Jerzy Pławczyk (16 April 1911 – 16 January 2005) was a Polish

athlete An athlete is most commonly a person who competes in one or more sports involving physical strength, speed, power, or endurance. Sometimes, the word "athlete" is used to refer specifically to sport of athletics competitors, i.e. including track ...

who competed at

1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...

and

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XI Olympiad () and officially branded as Berlin 1936, were an international multi-sport event held from 1 to 16 August 1936 in Berlin, then capital of Nazi Germany. Berlin won the bid to ...

Biography

In 1932 in

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, he competed in the men's high jump event, where he placed joint-seventh out of fourteen competitors with a top height of 1.90m. In 1936 in

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he placed twenty-second and last in the same event with a height of 1.80m. He also finished ninth out of twenty-eight competitors in the

decathlon The decathlon is a combined event in athletics consisting of 10 track and field events. The word "decathlon" was formed, in analogy to the word "pentathlon", from Greek δέκα (''déka'', meaning "ten") and ἄθλος (''áthlos'', or ἄ ...

event and set his personal best score. He was born in

Dąbrowa Górnicza Dąbrowa Górnicza () is a city in Zagłębie Dąbrowskie, southern Poland, near Katowice and Sosnowiec. It is located in eastern part of the Silesian Voivodeship, on the Czarna Przemsza and Biała Przemsza rivers (tributaries of the Vistula Rive ...

and was a member of the

AZS Warszawa Academic Sports Association Warsaw () was a former multi-section University sports club based in Warsaw, Poland. The club was dissolved into University clubs within List of universities in Poland#Public universities, Universities in Warsaw that we ...

club. A 1932 graduate of the Central Institute of Physical Education 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 ...

, that same year Pławczyk became the European champion in the high jump with a height of 1.96m, having already been a three-time national record holder in the event. He won a bronze medal in the

event at the

1934 European Athletics Championships The 1st European Athletics Championships were held in Turin, Italy, at the Stadio Olimpico di Torino, Stadio Benito Mussolini between 7 and 9 September 1934. A contemporaneous report on the event was given in the ''Glasgow Herald''. There were no ...

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, and placed sixth in the same event at the

1938 European Athletics Championships The 2nd European Athletics Championships was a continental athletics competition for European athletes which was held in two places in 1938. The men's event took place in Paris, France between 3–5 September while the women's events were in Vie ...

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

. He was a national champion on numerous occasions in the 1930s. In 1938, he moved to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and joined the

army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

in 1940. From 1943 through 1948 he worked as a sports instructor in

Vichy Vichy (, ; ) is a city in the central French department of Allier. Located on the Allier river, it is a major spa and resort town and during World War II was the capital of Vichy France. As of 2021, Vichy has a population of 25,789. Known f ...

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, and

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, later working as a salesman and teacher, before returning to Poland.

References

1911 births 2005 deaths Polish decathletes Olympic athletes for Poland Athletes (track and field) at the 1932 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1936 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Dąbrowa Górnicza European Athletics Championships medalists Athletes from Silesian Voivodeship Polish emigrants to France French military personnel of World War II {{Poland-decathlon-athletics-bio-stub