Ewa Gryziecka-Kwiecińska (born 11 April 1948) is a Polish former

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

athlete who competed in the

javelin throw The javelin throw is a track and field event where the javelin, a spear about in length, is thrown. The javelin thrower gains momentum by running within a predetermined area. Javelin throwing is an event of both the men's decathlon and the ...

. She is a former

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...

holder in the event and represented Poland at the

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

and the

European Athletics Championships The European Athletics Championships is a biennial (from 2010) athletics event organised by the European Athletics Association and is recognised as the elite continental outdoor athletics championships for Europe. Editions First held, for men ...

. In her career, she was twice national champion and twice broke the Polish record.

Biography

Born in

Katowice Katowice ( , , ; szl, Katowicy; german: Kattowitz, yi, קאַטעוויץ, Kattevitz) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Upper Silesian metropolitan area. It is the 11th most popul ...

, she moved to

Gliwice Gliwice (; german: Gleiwitz) is a city in Upper Silesia, in southern Poland. The city is located in the Silesian Highlands, on the Kłodnica river (a tributary of the Oder). It lies approximately 25 km west from Katowice, the regional cap ...

and began competing for the local sports club,

Piast Gliwice Gliwicki Klub Sportowy Piast Gliwice () is a Polish football club based in Gliwice. In the 2018–19 season, Piast won its first Polish championship. As of 2022–23, it competes in the Ekstraklasa, Poland's top division. History The club wa ...

. She married

Czesław Kwieciński Czesław Kwieciński (born 20 January 1943 in Romaškai, Lithuania) is a Polish wrestler who competed from 1964 to 1980 in the Summer Olympics. Bronze medalist at the 1972 Summer Olympics and 1976 Summer Olympics in wrestling in 90 kg cate ...

, a Polish Olympic medallist in wrestling, and the pair had three children together, living in Gliwice. Gryziecka's first major international medal came at the

1966 European Junior Games The 1966 European Athletics Junior Championships, European Junior Games was the second edition of the biennial athletics (sport), athletics competition for European athletes aged under twenty. It was the first edition to have received official sup ...

, where she was a bronze medalist. She began to make her impact at senior level in the early 1970s, placing runner-up at the national championships in 1970 and 1971 behind Poland's leading thrower of the time, Daniela Jaworska. She reached the top of the global seasonal rankings in the 1971 season with her throw of – a mark just farther than Jaworska, evidence of the Polish dominance of the period.Main > Women, Javelin Throw > 1969–1972
Track and Field Brinkster. Retrieved on 2016-01-31. The best performance of her career came in 1972, shortly before the Olympics held in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

. On 11 June, she had a throw of which added to the women's javelin throw world record of Soviet athlete

Yelena Gorchakova Yelena Yegorovna Gorchakova (russian: Елена Егоровна Горчакова; 17 May 1933 – 27 January 2002) was a Russian javelin thrower who won bronze medals at the 1952 and 1964 Olympics. Her 1964 bronze was a disappointment as she ...

, which had stood since 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 ...

. She briefly broke a 13 year long Soviet dynasty in the sport. In spite of the former record having lasted nearly eight years, Gryziecka's throw became among the shortest-lived throwing world records to have been set, as East Germany's

Ruth Fuchs Ruth Fuchs ( Gamm, later Hellmann, born 14 December 1946 in Egeln, Saxony-Anhalt) is a German politician and former athlete. Fuchs, representing East Germany, was the winner of the women's javelin at the 1972 (Munich) and 1976 (Montreal) Olymp ...

, who was competing that same day in

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and, with around 183,000 inhabitants, largest city of the German state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...

, went much farther with a throw of just 35 minutes later. These were the best performances of the year and Gryziecka ranked second to Fuchs on the seasonal rankings. She dropped out of the top ten rankings in subsequent seasons, with her last placing of note being ninth in 1975 with her best of . Gryziecka went on to be a two-time winner at the

Polish Athletics Championships The Polish Athletics Championships ( pl, Mistrzostwa Polski seniorów w lekkoatletyce) is an annual outdoor track and field competition organised by the Polish Athletic Association (PZLA), which serves as the Polish national championship for the sp ...

, being the national champion in the javelin in 1972 and 1975. She had two major senior international appearances in her career, placing sixth at the

1971 European Athletics Championships The 10th (X) European Athletics Championships were held from 10 August to 15 August 1971 in the Olympic Stadium of Helsinki, the capital of Finland. Contemporaneous reports on the event were given in the Glasgow Herald. Men's results ...

and seventh at the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. ...

. She was a gold medallist in the semi-final of her group at the 1975 European Cup.European Cup Semi-Final
GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2016-01-31. She continued competing until 1979.

International competitions

National titles

**Javelin throw: 1972, 1975Polish Championships
GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2016-01-31.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gryziecka, Ewa Living people 1948 births Sportspeople from Katowice Athletes from Silesian Voivodeship Polish female javelin throwers World record setters in athletics (track and field) Olympic athletes for Poland Athletes (track and field) at the 1972 Summer Olympics Polish Athletics Championships winners