Maria Piątkowska (; previously ''Chojnacka'', née Ilwicka; 24 February 193119 December 2020) was a Polish sprinter,

hurdler Hurdling is the act of jumping over an obstacle at a high speed or in a sprint. In the early 19th century, hurdlers ran at and jumped over each hurdle (sometimes known as 'burgles'), landing on both feet and checking their forward motion. Today, ...

, and

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a ...

er. She won the

4 × 100 m relay 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...

event at the 1962 European Athletics Championships, and came third in two other

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 ...

events. She was Polish national champion in

, pentathlon, and the 80 metres running event.

Career

Piątkowska was a member of Legia Warsaw athletics club, and the

University Sports Association of Poland Academic Sports Association (Polish: ''Akademicki Związek Sportowy'', ''AZS'') is a mass students’ sport organization, one of the biggest sports associations in Poland. Its main objectives are development of physical education, promotion of hea ...

. In 1951 and 1958, she won the Polish National Championships

event. In 1954, she won the Polish National Championships pentathlon event, and in 1959 and 1963, she won the Polish National Championships 80 metres event. Piątkowska competed at the Summer Olympic Games in

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes m ...

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Jan ...

, and

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarc ...

. At the 1964 Games, she finished sixth in the

80 metres hurdles 80 metres hurdles is a distance in hurdling ran by women until 1972 in international competitions. Since the 1972 Summer Olympics, the event has been permanently replaced by the 100 metre hurdles. Masters athletics The distance, with different s ...

event, in a time of 10.7 seconds. Piątkowska competed at three

, in 1954,

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...

, and

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wor ...

. In 1958, she won a bronze medal in the

4 × 100 metres relay The 4 × 100 metres relay or sprint relay is an athletics track event run in lanes over one lap of the track with four runners completing 100 metres each. The first runners must begin in the same stagger as for the indiv ...

. At the 1962 European Athletics Championships, Piątkowska,

Teresa Ciepły Teresa Barbara Ciepły (''née'' Wieczorek; 19 October 1937 – 8 March 2006) was a Polish sprinter and hurdler. She was a bronze Olympic medalist in the 4×100 metre relay at the 1960 Summer Olympics. Two years later she won gold medals i ...

, Barbara Sobotta, and Elżbieta Szyroka won the 4 × 100 metres relay race. She also won a bronze medal in the

race. Piątkowska finished on the same time as winner Teresa Ciepły. In 1961, Piątkowska set the Polish national 80 metres record of 10.7 seconds. In 1962, she ran 10.6 seconds, which equalled the national record set by Teresa Ciepły. In 1964, Piątkowska,

Irena Szewińska Irena Szewińska (née Kirszenstein; Polish pronunciation: ; 24 May 1946 – 29 June 2018) was a Polish sprinter who was one of the world's foremost athletes for nearly two decades, in multiple events. She is the only athlete in history, m ...

, Halina Górecka, and

Ewa Kłobukowska Ewa Janina Kłobukowska (born 1 October 1946) is a Polish former sprinter. She competed at the 1964 Olympics in the 4×100 m relay and 100 m sprint and won a gold and a bronze medal, respectively.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 ...

Łódź Łódź, also rendered in English as Lodz, is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located approximately south-west of Warsaw. The city's coat of arms is an example of cant ...

, Poland.

Personal life

Piątkowska was born Maria Ilwicka in Goleni,

Kingdom of Romania The Kingdom of Romania ( ro, Regatul României) was a constitutional monarchy that existed in Romania from 13 March ( O.S.) / 25 March 1881 with the crowning of prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen as King Carol I (thus beginning the Romanian ...

, and after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

her family moved to

Masuria Masuria (, german: Masuren, Masurian: ''Mazurÿ'') is a ethnographic and geographic region in northern and northeastern Poland, known for its 2,000 lakes. Masuria occupies much of the Masurian Lake District. Administratively, it is part of the ...

, Poland. She was a graduate of the University of Physical Education in Warsaw. She was first married to Polish

discus throw The discus throw (), also known as disc throw, is a track and field event in which an athlete throws a heavy disc—called a discus—in an attempt to mark a farther distance than their competitors. It is an ancient sport, as demonstrated by th ...

er Henryk Chojnacki. She was later married to Polish discus thrower and national record holder

Edmund Piątkowski Edmund Piątkowski (31 January 1936 – 28 March 2016) was a Polish track and field athlete, who competed in the discus event. Piątkowski was multiple time Polish champion in the discus (1955, 1957–66, 1968–69). He participated in four E ...

. The couple had two sons. Edmund Piątkowski died in 2016. In 2020, Piątkowska contracted

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

whilst in hospital for hip surgery. She died on 19 December 2020, aged 89.

References

External links

Sports Reference
{{DEFAULTSORT:Piatkowska, Maria 1931 births 2020 deaths Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Poland Polish female hurdlers Polish female sprinters Polish female long jumpers World record setters in athletics (track and field) Olympic athletes for Poland Athletes (track and field) at the 1952 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1960 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1964 Summer Olympics People from Edineț District European Athletics Championships medalists Legia Warsaw athletes Józef Piłsudski University of Physical Education in Warsaw alumni Burials at Bródno Cemetery

Career

Personal life

See also

References

External links