Ryszard Szurkowski

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Ryszard Szurkowski (2011)

Ryszard Jan Szurkowski [ ˈˈɾɨʂaɾt ˈjan ʂurˈkɔfski ] (born January 12, 1946 in Świebodów , Krośnice , Powiat Milicki ; † February 1, 2021 in Radom ) was a Polish cyclist and three-time world champion. He was considered the Polish Eddie Merckx , but was only able to compete directly with him once (1974 at the Paris – Nice race , in which a Polish team had been permitted with a special permit), as he competed in professional races in the west during the Cold Warwas not allowed to compete. In the 1970s, Szurkowski dominated the Eastern European counterpart to the Tour de France , the International Peace Ride . After his active career, he was the coach of the Polish national road cycling team from 1984 to 1988 . He has been in a wheelchair since a fall at the Jedermannrennen Rund um Köln in 2018 .

Cycling career

Ryszard Szurkowski only started cycling at the age of 20 when his older brother registered him in a cycling club in his hometown and "sent" him to training.

Szurkowski's first big success was the victory at the Polish cyclo-cross championships in 1968 in Prudnik . A year later he started the International Peace Tour for the first time . His daring and aggressive driving style was rewarded with second place in the overall standings.

In 1970, 1971, 1973 and 1975, Szurkowski won the International Peace Tour four times. He started the tour six times in total. He wore the overall leader's jersey 52 times in a total of 89 stages of the race. After his second victory in the International Peace Tour, he took part in the Olympic Games in Munich in 1972 and took second place in the team time trial with the Polish national team .

Szurkowski was able to repeat this result four years later at the Olympic Games in Montreal . There he had already won the runner-up title for amateurs in road racing in 1974 , after having become two-time world champion in individual races and team time trial in Barcelona the year before .

With the national cycling team, Szurkowski was again world champion of the amateurs in team time trial in Mettet in 1975 . In the same year he won his third Polish championship title after 1969 and 1974; two more were to follow in 1978 and 1979. Although he is still the record holder of the Tour of Poland with 15 stage wins, he was not allowed to finish this race as the overall winner. Szurkowski won the points classification four times (1971, 1973, 1974 and 1979) and the mountain classification twice (1971 and 1974).

During his career, Szurkowski rode for four Polish sports and cycling clubs: LZS Milicz , KS Czarni Radomsk , KS Dolmel Wrocław and KS Polonia Warszawa .

Miscellaneous

The Polish sports newspaper " Przegląd Sportowy " named Szurkowski twice as " Sportsman of the Year " (1970 and 1973). In 1970 he was awarded the UNESCO Fair Play Prize. After ending his professional career in 1980 at the age of 34, he was the Polish national coach from 1984 to 1988 and from 1985 to 1989 a member of the then still socialist Polish parliament .

From 2010, Szurkowski was President of the Polish Cycling Federation (PZKol) for a few years after his predecessor Wojciech Walkiewicz had again become President of the European Cycling Federation Union Européenne de Cyclisme (UEC). In addition, Szurkowski ran his own cycling shop in Warsaw .

He was still active as a cyclist and regularly took part in everyone's races across Europe. At the age of 72, he had a serious fall in 2018 in such a race, the Velodom in Cologne , after a collision with participants who had also previously had an accident. Szurkowski had to undergo several operations and was paralyzed in a wheelchair. Because of the high cost of his rehabilitation , he was supported by donations, including the Lions Club in Poznan .

family

A turning point in Szurkowski's life was the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York on September 11, 2001 , in which his son Norbert was killed.

Palmarès

  • Four-time winner of the Peace Tour (1970, 1971, 1973, 1975)
  • Two-time Olympic silver medalist in team road race ( 1972 , 1976 )
  • Triple world champion
    • once in a single race (1973)
    • twice in team races (1973, 1975)
  • Vice world champion in individual races (1974)
  • Two-time "Sportsman of the Year" Poland (1971, 1973)
  • UNESCO - "Fair Play" Award (1970)
  • Tour of Mazury (Dookoła Mazowsza) 1977, 1978
  • Five-time Polish road racing champion (1969, 1974–1975, 1978–1979)
  • Polish champion in cyclo-cross racing in 1968

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Four-time Friedensfahrt winner Ryszard Szurkowski is dead. In: radsport-news.com , February 1, 2021, accessed on February 3, 2021.
  2. Udo Witte: Campionissimo, Monsieur Chrono, Cannibal & Co . tape 2: 1960-1975 . Norderstedt 2015, p. 404 .
  3. ^ The Ryszard Szurkowski Story . In: Sportrad . No. 1/1990 . Motor Presse Stuttgart, Stuttgart 1990, p. 77-80 .
  4. unesdoc.unesco.org (PDF; 207 kB)
  5. Kolarstvo. Sparaliżowany Ryszard Szurkowski walczy o powrót do zdrowia . In: wyborcza.pl . ( wyborcza.pl [accessed November 6, 2018]).
  6. Artur Hojny: Ryszard Szurkowski toczy Ciezki bój o powrót do zdrowia. Są nowe informacje o postępach. In: sport.se.pl. April 18, 2020, accessed April 28, 2020 .
  7. Pap: Ryszard Szurkowski zabrał głos. "Po kryzysie kolarstwo będzie biedniejsze". In: sport.dziennik.pl. April 17, 2020, accessed April 28, 2020 (Polish).