Rafał Jerzy Sznajder (13 October 1972 – 13 April 2014) was a Polish saber fencer."Rafal SZNAJDER,"
Olympics.com. He competed in the three Summer Olympics:

Atlanta 1996 The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

Sydney 2000 The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

, and

Athens 2004 The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

Biography

Sznajder was born in

Będzin Będzin (; also ''Bendzin'' in English; german: Bendzin; yi, בענדין, Bendin) is a city in the Dąbrowa Basin, in southern Poland. It lies in the Silesian Highlands, on the Czarna Przemsza River (a tributary of the Vistula). Even though par ...

Śląskie Silesian Voivodeship, or Silesia Province ( pl, województwo śląskie ) is a voivodeship, or province, in southern Poland, centered on the historic region known as Upper Silesia ('), with Katowice serving as its capital. Despite the Silesian V ...

, in Poland. Sznajder won three individual Polish sabre titles (1998, 2001-02), and one team Polish sabre title (2003). He also won five silver medals and five bronze medals at the Polish national championships. In 1998 in

Plovdiv Plovdiv ( bg, Пловдив, ), is the second-largest city in Bulgaria, standing on the banks of the Maritsa river in the historical region of Thrace. It has a population of 346,893 and 675,000 in the greater metropolitan area. Plovdiv is the c ...

, Bulgaria, he was part of the Polish team that won the gold medal at the European Championships. Sznajder also won team silver medals at the European Championships in 2004-05. He won individual

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receive ...

s at the

1997 World Fencing Championships The 1997 World Fencing Championships were held from 13 July to 19 July 1997 in Cape Town, South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of co ...

and

2001 World Fencing Championships The 2001 World Fencing Championships were held in Nîmes, France. The event took place from October 26 to November 1, 2001. Medal table Medal summary Men's events Women's events ReferencesFIE Results{{World Fencing Championships World Fe ...

. At the World Championships, Sznajder also won a team silver medal in 1999, and a team bronze medal in 1998. He competed in the three Summer Olympics:

, and

. After he retired as a fencer, Sznajder took and passed the international referee exams in all three fencing weapons. He officiated several senior World Cups,

European Championships The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports every four years. The inaugural edition in 2018 was staged by the host cities of Berlin, ...

, the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, and the

2013 World Fencing Championships The 2013 World Fencing Championships were held at Budapest, Hungary from 5–12 August. Schedule Medal summary Medal table Men's events Women's events Participating nations 827 fencers from 101 countries competed. * (1) * (13) * ( ...

. He also served in the Executive Committee of the Polish Fencing Federation. He died suddenly on 13 April 2014 at the end of the 2014 Junior and Cadet World Championships in Plovdiv.

References

External links

* 1972 births 2014 deaths Polish male fencers Olympic fencers for Poland Fencers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 2004 Summer Olympics People from Będzin Sportspeople from Silesian Voivodeship Summer World University Games medalists in fencing FISU World University Games bronze medalists for Poland 20th-century Polish people 21st-century Polish sportsmen 20th-century Polish sportsmen {{Poland-fencing-bio-stub