Irena Szewińska
Irena Szewińska, 2007 | ||
Medal record | ||
---|---|---|
Women's athletics | ||
Representing | ||
Olympic Games | ||
1964 Tokyo | 4 x 100 m | |
1968 Mexico City | 200 m | |
1976 Montréal | 400 m | |
1964 Tokyo | 200 m | |
1964 Tokyo | Long jump | |
1968 Mexico City | 100 m | |
1972 Munich | 200 m | |
European Championships | ||
1966 Budapest | 200 m | |
1966 Budapest | Long jump | |
1966 Budapest | 4 x 100 m | |
1974 Rome | 100 m | |
1974 Rome | 200 m | |
1966 Budapest | 100 m | |
1971 Helsinki | 200 m | |
1974 Rome | 4 x 100 m | |
1978 Prague | 400 m | |
1978 Prague | 4 x 400 m |
Irena Szewińska (born Irena Kirszenstein on 24 May 1946 in Leningrad, USSR) is a retired Polish sprinter who was one of the world's foremost athletes for nearly two decades, in multiple events.[1][2][3][4][5][6]
Biography
Between 1964 and 1980 she participated in five Olympic Games, winning seven medals, three of them gold. She also broke six world 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 13 medals in European Championships. Between 1965 and 1979 she gathered 26 titles of Champion of Poland in 100 m sprint, 200 m sprint, 400 m sprint, 4x400 m relay and long jump.
In the 1974 season, she became the first woman to break the 50.0 second barrier for 400 metres, and she set a new world record of 22.21 for 200 meters. She was ranked number 1 in the world in 100m, 200, 400m in 1974.
She would win her final Olympic medal in Montreal in 1976, by winning the Gold medal in the 400 metres in World Record time of 49.29. At the inaugural World Cup of Track and Field in 1977, she would win both 200 metres and 400 metres; beating both favoured East German runners Barbel Wockel and Marita Koch respectively. She would be ranked number 1 in the world for 200m and 400m in 1977.
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.
As of 2004, she is the head of the Polish Federation of Athletics and a member of the International Olympic Committee.
On 3 August 2005, she was elected as the third woman to the IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federations) Council during the first session of the 45th IAAF Congress in Helsinki.
She's a member of the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.[7][8]
Medals and championships timeline
Year | Games | Where | Event | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1964 | 1964 Summer Olympics | Tokyo | 4 x 100 m 200 m long jump |
Gold, 43.6 - WR Silver |
1965 | 100 m sprint 200 m |
11.1 - WR 22.7 - WR | ||
1966 | European Championships | Budapest | 200 m sprint long jump 4 x 100 m 100 m |
Gold Gold Gold Silver |
1968 | 1968 Summer Olympics | Mexico City | 200 m 100 m |
Gold 22.5 WR Bronze |
1971 | European Championships (outdoor) | Helsinki | 200 m | Bronze |
1971 | European Championships (indoor) | Helsinki | Long jump | Silver |
1972 | 1972 Summer Olympics | Munich | 200 m | Bronze |
1974 | European Championships (outdoor) | Rome | 100 m 200 m 4 x 100 m |
Gold Gold Bronze |
1974 | European Championships (indoor) | Rome | 60 m | Bronze |
1975 | European Championships (indoor) | 60 m | Bronze | |
1976 | 1976 Summer Olympics | Montreal | 400 m | Gold 49.29 - WR |
1977 | 1977 World Cup of Athletics | Dusseldorf | 200 m 400m 4 x 400 m |
Gold Gold Silver |
1978 | European Championships | Prague | 400 m 4 x 400 m |
Bronze Bronze |
1979 | 1979 World Cup of Athletics | Montreal | 400m | Bronze |
See also
References
- ^ Joseph Siegman (2000). Jewish sports legends: the International Jewish Hall of Fame. pg 176-177, 252-253: Brassey's. p. 278. ISBN 1-57488-284-8.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location (link) - ^ Robert Wechsler, Bob Wechsler (2007). Day by Day in Jewish Sports History. pg 36, 40, 54, 70, 145, 157, 165, 21, 221, 246, 248, 288-289, 292-293, 295: KTAV Publishing House, Inc. p. 404. ISBN 0-88125-969-1.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location (link) - ^ Mordecai Schreiber, Alvin I. Schiff, Leon Klenicki (2003). The Shengold Jewish Encyclopedia. pg 246, 300: Schreiber Pub. p. 301. ISBN 1-887563-77-6.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Peter S Horvitz (2007). The Big Book of Jewish Sports Heroes: An Illustrated Compendium of Sports History and the 150 Greatest Jewish Sports Stars. pg 22: SP Books. p. 295. ISBN 1-56171-907-2.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location (link) - ^ Paul Taylor (2004). Jews and the Olympic Games: the clash between sport and politics : with a complete review of Jewish Olympic medallists. pg 138, 192, 243: Sussex Academic Press. p. 268. ISBN 1-903900-87-5.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location (link) - ^ Mariah Burton Nelson, Lissa Smith (1998). Nike is a Goddess: The History of Women in Sports. pg 22: Atlantic Monthly Press. p. 352. ISBN 0-87113-761-5.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location (link) - ^ Joseph M. Siegman (1992). The International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. pg 96, 170-171: SP Books. p. 220. ISBN 1-56171-028-8.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location (link) - ^ Carolyn Starman Hessel (1999). Blessed Is the Daughter. pg 123-124: Shengold Books. p. 150. ISBN 1-887563-44-X.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location (link)
- Jews in Sports
- KIRSZENSTEIN-SZEWIŃSKA, Irena International Who's Who. accessed 4 September 2006.
- 1946 births
- Living people
- Polish Jews
- Jewish athletes (track and field)
- Polish sprinters
- Olympic athletes of Poland
- Olympic gold medalists for Poland
- Olympic silver medalists for Poland
- Olympic bronze medalists for Poland
- International Olympic Committee members
- International Association of Athletics Federations Hall of Fame inductees
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1964 Summer Olympics
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1968 Summer Olympics
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1972 Summer Olympics
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1976 Summer Olympics
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1980 Summer Olympics
- Polish refugees
- Polish expatriates in the Soviet Union
- Sportspeople from Saint Petersburg
- Olympic medalists in athletics (track and field)
- Female sprinters
- Polish long jumpers
- Female long jumpers
- European Athletics Championships medalists