Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

first participated at the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20– 30 – Kuomintang in China holds ...

, and has sent athletes to compete in every Summer Olympic Games since then, except for the 1984 Games, when they were part of the Soviet-led boycott of the 1984 Summer Olympics. Poland has also participated in every

Winter Olympic Games The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were h ...

. Polish athletes have won a total of 321 medals (79 gold, 96 silver, 146 bronze) in 19 different summer and 5 different winter sports. Poland is the second most successful country in total medals (after

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...

) of those who have never hosted the Olympics. The nation's best overall performance at the Olympics occurred at the

1976 Summer Olympics Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 P ...

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

with the country's athletes winning 7 gold, 6 silver and 13 bronze medals finishing sixth in the medal table. Its most successful teams have been football and volleyball. Poland ranks fifth all-time in modern pentathlon, seventh in

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competi ...

, and has also been successful in

weightlifting Weightlifting generally refers to activities in which people lift weights, often in the form of dumbbells or barbells. People lift various kinds of weights for a variety of different reasons. These may include various types of competition; promo ...

, martial arts and nordic skiing. The National Olympic Committee for Poland is the

Polish Olympic Committee The Polish Olympic Committee ( pl, Polski Komitet Olimpijski, PKOl) is the National Olympic Committee representing Poland. History The Polish Olympic Committee was established on 12 October 1919 and in 1919 was recognised by the International Oly ...

(Polish: ''Polski Komitet Olimpijski'', PKOl). The entity was created in 1918 and recognized in 1919.

History

Poland officially made its debut at the Olympics in 1924, however, Polish athletes did participate in earlier editions of the Olympic Games representing other nations. The first ever Olympic medal for Poland (silver) was won by track cyclists in team pursuit Franciszek Szymczyk, Jan Lazarski, Józef Lange and Tomasz Stankiewicz at the 1924 Summer Olympics in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

while the first gold medal for Poland was won by discus thrower

Halina Konopacka Halina Konopacka (Leonarda Kazimiera Konopacka-Matuszewska-Szczerbińska) (26 February 1900 – 28 January 1989) was a Polish athlete. She won the discus throw event at the 1928 Summer Olympics, defeating American silver medal winner Lillian C ...

at the 1928 Summer Olympics in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

. The first Polish sportsperson who individually won two Olympic medals (silver and bronze) was equestrian Michał Antoniewicz in 1928. Poland won the largest number of medals (32) at the 1980 Summer Olympics in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

. Poland boycotted the next Summer Olympic Games in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

alongside another 13 Eastern Bloc countries in response to the

American-led boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics boycott was one part of a number of actions initiated by the United States to protest against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The Soviet Union, which hosted the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, and its allies late ...

in Moscow in protest of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The most successful Polish Olympian to date is

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 ...

with seven Olympic medals altogether. With four gold medals,

Robert Korzeniowski Robert Marek Korzeniowski (born 30 July 1968) is a Polish former racewalker who won four gold medals at the Olympic Games and three gold medals at World Championships. Biography Korzeniowski was born in Lubaczów, and is the brother of fello ...

is the most successful Polish Olympian in terms of the number of gold medals.

Medal tables

Medals by Summer Games

Medals by Winter Games

Medals by summer sport

Medals by winter sport

Multiple medallists

Flag bearers

* –

Aleksandra Król Aleksandra Król (born 20 November 1990 in Zakopane) is a Polish snowboarder. She competed at the FIS Snowboarding World Championships 2011 and 2013; both times in parallel giant slalom and parallel slalom. She competed at the 2014 Winter Olymp ...

(snowboarding) and

Zbigniew Bródka Zbigniew Marcin Bródka (; born 8 October 1984) is a Polish speed skater and a 2014 Olympic champion in 1500 metres. He also works as a firefighter in the State Fire Service station in Łowicz. Personal life Bródka was born in Głowno, Poland ...

(speed skating) * –

Paweł Korzeniowski Paweł Korzeniowski (born 9 July 1985) is a Polish competitive swimmer who won the 200-meter butterfly at the 2005 World Aquatics Championships in Montreal. He also competes in the freestyle events. Initially trained by Paweł Woźnicki in O� ...

(swimming),

Maja Włoszczowska Maja Martyna Włoszczowska (Polish pronunciation: ; born 9 November 1983 in Warsaw) is a Polish mountain biker. She is the 2008 and 2016 Olympic silver medalist in cross-country cycling. She is a member of the International Olympic Committee ( ...

(mountain biking) * –

(speed skating) * –

Karol Bielecki Karol Bielecki (born 23 January 1982) is a Polish former handball player who played for the Polish national team. Career He played for the national team, winning a silver medal in the World Handball Championship in 2007 and a bronze in 200 ...

(handball) * –

Dawid Kupczyk Dawid Andrzej Kupczyk (born 10 May 1977 in Jelenia Góra) is a Polish bobsledder who has competed since 1997. Competing in five Winter Olympics, he earned his best finish of 14th in the four-man event at Vancouver in 2010. Kupczyk also competed ...

(bobsleigh) * –

Agnieszka Radwańska Agnieszka Roma Radwańska (; born 6 March 1989) is a Polish former professional tennis player. She won 20 career singles WTA Tour titles, two doubles titles, and achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 2 on 9 July 2012. Her achiev ...

(tennis) * –

Konrad Niedźwiedzki Konrad Łukasz Niedźwiedzki (born 2 January 1985, Polish pronunciation: �kɔnɾat ɲɛd͡ʑˈvʲjɛt͡ski is a Polish long track speed skater who participates in international competitions. Personal life Konrad Niedźwiedzki was born in Warsa ...

(speed skating) * –

Marek Twardowski Marek Twardowski (born 6 October 1979 in Białystok) is a Polish sprint canoeist who has competed since the late 1990s. He won fifteen medals at the ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships with two golds (K-1 500 m ...

(canoe racing) * –

Paulina Ligocka Paulina Ligocka (born 25 May 1984) is a Polish snowboarder. In March 2006, she finished second in the cumulative final standing of the World Cup in half-pipe. She was an Olympian at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, where she was the bear ...

(snowboarding) * –

Bartosz Kizierowski Bartłomiej "Bartosz" Kizierowski (born 20 February 1977) is a freestyle who represented Poland in four consecutive Summer Olympics, starting in 1996. Biography Kizierowski began his career as a backstroke swimmer, but changed to freestyle ...

(swimming) * –

Mariusz Siudek Mariusz Krzysztof Siudek (Polish pronunciation: ; born 29 April 1972 in Oświęcim) is a retired Polish pair skater who competed with wife Dorota Siudek (Zagórska). They are the 1999 World bronze medalists, two-time (1999, 2000) European sil ...

(figure skating) * –

Andrzej Wroński Andrzej Adam Wroński (born 8 October 1965 in Kartuzy, Pomorskie) is a Polish wrestler ( Greco-Roman style) who has won two Olympic gold medals. He carried the flag at the opening ceremony of the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. Mix ...

(wrestling) * –

Jan Ziemianin Jan Ziemianin (born 19 May 1962) is a Polish biathlete. He competed at the 1992 Winter Olympics, the 1994 Winter Olympics and the 1998 Winter Olympics The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially known as the and commonly known as Nagano 1998 ...

(biathlon) * –

Rafał Szukała Rafał Marek Szukała (born 9 April 1971 in Poznań) is a former butterfly swimmer from Poland, who won the silver medal in the men's 100 m butterfly at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. Szukała competed in three consequenti ...

(swimming) * –

Tomasz Sikora Tomasz Sikora (born 21 December 1973) is a former Polish biathlete. Life and career Sikora was born in Wodzisław Śląski. In 1993, he finished second in 10 km sprint at the Junior World Championships in Ruhpolding. He was world champio ...

(biathlon) * –

Waldemar Legień Waldemar Legień (born 28 August 1963) is a retired Polish judoka. He won two Olympic gold medals in different weight classes, in 1988 and 1992. He is also the first person to win back-to-back two Olympic gold medals in Judo.Henryk Gruth Henryk Jerzy Gruth (born 2 September 1957) is a former Polish professional ice hockey defenceman. One of the best Polish players, Gruth played for GKS Katowice and GKS Tychy in Poland. He spent one season in Switzerland with the Zürcher SC, whe ...

(ice hockey) * – Bogdan Daras (wrestling) * –

Henryk Gruth Henryk Jerzy Gruth (born 2 September 1957) is a former Polish professional ice hockey defenceman. One of the best Polish players, Gruth played for GKS Katowice and GKS Tychy in Poland. He spent one season in Switzerland with the Zürcher SC, whe ...

(ice hockey) * –

Józef Łuszczek Józef Łuszczek (born 20 May 1955 in Ząb) is a Polish former cross-country skier who competed from 1978 to 1984. He won two medals at the 1978 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Lahti with a gold in the 15 km and a bronze in the 30&nbs ...

(cross-country skiing) * – Czesław Kwieciński (wrestling) * –

(cross-country skiing) * –

Grzegorz Śledziewski Grzegorz Śledziewski (born 18 July 1950) is a Polish sprint canoeist who competed from the early 1970s to the early 1980s. He won fifteen medals at the ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships with three golds (K-1 1000 m: 1971, ...

(canoe racing) * – Wojciech Truchan (biathlon) * –

Waldemar Baszanowski Waldemar Romuald Baszanowski (15 August 1935 – 29 April 2011) was a Polish lightweight (-67.5 kg) weightlifter. In 1969, he was chosen the Polish Sportspersonality of the Year. Biography Baszanowski was born in Grudziądz on 15 August 1 ...

(weightlifting) * – Andrzej Bachleda (alpine skiing) * –

(weightlifting) * – Stanisław Szczepaniak (biathlon) * –

(weightlifting) * – Jerzy Wojnar (luge) * –

Teodor Kocerka Teodor Kocerka (6 August 1927 – 25 September 1999) was a Polish rower who competed in the 1952 Summer Olympics, those of 1956, and those of 1960.https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ko/teodor-kocerka-1.html profile He was bor ...

(rowing) * –

Józef Karpiel Józef Karpiel (18 January 1932 – 29 November 1994) was a Polish skier. He competed in the Nordic combined event at the 1960 Winter Olympics The 1960 Winter Olympics (officially the VIII Olympic Winter Games and also known as Squaw V ...

(Nordic combined/cross-country skiing) * –

Tadeusz Rut Tadeusz Rut (11 October 1931 – 27 March 2002) was a Polish athlete. He competed at the 1956, 1960 and 1964 Olympics in the hammer throw and won a bronze medal in 1960. In 1956 he also finished 17th in the discus throw and was selected as the O ...

(athletics) * –

Tadeusz Kwapień Taduesz Kwapień (February 25, 1923 – November 23, 2012) was a former Polish cross-country skier who competed in the 1940s and the 1950s. He was born in Kościelisko and died in Zakopane. Participated in three Olympic games. He was 47th ...

(cross-country skiing) * –

(rowing) * –

Stanisław Marusarz Stanisław Marusarz (); 18 June 1913 – 29 October 1993) was a Polish Nordic skiing competitor in the 1930s. Life Stanisław Marusarz won a silver medal in ski jumping at the 1938 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Lahti — the first Pole ...

(ski jumping) * –

Mieczysław Łomowski Mieczysław Łomowski (19 September 1914, in Vilna – 15 October 1969, near Gniew) was a Polish shot putter who competed in the 1948 Summer Olympics. He died in a car accident near Gniew Gniew (pronounced ; csb, Gméw, or ''Gniéw''; formerl ...

(athletics) * –

(ski jumping) * – Klemens Biniakowski (athletics) * –

Bronisław Czech Bronisław "Bronek" Czech (; 25 July 1908 – 4 June 1944) was a Polish sportsman and artist. A gifted skier, he won championships of Poland 24 times in various skiing disciplines, including Alpine skiing, Nordic skiing and ski jumping. A ...

(ski jumping/Nordic combined/Alpine skiing) * – Janusz Ślązak (rowing) * –

Józef Stogowski Józef Bronisław Stogowski (27 November 1899 – 14 May 1940) was a Polish ice hockey goaltender. He played for TKS Toruń, Legia Warsaw, and AZS Poznań during his hockey career. He also played for the Polish national ice hockey team at the ...

(ice hockey) * – Marian Cieniewski (wrestling) * – Andrzej Krzeptowski I (ski jumping/Nordic combined) * – Sławosz Szydłowski (athletics) * – Kazimierz Smogorzewski (sports journalist)

External links

* * *

References

{{National sports teams of Poland

History

Medal tables

Medals by Summer Games

Medals by Winter Games

Medals by summer sport

Medals by winter sport

Multiple medallists

Flag bearers

See also

External links

References