Jacek Roman Wszoła (born 30 December 1956 in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

, Poland) is a retired

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

high jumper The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...

best known for winning gold and silver medals at the

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

and

1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad () and officially branded as Moscow 1980 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1980 in Moscow, Soviet Union, in present-day Russ ...

respectively. Wszoła is also a one-time

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organizatio ...

holder with the result of 2.35 metres.

Biography

With his father Roman being an athletics coach, Jacek Wszoła was close to the sport since a very young age. He, eventually, also gave it a try – initially training for the hurdles before switching to high jump. Wszoła started competing in 1971 and by 1974, aged just 17, made his first national senior team for the 1974 European Championships in Rome finishing fifth. His first international title came a year later in Athens where he became the European Junior Champion. Wszoła, then 19 years old, was a big surprise at the

1976 Summer Olympics The 1976 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Montreal 1976 (), were an international multi-sport event held from July 17 to August 1, 1976, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Montreal ...

in Montreal where, competing in heavy rain, he managed to win over the favourites. Incidentally, shortly before the Games his father-coach made him train on wet tartan to prepare him for such circumstances. Following his success in the Olympic year, Wszoła won gold medals at the 1977 European Indoor Championships in San Sebastián and the

1977 Summer Universiade The 1977 Summer Universiade, also known as the IX Summer Universiade or World University Games, took place in Sofia, Bulgaria. Sports * * * * * * * * * * Medal table References * Athletics *World Student Games (Universiade - Men)- GBR Athl ...

in Sofia. He also finished second in Final A of that year's

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...

. The following season was much less successful as he only managed seventh place at the 1978 European Indoor Championships in Milan and fourth at the 1978 European Championships in Prague. In 1980, soon before the Olympics, Wszoła was back in form breaking the world record with 2.35 metres. At the

Moscow Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad () and officially branded as Moscow 1980 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1980 in Moscow, Soviet Union, in present-day Russ ...

, however, he only finished second behind the East German

Gerd Wessig Gerd Wessig (, ; born 16 July 1959 in Lübz, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern) is a former East German high jumper who won the gold medal in the 1980 Summer Olympics, the first man ever to set a world record in the high jump at the Olympics. Early ...

who also beat his world record by one centimetre. One month after the Olympics he got seriously injured at a domestic meet in Poznań tearing ligaments in his ankle which ruled him out of the sport for 18 months. Wszoła was never able to regain his old form. After missing out the entire 1981 season, Wszoła made a comeback in 1982 competing at the 1982 European Championships in Athens where he got into a dispute with his own national federation. After the qualification round, it was noticed that he competed in shoes of a different manufacturer than was then the official sponsor of the Polish team. As Wszoła refused to compete in the shoes provided by his federation, he was not allowed to start in the final and was sent back home. For this dubious infringement Wszoła was disqualified for six months. The following year was also not very successful with Wszoła finishing only 11th in his last Universiade in Edmonton and 13th in the inaugural

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 ...

in Helsinki. In 1984 Poland, under pressure from the Soviet Union, boycotted the Los Angeles Olympic Games instead sending its athletes to the alternative competition, the

Friendship Games The 1984 Friendship Games, or Friendship-84 (, ''Druzhba-84''), was an international multi-sport event held between 2 July and 16 September 1984 in the Soviet Union and eight other Eastern Bloc states which boycotted the 1984 Summer Olympics in ...

in Moscow. The competition took place in a pouring rain, and Wszoła, having witnessed one of the athletes breaking an arm, decided to fake an injury to avoid a real one. His last major international outing was the 1987 European Indoor Championships where he only managed eleventh place. The following year, he failed to make the Polish team for the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and officially branded as Seoul 1988 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. 159 nations were represe ...

. Wszoła finished his professional career in 1989 although he later competed in masters competitions, among others winning the M40 category at the 1997 European Masters Championships.Polish Masters Athletic Association
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Personal life

His wife Krystyna was also an athlete. They have two children, Jacek and Anna.

International competitions

¹Representing Europe
²Did not start in the final

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wszola, Jacek 1956 births Living people Polish male high jumpers Athletes (track and field) at the 1976 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1980 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Poland Olympic gold medalists for Poland Olympic silver medalists for Poland Athletes from Warsaw World record setters in athletics (track and field) World Athletics Championships athletes for Poland Medalists at the 1980 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1976 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) FISU World University Games gold medalists for Poland Medalists at the 1977 Summer Universiade Competitors at the 1984 Friendship Games Polish Athletics Championships winners 20th-century Polish sportsmen