Tadeusz Teodorowicz (1931-1965) also known as Teo was an international
speedway rider from Poland and Great Britain.
Speedway career
Teodorowicz rode in the
top tier of British Speedway from 1959-1964, riding for
Swindon Robins. He was capped by both Poland and Great Britain and reached the final of the
European Championship in 1956.
He would eventually become a British citizen after escaping and seeking political asylum from the communist East while on a tour of the Netherlands in September 1958. He spent four months in prison before gaining a Dutch passport and then moved to England. In England, he married Liliana Zajecka-Slonina, a local Swindon nurse of Polish origin. In 1963 he finished eighth in the British Championships, sealing a reserve spot at the final of the
1963 Individual Speedway World Championship
The 1963 Individual Speedway World Championship was the 18th edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider.
Ove Fundin extended his record by winning a fourth world crown. Fellow Sweden Björn Knutsson finished ...
. The following year he reached the final of the
British Speedway Championship in 1964.
He was in the best form of his career at the time and then tragedy struck when he suffered major head trauma in a match while riding for
Swindon Robins against
West Ham Hammers. The match was held at the
West Ham Stadium on 1 September 1964 and Teo was left with a skull fracture following a crash into the fence, this caused him to go into a coma. He was transferred to a London hospital and then moved to Swindon before he died several months later from
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...
, on 21 January 1965.
World final appearances
Individual World Championship
*
1963
Events January
* January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cov ...
-
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
,
Wembley Stadium
Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...
- Reserve - Did not ride
See also
Rider deaths in motorcycle racing
References
1931 births
1965 deaths
British speedway riders
Polish speedway riders
Swindon Robins riders
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