Michał Gajownik (15 December 1981 – 13 November 2009) was a Polish

sprint canoer Canoe sprint is a water sport in which athletes race in specially designed sprint canoes or sprint kayaks on calm water over a short distance. Prior to November 2008, canoe sprint was known as flatwater racing. The term is still in use today ...

who competed from 2000 to 2006. He won three medals at the

ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships The ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships are an international event in canoe racing, one of two top-tier Summer Olympic sport events organized by the International Canoe Federation (the other being the ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships). They ...

with two golds (C-4 1000 m:

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

) and a bronze (C-4 500 m: 2005). He was born in

Chrzanów Chrzanów () is a town in southern Poland with 35,651 inhabitants as of December 2021. It is situated in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship (since 1999) and is the seat of Chrzanów County. History History to 1809 It is impossible to establish ...

. Gajownik won silver medal in C-1 500 m in Junior European Championships in 1998, after year became C-2 500 m Junior World Championships silver medalist. The following year, at age 19, he became senior European C-2 1000 m champion with

Paweł Baraszkiewicz Paweł Baraszkiewicz (born May 20, 1977, in Działdowo) is a Polish canoe racing, sprint canoeist who has competed since the mid-1990s. He has been ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships, world champion four tim ...

who became later a member of Posnania

Poznań Poznań ( ) is a city on the Warta, River Warta in west Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business center and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John's ...

. At the

Sydney Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

, however, he finished in eighth place. After Sydney, Gajownik concentrated on the four-man canoe. At the start of the 2003 season, however, he tested positive for nandrolone – same as

Marcin Kobierski Marcin Kobierski (born April 13, 1977) is a Polish sprint canoer who competed from the late 1990s to the early 2000s. He won two gold medals in the C-2 1000 m event at the ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships, earning them in 2001 and 2 ...

, twice medalist in C-2 1000 m. Both denied the charge but were given a two-year ban, which cost them a place at the

2004 Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

. Gajownik returned to competitive action in 2005. He was a member of the Posnania Poznań club until 2006. He was killed in a

traffic collision A traffic collision, also known as a motor vehicle collision, or car crash, occurs when a vehicle collides with another vehicle, pedestrian, animal, road debris, or other moving or stationary obstruction, such as a tree, pole or building. Tr ...

on 13 November 2009 in Chrzanów.

References

* * *
Posnania Club

External links

* 1981 births 2009 deaths Canoeists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic canoeists for Poland Doping cases in canoeing Polish male canoeists Polish sportspeople in doping cases Road incident deaths in Poland People from Chrzanów ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships medalists in Canadian Canoeists from Lesser Poland Voivodeship 21st-century Polish sportsmen 20th-century Polish sportsmen {{Poland-canoe-bio-stub