Zygmunt Chychła (5 November 1926 – 26 September 2009) was a Polish boxer. He won the first post-World War II Olympic gold medal for Poland.

Career

In 1939 he began training at the Polish boxing club '' Gedania'', having started boxing at the age 12. During the war he lost his

Gdańsk Gdańsk ( , also ; ; csb, Gduńsk;Stefan Ramułt, ''Słownik języka pomorskiego, czyli kaszubskiego'', Kraków 1893, Gdańsk 2003, ISBN 83-87408-64-6. , Johann Georg Theodor Grässe, ''Orbis latinus oder Verzeichniss der lateinischen Benen ...

citizenship and was compulsorily conscripted into the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...

in 1944. In France he deserted and joined the 2nd Polish Army, led by general

Władysław Anders ) , birth_name = Władysław Albert Anders , birth_date = , birth_place = Krośniewice-Błonie, Warsaw Governorate, Congress Poland, Russian Empire , death_date = , death_place = London, England, United Kingdom , serviceyears ...

, in Italy. He returned to Poland in 1946. In 1947, he made his debut with the national boxing team of Poland, led by famous coach

Feliks Stamm Feliks “Papa” Stamm (14 December 1901, Kościan (german: Kosten) German Empire – 2 April 1976, Warsaw) was a prominent Polish boxing coach. He is widely regarded as the father of Polish boxing, and the creator of the so-called Polish schoo ...

. He started at the 1948 London

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 var ...

and reached the quarterfinal. In 1951 he won the

European Amateur Boxing Championships The European Amateur Boxing Championships is the highest competition for boxing amateurs in Europe, organised by the continent's governing body EUBC, which stands for the ''European Boxing Confederation''. The first edition of the tournament to ...

in Milan. He was chosen the best

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 ...

in a Plebiscite of the ''Sport Review''. Chychła won the gold medal at the

1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics ( fi, Kesäolympialaiset 1952; sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1952), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad ( fi, XV olympiadin kisat; sv, Den XV olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952 ( sv, Helsin ...

in Helsinki beating in the final a representative of the Soviet Union, Sergei Scherbakov. On the way to the final, he won against

Július Torma Július Torma (March 7, 1922, Budapest – October 23, 1991, Prague) was an ethnic Slovakian boxer competing for Czechoslovakia. He won the gold medal at the Olympic Games in 1948 for Czechoslovakia in the category up to 67 kg. He comp ...

(Czechoslovakia), the Olympic Champion from London in 1948 and the European Champion from Oslo in 1949. In the same year he was again selected by the Plebiscite of the ''

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 ...

''. After the Olympic Games, he found out that he was ill with

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

. He decided to resign from sports. However, not wanting to lack a competitor at the 1953 European Amateur Boxing Championships in Warsaw, the Polish sports authorities introduced him by mistake, claiming that the disease had backed off. He again won the gold medal there. However, due to lack of treatment, Chychła's tuberculosis worsened, causing a considerable pit in his lungs. Debilitated, he ended his sporting career in 1953. In the early 1970s, he emigrated to Germany. He boxed 17 times for the national team of Poland (15 fights won and 2 lost). In his career, he fought 263 fights: 241 won, 10 tied, and 12 lost. He was awarded the Honourable Citizen of City of Gdańsk title in 2003. Zygmunt Chychła died on 26 September 2009 in Senior's House in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

Statistics

Chychła won the welterweight gold medal at the 1952 Helsinki Olympic games.

Olympic results

*Defeated Pierre Wouters (Belgium) 3–0 *Defeated José Luis Dávalos Noriega (Mexico) 3–0 *Defeated

(Czechoslovakia) 2–1 *Defeated

Günther Heidemann Günther Heidemann (October 21, 1932 – March 15, 2010) was a boxer from Germany. He was born in Berlin. He competed for Germany in the 1952 Summer Olympics held in Helsinki, Finland in the welterweight event, where he finished in thi ...

(West Germany) 2–1 *Defeated Sergei Scherbakov (Soviet Union) 3–0

References

External links

Olympic DB
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chychla, Zygmunt 1926 births 2009 deaths German military personnel of World War II Polish military personnel of World War II Welterweight boxers Boxers at the 1948 Summer Olympics Boxers at the 1952 Summer Olympics Olympic boxers of Poland Olympic gold medalists for Poland Sportspeople from Gdańsk Olympic medalists in boxing People from the Free City of Danzig Naturalized citizens of Germany Polish emigrants to Germany Polish male boxers Medalists at the 1952 Summer Olympics

Career

Statistics

Olympic results

See also

References

External links