Witold Woyda (10 May 1939 – 5 May 2008) was a Polish fencer who won four Olympic medals in the

foil Foil may refer to: Materials * Foil (metal), a quite thin sheet of metal, usually manufactured with a rolling mill machine * Metal leaf, a very thin sheet of decorative metal * Aluminium foil, a type of wrapping for food * Tin foil, metal foil ...

between 1964 and 1972, including two gold medals at the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. ...

. He was named the

Polish Sportspersonality of the Year The Polish Sports Personality of the Year ( Polish: ''Plebiscyt Przeglądu Sportowego na najlepszego polskiego sportowca roku'') is chosen annually since 1926 by the readers of the newspaper '' Przegląd Sportowy'', which makes it the second oldes ...

for 1972 by readers of ''

Przegląd Sportowy ''Przegląd Sportowy'' (, ''Sports Review'') is the oldest and now the only Polish sports daily, founded in 1921 in Kraków. In 1926 it initiated an annual, popular plebiscite for the Polish Sportspersonality of the Year. Its current editor-in-chi ...

''. Born in

Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint Joh ...

, he immigrated to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

in the late 1970s, settling in

Bronxville, New York Bronxville is a village in Westchester County, New York, United States, located approximately north of Midtown Manhattan. It is part of the town of Eastchester. The village comprises one square mile (2.5 km2) of land in its entirety, a ...

, and worked for an Italian packaging company. He had

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissue (biology), tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from tran ...

for two years prior to his death at his Bronxville home at age 68, five days shy of turning 69.

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1939 births 2008 deaths Polish male fencers Olympic fencers of Poland Olympic gold medalists for Poland Olympic silver medalists for Poland Olympic bronze medalists for Poland Fencers at the 1960 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 1964 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 1968 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 1972 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Poznań Polish emigrants to the United States Deaths from lung cancer in New York (state) Olympic medalists in fencing Medalists at the 1964 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1968 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1972 Summer Olympics Recipients of the Order of Polonia Restituta (1944–1989) Burials at Powązki Military Cemetery 20th-century Polish people 21st-century Polish people {{poland-fencing-bio-stub