Elżbieta Maria Krzesińska (née Duńska; November 11, 1934 – December 29, 2015) was a

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

athlete from Poland, who competed in the

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 ...

. Born in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

, she competed for her native country at the 1956 Summer Olympics held in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, Australia where she won the gold medal in the Women's Long Jump. She returned to the

1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics ( it, Giochi Olimpici estivi del 1960), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad ( it, Giochi della XVII Olimpiade) and commonly known as Rome 1960 ( it, Roma 1960), were an international multi-sport event held ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

but failed to defend her title, finishing second behind

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

Vera Krepkina Vera Samuilovna Krepkina (later ''Kalashnikova'', russian: Вера Самуиловна Крепкина (Калашникова); 15 April 1933 – 25 April 2023) was a Soviet-Ukrainian track and field Sport of athletics, athlete. She competed ...

. She won the Polish championships in Long Jump (1952, 1953, 1954, 1957, 1959, 1962, 1963), 80m Hurdles (1957), and Pentathlon (1953, 1962). Duńska-Krzesińska participated in three

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 ...

. In 1952, she took 12th place in long jump at the 15th Olympic Games in Helsinki. In 1956, she won gold medal at the 16th Olympic Games in Melbourne. In 1960, she won silver medal, behind

, at the 17th Olympic Games in Rome. In 1954, she took 3rd, behind

Jean Desforges Jean Catherine Pickering (née Desforges; 4 July 1929 – 25 March 2013) was a female track and field athlete from Great Britain, who competed mainly in the 80 metres hurdles and long jump. She won bronze medals at the Olympics and the Common ...

, and Aleksandra Chudina, at the 5th European Championships in Athletics in Bern. In 1954, she won both in long jump and pentathlon at World Student Games in Budapest. In August 1956, she broke the world record in long jump (6.35) in Budapest, and equal in November 1956 in the Melbourne Olympics. In 1959, she won at the 1st

Universiade The Universiade is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The name is a portmanteau of the words "University" and " Olympiad". The Universiade is referred ...

in Turin. In 1962, she took 2nd, behind Tatyana Shchelkanova, at the 7th

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 ...

in Belgrade. She lived in the United States of America from 1981 until 2000, then she came back to Poland. She died 29 December 2015 after long illness.

References

External links

* 1934 births 2015 deaths Polish female long jumpers Olympic gold medalists for Poland Olympic silver medalists for Poland Athletes (track and field) at the 1952 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1956 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1960 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of Poland Athletes from Warsaw European Athletics Championships medalists Medalists at the 1956 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1960 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) Skra Warszawa athletes Universiade gold medalists for Poland Medalists at the 1959 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 1961 Summer Universiade {{Poland-athletics-bio-stub