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Jacek Wszoła

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Jacek Wszoła
Jacek Wszoła in 2007
Personal information
Born (1956-12-30) 30 December 1956 (age 67)[1]
Warsaw, Polish People's Republic[1]
Height1.95 m (6 ft 5 in)[1]
Weight75 kg (165 lb)[1]
Sport
SportAthletics
EventHigh jump
ClubAZS Warszawa
Coached byStanisław Janowski
Roman Wszoła
Medal record
Men's athletics
Representing  Poland
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1976 Montreal High jump
Silver medal – second place 1980 Moscow High jump
European Indoor Championships
Gold medal – first place 1977 San Sebastián High jump
Silver medal – second place 1980 Sindelfingen High jump
European Junior Championships
Gold medal – first place 1975 Athens High jump
Universiade
Gold medal – first place 1977 Sofia High jump

Jacek Roman Wszoła (born 30 December 1956 in Warsaw, Poland) is a retired Polish high jumper best known for winning gold and silver medals at the 1976 and 1980 Summer Olympics respectively. Wszoła is also a one-time world record holder with the result of 2.35 metres.

Biography

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With his father Roman being an athletics coach, Jacek Wszoła was close to the sport since a very young age. He, eventually, also gave it a try – initially training for the hurdles before switching to high jump.

Wszoła started competing in 1971[2] and by 1974, aged just 17, made his first national senior team for the 1974 European Championships in Rome finishing fifth. His first international title came a year later in Athens where he became the European Junior Champion.

Wszoła, then 19 years old, was a big surprise at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal where, competing in heavy rain, he managed to win over the favourites. Incidentally, shortly before the Games his father-coach made him train on wet tartan to prepare him for such circumstances.[2]

Following his success in the Olympic year, Wszoła won gold medals at the 1977 European Indoor Championships in San Sebastián and the 1977 Summer Universiade in Sofia. The following season was much less successful as he only managed seventh place at the 1978 European Indoor Championships in Milan and fourth at the 1978 European Championships in Prague.

In 1980, soon before the Olympics, Wszoła was back in form breaking the world record with 2.35 metres. At the Moscow Olympics, however, he only finished second behind the East German Gerd Wessig who also beat his world record by one centimetre. One month after the Olympics he got seriously injured at a domestic meet in Poznań tearing ligaments in his ankle which ruled him out of the sport for 18 months.[1][3] Wszoła was never able to regain his old form.

After missing out the entire 1981 season, Wszoła made a comeback in 1982 competing at the 1982 European Championships in Athens where he got into a dispute with his own national federation. After the qualification round, it was noticed that he competed in shoes of a different manufacturer than was then the official sponsor of the Polish team. As Wszoła refused to compete in the shoes provided by his federation, he was not allowed to start in the final and was sent back home.[2][3] For this dubious infringement Wszoła was disqualified for six months.[4]

The following year was also not very successful with Wszoła finishing only 11th in his last Universiade in Edmonton and 13th in the inaugural World Championships in Helsinki. In 1984 Poland, under pressure from the Soviet Union, boycotted the Los Angeles Olympic Games instead sending its athletes to the alternative competition, the Friendship Games in Moscow. The competition took place in a pouring rain, and Wszoła, having witnessed one of the athletes breaking an arm, decided to fake an injury to avoid a real one.[2][5]

His last major international outing was the 1987 European Indoor Championships where he only managed eleventh place. The following year, he failed to make the Polish team for the 1988 Summer Olympics. Wszoła finished his professional career in 1989[6] although he later competed in masters competitions, among others winning the M40 category at the 1997 European Masters Championships.[7]

Personal life

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His wife Krystyna was also an athlete. They have two children, Jacek and Anna.[6]

International competitions

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Year Competition Venue Position Notes
Representing  Poland
1974 European Championships Rome, Italy 5th 2.19 m
1975 European Indoor Championships Katowice, Poland 11th 2.16 m
European Junior Championships Athens, Greece 1st 2.22 m
1976 Olympic Games Montreal, Canada 1st 2.25 m
1977 European Indoor Championships San Sebastián, Spain 1st 2.25 m
Universiade Sofia, Bulgaria 1st 2.22 m
World Cup Düsseldorf, West Germany 3rd 2.24 m1
1978 European Indoor Championships Milan, Italy 7th 2.21 m
European Championships Prague, Czechoslovakia 6th 2.21 m
1979 World Cup Montreal, Canada 2nd 2.27 m
Universiade Mexico City, Mexico 4th 2.26 m
1980 European Indoor Championships Sindelfingen, West Germany 2nd 2.29 m
Olympic Games Moscow, Soviet Union 2nd 2.31 m
1982 European Championships Athens, Greece 3rd (q) 2.21 m2
1983 Universiade Edmonton, Canada 11th 2.20 m
World Championships Helsinki, Finland 13th 2.23 m
1984 Friendship Games Moscow, Soviet Union 4th 2.15 m
1987 European Indoor Championships Liévin, France 11th 2.20 m

1Representing Europe
2Did not start in the final

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Jacek Wszoła". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 4 February 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d Leniarski, Radosław (24 October 2011). "Jacek Wszoła o olimpijskim złocie w Montrealu i porażce w Moskwie" (in Polish). sport.pl. Retrieved 17 December 2017.
  3. ^ a b "Aleja Gwiazd Sportu: Jacek Wszoła" (in Polish). Aleja Gwiazd Sportu. 27 October 2000. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  4. ^ Wszoła, Jacek (1984). Poczet polskich olimpijczyków 1924–1984: Monachium '72, Montreal '76 (in Polish). Warsaw: Krajowa Agencja Wydawnicza. p. 69.
  5. ^ Klimas, Bartosz (9 July 2008). "Olimpijski cierń sprzed lat" (in Polish). Rzeczpospolita. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  6. ^ a b "Wszoła: nie czuję się pięćdziesięciolatkiem" (in Polish). sport.wp.pl. 29 December 2006. Archived from the original on 22 December 2017. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  7. ^ Polish Masters Athletic Association
Records
Preceded by Men's High Jump World Record Holder
2m35 equalled by Dietmar Mögenburg on 1980-05-26

1980-05-25 – 1980-08-01
Succeeded by