Irena Szewińska facts for kids

Irena Szewińska in 2007
Quick facts for kids Personal information
Born	(1946-05-24)24 May 1946 Leningrad, Russian SSR, Soviet Union
Died	29 June 2018(2018-06-29) (aged 72) Warsaw, Poland
Height	1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)
Weight	60 kg (132 lb)
Sport
Sport	Athletics
Club	Polonia Warszawa
Medal record Representing  Poland Event 1st 2nd 3rd Olympic Games 3 2 2 European Championships 5 1 4 European Indoor Championships 2 2 2 Summer Universiade 2 0 0 Total 12 5 8 Olympic Games Gold 1964 Tokyo 4×100 m Gold 1968 Mexico City 200 m Gold 1976 Montréal 400 m Silver 1964 Tokyo 200 m Silver 1964 Tokyo Long jump Bronze 1968 Mexico City 100 m Bronze 1972 Munich 200 m European Championships Gold 1966 Budapest 200 m Gold 1966 Budapest Long jump Gold 1966 Budapest 4×100 m Gold 1974 Rome 100 m Gold 1974 Rome 200 m Silver 1966 Budapest 100 m Bronze 1971 Helsinki 200 m Bronze 1974 Rome 4×100 m Bronze 1978 Prague 400 m Bronze 1978 Prague 4×400 m European Indoor Championships Gold 1969 Belgrade 50 m Gold 1969 Belgrade Long jump Silver 1969 Belgrade medley relay Silver 1971 Sofia Long jump Bronze 1974 Gothenburg 60 m Bronze 1975 Katowice 60 m Universiade Gold 1965 Sofia 100 m Gold 1965 Sofia 200 m

Copy of I. Szewińska medal and autograph in Sports Star Avenue in Dziwnów

Irena Szewińska in 1968, Uden, Netherlands

Irena Szewińska and Wojciech Buciarski, Papendal, 1975

Irena Szewińska with Konstanty Dombrowicz

Irena Szewińska (born Kirszenstein; 24 May 1946 – 29 June 2018) was an amazing Polish sprinter. She was one of the world's best athletes for almost 20 years. She competed in many different events. Irena is the only athlete ever, both male or female, to hold the world record in the 100 meters, 200 meters, and 400 meters races at the same time!

Irena Szewińska: A Sports Legend

Irena Szewińska was a true legend in the world of athletics. She showed incredible talent and dedication throughout her career. Her ability to excel in different sprint events made her unique. She inspired many people around the globe.

Early Life and Family Background

Irena Kirszenstein was born in Leningrad, which was then part of the Soviet Union. Her family was of Jewish-Polish background. Her father was from Warsaw, and her mother was from Kiev. In 1947, her family moved to Warsaw, Poland.

In 1967, Irena married her coach, Janusz Szewiński. He was also a national-level hurdler and later became a sports photographer. They had two sons: Andrzej, born in 1970, who played volleyball for Poland and became a senator, and Jarosław, born in 1981. Irena also earned a master's degree in economics from the University of Warsaw in 1970.

Irena Szewińska passed away on June 29, 2018, at the age of 72. She died from cancer in Warsaw.

Amazing Athletics Career Highlights

Irena Szewińska competed in five Olympic Games between 1964 and 1980. She won an incredible seven Olympic medals, including three gold medals! She also broke six world records during her career. As mentioned, she is the only athlete to hold world records in the 100m, 200m, and 400m.

She also won 10 medals at the European Athletics Championships. From 1965 to 1979, she won 26 national titles in Poland. She also set 38 national records in sprint races and the long jump.

Olympic Successes and World Records

At her very first Olympics in Tokyo in 1964, Irena won two silver medals. One was in the long jump and the other in the 200 meters. She also helped her team win a gold medal in the 4 × 100 meters relay race.

In 1965, she won two sprint events at the World Student Games in Budapest. That same year, she set her first world record in the 100 meters.

At the 1966 European Athletics Championships, she won three gold medals! These were for the long jump, 200 meters, and 4 × 100 meters relay. She also earned a silver medal in the 100 meters sprint.

At the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, she won a bronze medal in the 100 meters. She then bounced back to win a gold medal in the 200 meters, setting a new world record!

After having her son in 1971, she still managed to win a bronze medal in the long jump at the European Championships. At the Munich Olympics in 1972, she won another bronze medal in the 200 meters.

In 1974, Irena became the first woman to run the 400 meters in under 50 seconds. She also set a new world record of 22.21 seconds for the 200 meters. At the European Championships in Rome, she won both the 100 meters and 200 meters. She also helped her team win a bronze in the 4 × 100 meters relay. In 1974, she was ranked number one in the world for the 100m, 200m, and 400m.

Her final Olympic medal came in 1976 in Montreal. She won gold in the 400 meters, setting a new world record of 49.28 seconds. In 1977, she won both the 200 meters and 400 meters at the first World Cup of Track and Field. She was ranked number one in the world for 200m and 400m in both 1976 and 1977.

At her last European Championships at age 32, she still won two bronze medals. One was in the 400 meters and the other in the 4 × 400 meters relay.

Impressive Rankings and Awards

Irena Szewińska was ranked number one in the world many times. She was ranked first 7 times in the 200 meters, 4 times in the 400 meters, and 2 times in the 100 meters. She was also ranked in the top ten for the long jump 3 times.

She was ranked among the top three 200-meter runners in the world for 14 years, from 1964 to 1977. This is an amazing achievement!

Irena received many awards for her achievements. She won the United Press International Athlete of the Year Award for females in 1974. The Polish Press Agency named her the European Sportsperson of the Year twice, in 1966 and 1974.

Life After Competing

After retiring from competition, Irena Szewińska continued to be involved in sports. In 1998, she became a member of the International Olympic Committee. She also served as the president of the Polish Athletic Association from 1997 to 2009.

In 2005, she was elected as one of the first women to the Council of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). She was also honored as a member of the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame and the IAAF Hall of Fame.

In 2020, she received a special World Athletics Heritage Plaque. In 2021, readers of the Przegląd Sportowy magazine voted her the Polish Sportsperson of the Century. She had been chosen as the Polish Sports Personality of the Year four times during her career by the same magazine.

International Competitions

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Notes
Representing  Poland
1964	European Junior Games	Warsaw, Poland	1st	200 m	23.5
			1st	4 × 100 m relay	46.6
			1st	Long jump	6.19 m
	Olympic Games	Tokyo, Japan	2nd	200 m	23.1
			1st	4 × 100 m relay	43.6
			2nd	Long jump	6.60 m
1965	Universiade	Budapest, Hungary	1st	100 m	11.3
			1st	200 m	23.5
			2nd	4 × 100 m relay	46.1
1966	European Championships	Budapest, Hungary	2nd	100 m	11.5
			1st	200 m	23.1
			1st	4 × 100 m relay	44.49
			1st	Long jump	6.55 m
1968	Olympic Games	Mexico City, Mexico	3rd	100 m	11.1
			1st	200 m	22.5
			14th (h)	4 × 100 m relay	53.0
			16th (q)	Long jump	6.19 m
1969	European Indoor Games	Belgrade, Serbia	1st	50 m	6.4
			2nd	Medley relay	4:53.2
			1st	Long jump	6.38 m
1970	Universiade	Turin, Italy	25th (h)	100 m	12.3
1971	European Indoor Championships	Sofia, Bulgaria	4th	60 m	7.5
			2nd	Long jump	6.56 m
	European Championships	Helsinki, Finland	6th	100 m	11.63
			3rd	200 m	23.32
			5th	Long jump	6.62 m
1972	European Indoor Championships	Grenoble, France	6th	50 m	6.39
	Olympic Games	Munich, West Germany	13th (sf)	100 m	11.54
			3rd	200 m	22.74
1973	European Indoor Championships	Rotterdam, Netherlands	4th	60 m	7.35
1974	European Indoor Championships	Gothenburg, Sweden	3rd	60 m	7.20
	European Championships	Rome, Italy	1st	100 m	11.13
			1st	200 m	22.51
			3rd	4 × 100 m relay	43.48
			4th	4 × 400 m relay	3:26.4
1975	European Indoor Championships	Katowice, Poland	3rd	60 m	7.26
1976	Olympic Games	Montreal, Canada	1st	400 m	49.28 (WR)
1977	European Indoor Championships	San Sebastián, Spain	7th (h)	60 m	7.42
	World Cup	Düsseldorf, West Germany	1st	200 m	22.721
			1st	400 m	49.521
			2nd	4 × 400 m relay	3:25.81
1978	European Championships	Prague, Czechoslovakia	3rd	400 m	50.40
			5th	4 × 100 m relay	43.83
			3rd	4 × 400 m relay	3:26.76
1979	World Cup	Montreal, Canada	3rd	400 m	51.151
			4th	4 × 400 m relay	3:27.391
1980	Olympic Games	Moscow, Soviet Union	16th (sf)	400 m	53.13

¹Representing Europe

See also

In Spanish: Irena Szewińska para niños

• Polish records in athletics
• Poland at the Summer Olympics
• List of Poles