Erwina Lilia Ryś-Ferens ( Ryś; 19 January 1955 – 20 April 2022) was a Polish speed skater.

Career

She competed in four consecutive Winter Olympics from 1976 to 1988 in all distances from 500 m to 3000 m. She reached fifth place on three occasions: in 1980 (3000 m), in 1984 (1500 m) and in 1988 (3000 m). She won a silver and a bronze medal at the World Junior Speed Skating Championships in 1974 and 1975, respectively. As a senior skater, she won bronze medals in the World Sprint Championships in 1978 and 1985. Ryś-Ferens graduated from the local high school in her native Elblag (1974) and then from the Karol Świerczewski Academy of Physical Education in Warsaw (1979). After retirement she worked as a speed skating coach. Personal bests: *500 m – 40.86 (1985) *1000 m – 1:21.44 (1988) *1500 m – 2:04.68 (1988) * 3000 m – 4:22.59 (1988) * 5000 m – 7:46.60 (1988)

Life in politics

Ryś-Ferens was an experienced politician. She unsuccessfully ran for the national and European Parliament in 2001, 2004, 2005, 2007, and

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

, representing various parties, including the National Party of Retirees and Pensioners, Democratic Left Alliance – Labor Union,

Law and Justice Law and Justice ( pl, Prawo i Sprawiedliwość , PiS) is a right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Poland. Its chairman is Jarosław Kaczyński. It was founded in 2001 by Jarosław and Lech Kaczyński as a direct su ...

, and Polish People's Party (PPP). She had success in the

2010 Polish local elections The 2010 Polish local elections were held in two parts, with its first round on 21 November and the second on 5 December. The first round included elections of deputies to provincial voivodeship sejmiks, as well for gmina and powiat councilors. ...

and 2011 representing PPP.

Later life and death

She died after a long illness on 20 April 2022, at age 67. Two years before her death, her family revealed she suffered from bone cancer.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rys-Ferens, Erwina 1955 births 2022 deaths People from Elbląg Józef Piłsudski University of Physical Education in Warsaw alumni Polish female speed skaters Olympic speed skaters for Poland Law and Justice politicians Polish People's Party politicians Speed skaters at the 1976 Winter Olympics Speed skaters at the 1980 Winter Olympics Speed skaters at the 1984 Winter Olympics Speed skaters at the 1988 Winter Olympics Sportspeople from Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship Speed skating coaches World Allround Speed Skating Championships medalists Polish sportsperson-politicians Deaths from cancer in Poland