Polish pronunciation:[iˈrɛna ʂɛˈviɲska]; 24 May 1946 – 29 June 2018) was a Polishsprinter who was one of the world's foremost track athletes for nearly two decades, in multiple events.[2][3][4][5][6][7] She won a total of seven Olympic medals including three golds. She is the only athlete in history, male or female, to have held theworld record in the 100 m, the 200 m and the 400 m events.[8] She was voted thePolish Sports Personality of the Year four times. In 2016, she was awarded Poland's highest decoration, theOrder of the White Eagle.[9]
Irena Kirszenstein was born inLeningrad to aPolish-Jewish family.[10][11][12][13][14] Her father came fromWarsaw and mother fromKiev. They met inSamarkand where they studied at the time, and in 1947 moved to Warsaw.[15]
In 1967, she married her coach, Janusz Szewiński,[16] who also competed inhurdles at the national level and later worked as a sports photographer.[17] They have two sons,Andrzej Szewiński (born 1970), who playedvolleyball for thePoland men's national volleyball team and later became asenator, and Jarosław (born 1981).[17]
In 1970, Szewińska graduated from theUniversity of Warsaw with an MSc degree ineconomics.[17]
On 29 June 2018, her death was announced by her husband. She died ofcancer aged 72 inWarsaw at the Military Institute of Medicine on Szaserów Street. Commenting on her death in a tweet, Polish presidentAndrzej Duda called her "the first lady of Polish sport."[18][19] Szewińska was buried as aCatholic at the "Avenue of the Meritorious" in thePowązki Military Cemetery inWarsaw.[20]
In 2020, she was posthumously honoured with aWorld Athletics Heritage Plaque, one of the first ever awarded, during a ceremony before the Szewinska Memorial meeting inBydgoszcz.[21] In 2021, she was voted Polish Sportsperson of the Century by the readers of thePrzegląd Sportowy magazine.[22] During her career, she had been elected asPolish Sports Personality of the Year four times by the same magazine.
Between 1964 and 1980, she participated in fiveOlympic Games, winning seven medals (the most by any Polish athlete),[23] three of them gold. She also broke sixworld records and is the only athlete (male or female) to have held a world record in the 100 m, 200 m and the 400 m events. She also won 10 medals inEuropean Championships. Between 1965 and 1979, she gathered 26 national titles and set 38 records in the 100–400 m sprint andlong jump.[16]
At her first Olympics inTokyo in 1964, she took a silver medal in the long jump and 200 metres, and ran the second leg of the gold medal-winning 4 × 100 metres relay team.
She was a double sprint winner at theWorld Student Games inBudapest in 1965. In the same year she set her first world record, breakingWyomia Tyus' 11.2 s from the previous year with an 11.1 s clocking inPrague,Czechoslovakia, July 9, 1965. She won the BritishWAAA Championships title at the1965 WAAA Championships.[24][25][26]
In 1966, at theEuropean Athletics Championships she won Gold in the long jump, 200 metres and 4 × 100 metres relay; and took a silver in the 100 metre sprint.
At her second Olympics in Mexico, She won a bronze in the 100 metres, but failed to qualify for the Long Jump final. She recovered from that disappointment, to win the gold medal in the 200 metres in a new world-record time. In the sprint relay the Polish team dropped the baton on the final exchange in the semi-final and finished last.
After giving birth to her son, in 1971, she managed a bronze medal in the long jump at the European Championships inHelsinki. She would compete in the three events at theMunich Olympics in 1972, the two sprints and the long jump. She would come away with a bronze medal in the 200 metres.
In the 1974 season, she became the first woman to break the 50-second barrier for 400 metres, and she set a new world record of 22.21 s for 200 metres. At the European Championships in theRome she won the sprint double of 100 metres and 200 metres, beating the favoured GDR sprinterRenate Stecher; and ran the anchor leg on the 4 × 100 metres relay team which took the bronze. She was ranked number 1 in the world in the 100, 200 and 400 m events in 1974.
She would win her final Olympic medal in Montreal in 1976, by winning the gold in the 400 metres in a world record time of 49.28.[16] At the inaugural World Cup of Track and Field in 1977, she would win both 200 metres and 400 metres; beating both favouredEast German runnersBärbel Wöckel andMarita Koch respectively. She would be ranked number 1 in the world for 200 m and 400 m in 1976 and 1977.
In her final appearance at the European Championships at 32 year of age, she managed to win a bronze in the 400 metres and the 4 × 400 metres relay.
She was ranked number 1 in the world 7 times in the 200 metres; 4 times in the 400 metres, and 2 times in the 100 metres; as well as 3 times in the long jump. Over-all, she was ranked 15 years in the top ten at 200 metres, also 4 times number 2, twice at number 3, which just leaves 2 years outside the top 3; (from 1964 to 1977 she was ranked in the top 3 – 200 metre runners in the world) a remarkable achievement. She was ranked 12 times in the 100 metres, 8 times in the long jump and 6 times in the 400 metres (which she took up in 1974).
She obtainedUnited Press International Athlete of the Year Award, Female 1974. She won theEuropean Sportsperson of the Year presented by thePolish Press Agency twice in 1966 and 1974.
In 1998, Szewińska became a member of theInternational Olympic Committee.[16] She was the president of thePolish Athletic Association 1997–2009.
On 3 August 2005, she was elected as the third woman to theIAAF (International Association of Athletics Federations) Council during the first session of the 45th IAAF Congress inHelsinki.
She was a member of theInternational Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, and the IAAF Hall of Fame.[27][28]
| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Representing Poland | |||||
| 1964 | European Junior Games | Warsaw, Poland | 1st | 200 m | 23.5 |
| 1st | 4 × 100 m relay | 46.6 | |||
| 1st | Long jump | 6.19 m | |||
| Olympic Games | Tokyo, Japan | 2nd | 200 m | 23.1 | |
| 1st | 4 × 100 m relay | 43.6 | |||
| 2nd | Long jump | 6.60 m | |||
| 1965 | Universiade | Budapest, Hungary | 1st | 100 m | 11.3 |
| 1st | 200 m | 23.5 | |||
| 2nd | 4 × 100 m relay | 46.1 | |||
| 1966 | European Championships | Budapest, Hungary | 2nd | 100 m | 11.5 |
| 1st | 200 m | 23.1 | |||
| 1st | 4 × 100 m relay | 44.49 | |||
| 1st | Long jump | 6.55 m | |||
| 1968 | Olympic Games | Mexico City, Mexico | 3rd | 100 m | 11.1 |
| 1st | 200 m | 22.5 | |||
| 14th (h) | 4 × 100 m relay | 53.0 | |||
| 16th (q) | Long jump | 6.19 m | |||
| 1969 | European Indoor Games | Belgrade, Serbia | 1st | 50 m | 6.4 |
| 2nd | Medley relay | 4:53.2 | |||
| 1st | Long jump | 6.38 m | |||
| 1970 | Universiade | Turin, Italy | 25th (h) | 100 m | 12.3 |
| 1971 | European Indoor Championships | Sofia, Bulgaria | 4th | 60 m | 7.5 |
| 2nd | Long jump | 6.56 m | |||
| European Championships | Helsinki, Finland | 6th | 100 m | 11.63 | |
| 3rd | 200 m | 23.32 | |||
| 5th | Long jump | 6.62 m | |||
| 1972 | European Indoor Championships | Grenoble, France | 6th | 50 m | 6.39 |
| Olympic Games | Munich, West Germany | 13th (sf) | 100 m | 11.54 | |
| 3rd | 200 m | 22.74 | |||
| 1973 | European Indoor Championships | Rotterdam, Netherlands | 4th | 60 m | 7.35 |
| 1974 | European Indoor Championships | Gothenburg, Sweden | 3rd | 60 m | 7.20 |
| European Championships | Rome, Italy | 1st | 100 m | 11.13 | |
| 1st | 200 m | 22.51 | |||
| 3rd | 4 × 100 m relay | 43.48 | |||
| 4th | 4 × 400 m relay | 3:26.4 | |||
| 1975 | European Indoor Championships | Katowice, Poland | 3rd | 60 m | 7.26 |
| 1976 | Olympic Games | Montreal, Canada | 1st | 400 m | 49.28 (WR) |
| 1977 | European Indoor Championships | San Sebastián, Spain | 7th (h) | 60 m | 7.42 |
| World Cup | Düsseldorf, West Germany | 1st | 200 m | 22.721 | |
| 1st | 400 m | 49.521 | |||
| 2nd | 4 × 400 m relay | 3:25.81 | |||
| 1978 | European Championships | Prague, Czechoslovakia | 3rd | 400 m | 50.40 |
| 5th | 4 × 100 m relay | 43.83 | |||
| 3rd | 4 × 400 m relay | 3:26.76 | |||
| 1979 | World Cup | Montreal, Canada | 3rd | 400 m | 51.151 |
| 4th | 4 × 400 m relay | 3:27.391 | |||
| 1980 | Olympic Games | Moscow, Soviet Union | 16th (sf) | 400 m | 53.13 |
1Representing Europe
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by None | United Press International Athlete of the Year 1974 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by None | Women's Track & Field Athlete of the Year 1974 | Succeeded by |
| Sporting positions | ||
| Preceded by | Women's 200 m Best Year Performance 1974 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Women's 200 m Best Year Performance 1977 | Succeeded by |
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