Janusz Kusociński

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Janusz Kusociński

Janusz Kusociński
Medal record
Men's athletics
Representing  Poland
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1932 Los Angeles 10,000 meters
European Athletics Championships
Silver medal – second place 1934 Turin 5,000 meters

Janusz Tadeusz Kusociński (15 January 1907 – 21 June 1940) was a Polish athlete, winner in the 10,000 meters event at the 1932 Summer Olympics.

Biography

Born in Warsaw into the family of a railroad worker, Janusz Kusociński, or Kusy as he was nicknamed, played football for various Warsaw clubs as a schoolboy. He took up athletics in 1928 after joining the sport club "Sarmata". His coach there was the famous Estonian, decathlete Aleksander Klumberg.

In his first competition at the Polish National Championships, Kusociński surprisingly won the 5000 m and cross country titles. He missed the next season, because he was called to duty by the Polish army, but he came back stronger than ever. He won the Polish Championship titles in the 1500 m and the 5000 m, in cross country in 1930 and 1931, and in the 800 m in 1932.

Tomb of Janusz Kusociński in Palmiry near Warsaw

In 1932 Kusociński was working as a

Lasse Virtanen
in the 10 000 m, with a world season's best time of 30:11.4.

After finishing second in the first European Championships at Turin in the 5000 m in 1934, Kusociński decided to retire from athletics, but made a comeback in 1939 by winning the 10 000 m at the Polish National Championships.

Kusociński volunteered for the Polish army after Poland was attacked by the

AB Action and imprisoned in Mokotów Prison. He was executed three months later in Palmiry, near Warsaw.[3]

Further information: Palmiry massacre

An annual athletics competition, the

Kusociński Memorial, is held in Poland in his honour. It was in its 55th edition in 2009.[4] On 12 August 2009, he was posthumously awarded the Commander's Cross with Star of the Order of Polonia Restituta
, "for outstanding contribution to the independence of the Polish Republic, for sporting achievements in the field of athletics".

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 1-894963-34-2
  2. ISBN 1931541396
    .
  3. ^ "Olympians Who Were Killed or Missing in Action or Died as a Result of War". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
  4. IAAF
    . Retrieved on 2009-06-09.

External links

Records
Preceded by Men's 3,000 m World Record Holder
19 June 1932 – 24 July 1934 		Succeeded by
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