Andrzej Stanisław Badeński (10 May 1943 – 28 September 2008) was a Polish sprinter who specialized in the

400 metres The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics (sport), athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor runn ...

. He won a bronze medal in that event at the

1964 Summer Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 ( ja, 東京1964), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this ho ...

, and won the gold medal in that event at the European Indoor Championships in 1968 and in 1971.

Career

Badenski was born in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

and represented the club

Legia Warszawa Legia Warszawa (), commonly referred to as Legia Warsaw or simply Legia, is a professional football club based in Warsaw, Poland. Legia is the most successful Polish football club in history, winning record 15 Ekstraklasa champions titles, a ...

.Andrzej Badeński
Sports Reference At the 1962 European Championships he finished sixth in the 400 metres. He did however win few international accolades before winning the bronze medal in the 400 metres at the 1964 Olympic Games. At the same Olympics he finished sixth in the

4×400 metres relay Four-wheel drive, also called 4×4 ("four by four") or 4WD, refers to a two-axled vehicle drivetrain capable of providing torque to all of its wheels simultaneously. It may be full-time or on-demand, and is typically linked via a transfer case ...

together with the Polish team. At the 1966 European Championships he won a silver medal in the 400 metres, only behind

Stanislaw Gredzinski Stanislav and variants may refer to: People * Stanislav (given name), a Slavic given name with many spelling variations (Stanislaus, Stanislas, Stanisław, etc.) Places * Stanislav, a coastal village in Kherson, Ukraine * Stanislaus County, C ...

, and won the 4×400 metres relay together with Jan Werner,

Edmund Borowski Edmund Borowski (23 January 1945 – 22 August 2022) was a Polish sprinter who specialized in the 400 metres. At the 1966 European Championships he won a gold medal in the 4 x 400 metres relay together with Jan Werner, Stanisław G ...

and Stanislaw Gredzinski. After this, his greatest success would come in the regional indoor championships. At the

1967 European Indoor Games The 1967 European Indoor Games were held at Sportovní hala, Prague, Czechoslovakia (present-day Czech Republic) from 11 March to 12 March 1967. The track used for the championships was 150 metres long. Medal summary Men Women Medal table P ...

he competed in the relay final, but the team did not finish, and at the

1968 European Indoor Games The 1968 European Indoor Games were held between 9–10 March 1968 at Palacio de Deportes, Madrid, the capital of Spain. The track used for the championships was 182 metres long. Medal summary Men Women Medal table Participating nations ...

he won a gold medal in the relay. He also won the individual distance at the 1968 European Indoor Games, and two relay gold medals at the 1969 European Indoor Games. His second Olympic Games were in 1968. He finished seventh in the

. In the

he finished fourth together with Stanislaw Gredzinski,

Jan Balachowski Jan Balachowski (born 28 December 1948) is a retired Polish sprinter who specialized in the 400 metres. He was born in Kraków and represented the club Cracovia Kraków.1969 European Championships. In the individual distance he finished sixth. At the 1970 European Indoor Championships he won two silver medals; in the individual distance as well as in relay. At the 1971 European Indoor Championships he won gold medals in both these events, the latter together with

Waldemar Korycki Waldemar Korycki (born 11 August 1946) is a retired Polish sprinter who specialized in the 400 metres. He was a successful relay runner. At the 1968 European Indoor Games he won a gold medal in the short relay and a silver medal in the ...

, Jan Werner and Jan Balachowski. With the same team members he won a silver medal in the relay at the 1971 European Championships and a gold medal at the 1972 European Indoor Championships. At the 1972 Olympic Games he reached the semi-final in the

and finished fifth in the

relay A relay Electromechanical relay schematic showing a control coil, four pairs of normally open and one pair of normally closed contacts An automotive-style miniature relay with the dust cover taken off A relay is an electrically operated switch ...

. He became Polish 400 metres champion in 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965 and 1967, and in 1971 he became American indoor champion in the 600 yards event. His personal best time in the 400 metres was 45.42 seconds, achieved in 1968. At the end of his career in 1974 he defected to the West and lived in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

until his death. He died near

Wiesbaden Wiesbaden () is a city in central western Germany and the capital of the state of Hesse. , it had 290,955 inhabitants, plus approximately 21,000 United States citizens (mostly associated with the United States Army). The Wiesbaden urban area ...

in September 2008.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Badenski, Andrzej 1943 births 2008 deaths Polish male sprinters Olympic athletes of Poland 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 Polish emigrants to Germany Polish defectors Legia Warsaw athletes European Athletics Championships medalists Medalists at the 1964 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for Poland Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes from Warsaw