Robert Marek Korzeniowski (born 30 July 1968) is a Polish former racewalker who won four gold medals 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 multi ...

and three gold medals at

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

Biography

Korzeniowski was born in

Lubaczów Lubaczów ( uk, Любачів ''Liubachiv'') is a town in southeastern Poland, close to the border with Ukraine, with 12,567 inhabitants Situated in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship (since 1999), it is the capital of Lubaczów County and is loca ...

, and is the brother of fellow Olympic athlete

Sylwia Korzeniowska Sylwia Korzeniowska (born 25 April 1980 in Tarnobrzeg) is a Polish-born French race walker. She changed her nationality on June 1, 2010. She is the younger sister of former world record holder Robert Korzeniowski Robert Marek Korzeniowski ...

Career

Korzeniowski won three consecutive Olympic gold medals in the 50 km walk at

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), ...

. In addition, he became the first athlete to win the gold medal in both the 50 km walk and 20 km walk at a single Olympic Games in Sydney. He won World Championship titles in the 50 km walk at the 1997 World Championships, 2001 World Championships, and 2003 World Championships. He also won European Championship twice in the 50 km walk in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

in Budapest and

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

in Munich. He is also the former world record holder in the 50 km walk from 2002 to 2006.

Post-career

Korzeniowski retired after the 2004 Olympic Games and became actively involved in various roles at the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swis ...

. He was the coach and mentor of former world record-holder

Paquillo Fernández Francisco Javier Fernández Peláez (born 6 March 1977 in Guadix, Province of Granada, Andalusia), better known as Paquillo Fernández, is a retired Spanish race walker. He specialized in the 20 km race walk. On 27 July 2008 he set a new ...

. Since 2005 he worked for the public

Polish Television Telewizja Polska S.A. (; "Polish Television"; TVP), also known in English as the public Polish Television is a Polish state media corporation. It is the largest Polish television network, although viewership has been declining in the 2010s. Since ...

(TVP) as a chief of sport department and in 2007 he became a General Manager of

TVP Sport TVP Sport is a Polish sport channel owned by TVP launched on 18 November 2006. The channel is available on Canal+, Cyfrowy Polsat, as well as over cable providers. Broadcast SD broadcasting via satellite (''Eutelsat Hot Bird'') stopped on 6 A ...

, a new specialized channel in Poland. On 6 November 2009, he announced his resignation. In 2014 Korzeniowski was inducted into the

International Association of Athletics Federations World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body fo ...

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actual halls or muse ...

State awards

For his sport achievements, Korzeniowski received the

Order of Polonia Restituta The Order of Polonia Restituta ( pl, Order Odrodzenia Polski, en, Order of Restored Poland) is a Polish state order established 4 February 1921. It is conferred on both military and civilians as well as on foreigners for outstanding achievemen ...

: * 1996

Knight's Cross (5th Class) * 2000 POL Polonia Restituta Oficerski BAR

Officer's Cross (4th Class) * 2004 POL Polonia Restituta Komandorski BAR

Commander's Cross (3rd Class)

Competition record

References

External links

Official website

IOC tribute
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Korzeniowski, Robert 1968 births Living people People from Lubaczów Polish male racewalkers Athletes (track and field) at the 1992 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of Poland Olympic gold medalists for Poland World record setters in athletics (track and field) World Athletics Championships medalists European Athletics Championships medalists Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Podkarpackie Voivodeship Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) Goodwill Games medalists in athletics Universiade gold medalists for Poland World Athletics Championships winners Competitors at the 1989 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 1991 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 1993 Summer Universiade Competitors at the 2001 Goodwill Games