Henryk Jan Szordykowski (3 June 1944 – 25 December 2022) was a retired

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

runner who specialized in the

800 metres The 800 metres, or meters ( US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event since the ...

and

1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fifteen-hundred metres') is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletic ...

. He was born in Iłowo-Osada and represented the club

Wawel Kraków Wawel Kraków is a Polish multisports club based in Kraków, Poland. It was founded in 1919. Wawel Kraków was the first Polish club to win the Young Leaders Rally Cup back in 1952. They won the final against their rivals from Cracovia by beating ...

.Sports Reference
In his early career he finished eighth in the 1500 metres at the 1966 European Championships, At the 1968 Olympic Games he competed in the

event, failing to progress from the first round, and finished seventh in the final of the

event. At the 1969 European Indoor Games, he won the silver medal in the 800 metres and a gold medal in the medley relay. Then, in the 1500 metres he won a bronze medal at the 1969 European Championships and a silver at the 1971 European Championships. He won the gold at the

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Ja ...

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. ...

and 1974 European Indoor Championships. At the 1972 Olympic Games he reached the semi-final of the

event. He finished sixth in the 1500 metres at the 1975 European Indoor Championships. He became Polish champion in the 800 metres in 1966, 1967 and 1969, and in the 1500 metres in 1968, 1971, 1972 and 1974. He became Polish indoor champion in the 1500 metres in 1974, and also American indoor champion in 1969 and 1971. His personal best time in the 800 metres was 1:46.6 minutes, achieved in 1968. In the 1500 metres he had 3.38.2 minutes, achieved in August 1969 in

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. He had 3.58.8 minutes in the

mile run The mile run (1,760 yards or exactly 1,609.344 metres) is a middle-distance foot race. The history of the mile run event began in England, where it was used as a distance for gambling races. It survived track and field's switch to ...

, achieved in July 1972 in

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. Szordykowski died on 25 December 2022, at the age of 78. He was the brother of Zenon Szordykowski.

International competitions

¹Did not start in the semifinals.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Szordykowski, Henryk 1944 births 2022 deaths Polish male middle-distance runners Athletes (track and field) at the 1968 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1972 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of Poland People from Działdowo County European Athletics Championships medalists Sportspeople from Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship 20th-century Polish people