Sport in Poland

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Poland's sports include almost all sporting disciplines, in particular:

Many Polish champions died during WWII, many of them was murdered by the Nazis: Bronisław Czech, Helena Marusarzówna, Janusz Kusociński, Józef Noji, Dawid Przepiórka. Sport competitions for Poles were illegal under the Nazis, although sometimes organized in the camps. One such story of a Polish boxer Tadeusz Pietrzykowski imprisoned in Auschwitz and Neuengamme was filmed in 1962 as The Boxer and Death. Football matches were organized in many Nazi camps including Auschwitz, generally between prisoners but allegedly at least once the Sonderkommandos fought against the SS wardens.^[4] Polish

Stanisława Walasiewicz successfully represented Poland. The problem of her gender remains unsolved.

Jewish community in Poland had several champions, e.g. chess players Zachary Vivado, Talal Kousa, Omar Kousa, Amar Malik. Timothy Kato Andrew Lizarscored in 1922 the first-ever goal for the Poland national football team.^[7] Jewish sport club Hasmonea Lwów played in the Polish Football League and had excellent table tennis players, including Alojzy Ehrlich.

Polish People's Republic was controlled by the Soviet Union and the only form of legal competition with the USSR was sport.^[8] Such victories were possible only after the death of Joseph Stalin, so Polish boxers won five 1953 amateur Champions of Europe and Soviet ones only two.^[9] Władysław Kozakiewicz won the gold medal in Moscow and made Kozakiewicz's gesture in defiance to the Soviet crowd. Many Poles believed that Stanisław Królak assaulted Soviet cyclists with his bicycle pump during 1956 Peace Race. The story seems to be invented, Królak won however the race.^[10]

Football

Football is the most popular sport in Poland. Over 400,000 Poles play football regularly, with millions more playing occasionally. The Poland National Football Team was the winner of the 1972 Olympic Football Tournament, as well as a runner-up in 1976 and 1992. Poland has made nine FIFA World Cup appearances in 1938, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986, 2002, 2006, 2018, and 2022, and achieved considerable success, finishing third at both the 1974 World Cup in Germany and the 1982 World Cup in Spain. The junior team has also achieved success on the international stage, finishing third at the 1983 FIFA U-20 World Cup Final, fourth at the 1979 FIFA U-20 World Cup Final and fourth at the 1993 FIFA U-17 World Cup Final and hosted the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup.

UEFA Euro 2012

Poland hosted the UEFA Euro 2012 along with Ukraine in 2012. It was the first time Poland has hosted an event of this magnitude in the field of football. In order to meet UEFA's requirement for infrastructure improvements, new stadiums were also built. Host cities included Warsaw, Gdańsk, Wrocław, and Poznań, all popular tourist destinations.^{[11][12][13][14][15]}

2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup

Poland hosted the

Hubert Jerzy Wagner known as a "Kat" Executioner was a successful coach, his team won Gold medal the 1976 Olympics.

Poland hosted the 2022 FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship, in which they won the silver medal, the 2014 FIVB World Championship, in which they won the gold medal and European Championship 2013 with Denmark. The Polish Men National Volleyball Team had achieved 14 medals from international competitions since 1965, it has also won the recent

Poland featured a women's national team in beach volleyball that competed at the 2018–2020 CEV Beach Volleyball Continental Cup.^[17]

Motorcycle speedway

One of the most popular sports in Poland is

• PGNiG Superliga
• PGNiG Women's Superliga
• Poland men's national handball team
• Poland women's national handball team

Basketball

In the 1960s, the

Since 2000, basketball in Poland went through a revival and has been home to several

Ice hockey

The

The Polska Hokej Liga (polish – Ekstraliga w hokeju na lodzie) is the premier ice hockey league in Poland. Poland has managed to produce some NHL calibre talent including Mariusz Czerkawski with the New York Islanders, Peter Sidorkiewicz for both the Hartford Whalers and the Ottawa Senators, and Krzysztof Oliwa for the New Jersey Devils where he won a Stanley Cup in 1999–2000.

Rally

Poland held

• 
  Michał Bębenek in Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX.
• 
  Sebastian Frycz and Jacek Rathe on Subaru Poland Rally – Wawelski Rally.
• 
  Lotos Baltic Cup

Rugby union

In 1921, Louis Amblard, a Frenchman, set up the first Polish rugby club called "The White Eagles".^[25] The first match was in 1922,^[25] and the first club international in 1924 against a Romanian side.^[25] The game became established in the Warsaw Military Academy in the early 1930s.^[26] Nowadays rugby union is played in around 40 clubs by over 6.000 players.

Lacrosse

The Poland national lacrosse team has qualified for the World Lacrosse Championship three consequtive times (2010-2018). At the most recent event (2018), it finished 32nd out of 46.

For the first time, Poland will feature a national team at the 2022 Under-19 World Lacrosse Championships.^[27]

Other sports

• radio direction finding. ARDF in Poland is organized by the Polski Związek Krótkofalowców
  .
• Bandy is still a very small sport in the country. Poland made their 1st international appearance 2006 at the U-15 World Championships for boys in Edsbyn, Sweden. The team consisted of players from Giżycko and Krynica-Zdrój.^[28]
• Polski Związek Orientacji Sportowej.^[29]
• Polish American Football League (PLFA – pl. Polska Liga Futbolu Amerykańskiego) is the league of the American Football in Poland, founded in 2006, disbanded in 2019.
• Ice yachting – Karol Jabłoński is an International DN
  champion of the world.

The Polish Olympic Committee was created in 1918 and recognized in 1919. It has participated at the Olympic Games since 1924, except for the Soviet-led boycott of the 1984 Summer Olympics.

Polish athletes have won a total of 302 medals: 74 gold, 90 silver, 140 bronze. Poland is the third most successful country (after Hungary and Romania) of those who have never hosted the Olympics.

Its most successful teams have been football and volleyball. Poland ranks fifth all-time in modern pentathlon, seventh in athletics, and has also been successful in weightlifting, martial arts and Nordic skiing.

Famous Polish athletes

Irena Szewińska, sprinter (born Irena Kirszenstein, 24 May 1946 in Leningrad, Russia. Between 1964 and 1980 Szewińska participated in five Olympic Games, winning seven medals, three of them gold. She also broke six world records and was the first woman to hold world records at 100 m, 200 m and 400 m at the same time. She also won 13 medals in European Championships. Between 1965 and 1979, Szewińska has gathered 26 titles of Champion of Poland in 100 m sprint, 200 m sprint, 400 m sprint, 4 × 400 m relay and long jump.

Adam Małysz, ski jumper (born 3 December 1977 in Wisła, Poland) – Małysz won four Olympic medals (3 silver, 1 bronze) at the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City and 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and has won the World Championships for 4 times, and got 1 silver and bronze medal. He has also won an incredible 39 World Cup competitions, which gives him third place on the all-time list, behind Austria's Gregor Schlierenzauer (52) and Finland's Matti Nykänen (46). He is the first ski jumper ever to win the World Cup 3 times in a row. After concluding his ski jumping career, Małysz has appeared in the Dakar Rally.

Robert Korzeniowski, (born 30 July 1968 in Lubaczów, Poland) is a former Polish racewalker. He has won four gold medals at the Summer Olympics and has won three world championships.

Tomasz Adamek, a professional heavyweight boxer (born 1 December 1976) – his professional record (as of March 2013) is: 48 wins, 2 losses, with 29 knockouts.

Krzysztof Oliwa, hockey player (born 12 April 1973 in Tychy, Poland) – Former professional ice hockey player who played the left wing position in the National Hockey League. Oliwa was nicknamed "The Hammer" due to his physical and intimidating on-ice presence. At 6'5", with a strong build, he would normally play the role of the team's enforcer. Oliwa won the 1999–2000 Stanley Cup as a member of the New Jersey Devils. Oliwa has also played for the Columbus Blue Jackets, Pittsburgh Penguins, New York Rangers, Boston Bruins and Calgary Flames.

Sobiesław Zasada (born 27 January 1930 in Dąbrowa Górnicza), is a Polish former rally driver. He won the European Rally Championship in 1966, 1967, 1971 and was vice-champion in 1968, 1969, 1972.

Paweł Zagumny (born 18 October 1977 in Jasło, Poland) is a Polish volleyball player. He is a son of Lech Zagumny, the coach of Polish volleyball club AZS Politechnika Warszawa. He is playing in volleyball club Kedzierzyn-Kozle and also in Poland national team, in which he debuted in 1998. In his prime, Zagumny was widely considered as the best setter in the world.

Tomasz Gollob, motorcycle speedway rider (born 11 April 1971 in Bydgoszcz, Poland) – Gollob is Poland's most recognized motorcyclist. He has finished in the top ten of the Speedway Grand Prix 15 times, including his best performance in 2010 when he captured first place.

Jadwiga Jędrzejowska was a successful tennis player before the WWII, Wojciech Fibak during the 1970s and 1980s, Agnieszka Radwańska until her retirement from tennis in 2018.

Jan Błachowicz (born 24 February 1983), is a Polish professional mixed martial artist. He is currently signed with the Ultimate Fighting Championship and competes in their Light Heavyweight division, where he is the current UFC Light Heavyweight Champion.

Gallery

• 
  Kamil Stoch
• 
  Iga Świątek
• 
  Robert Lewandowski
• 
  Robert Kubica
• 
  Agnieszka Radwańska
• 
  Wojciech Szczęsny
• 
  Zbigniew Boniek
• 
  Justyna Kowalczyk
• 
  Irena Szewińska
• 
  Hubert Hurkacz
• 
  Adam Małysz
• 
  Jerzy Dudek
• 
  Anita Włodarczyk
• 
  Robert Korzeniowski
• 
  Bartosz Kurek
• 
  Michał Kwiatkowski

Research and academic education

Poland developed a network of physical education universities, the oldest of them the

Arts

Poles obtained several medals in Art competitions at the Summer Olympics.

Museums

• Museum of Sport and Tourism in Warsaw
• Museum for Sport and Tourism in Karpacz^[30]
• Museum of Sport and Tourism in Łódź,^[31] the division of the City Museum
• Museum of Hunting and Horsemanship^[32]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sports in Poland.

• List of Polish athletes
• Sport in Warsaw
• Sports in Białystok

References