Tadeusz Kwapień

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Tadeusz Kwapień Cross-country skiing Nordic combination
nation PolandPoland Poland
birthday February 25, 1923
place of birth Kościelisko ,  Poland
size 172 cm
job Trainer
date of death November 23, 2012
Place of death Zakopane ,  Poland
Career
discipline Nordic combined skiing
society TS Wisła Zakopane
Trainer Marian Woyna Orlewicz
Tadeusz Kaczmarczyk
National squad since 1946
End of career 1961
Medal table
National medals 18 × gold 10 × silver 2 × bronze
Participant in the Nordic combinationNordic Combined
Polish Ski Association logo Polish championships
silver 1948 Karpacz singles
Skiing

Czech Marusarzówna Memorial 3. (1949)
 

Tadeusz Kwapień (born February 25, 1923 in Kościelisko ; † November 23, 2012 in Zakopane ) was a Polish cross-country skier who was also active in Nordic combined and athletics . The three-time Olympic participant was the Polish flag bearer at the 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo .

Career

Kwapień was born in 1923 and grew up in Zakopane district Krzeptówki , where his father ran a bakery on. After the Second World War, Kwapień began middle-distance running before Marian Woyna Orlewicz brought him to cross-country skiing and quickly made it to the top of the national league . In 1946 he co-founded a branch of the club "Wisła" in Krzeptówki, which at the beginning was largely financed by his father. In the same year he won his first Polish championship title when he crossed the finish line with Józef Sitarz , Stanisław Klocek and Marian Woyna Orlewicz ahead of SN PTT Zakopane and HKN Zakopane. At the Polish championships in Karpacz in 1948 he was runner-up in the Nordic combined. Shortly afterwards he traveled to the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz , where he finished 25th in the Nordic Combined. Also in cross-country skiing it was enough with rank 47 over 18 km and as tenth with the relay only to middle placements.

As part of the Polish delegation, Kwapień took part in the 1949 World Academic Winter Games in Špindlerův Mlýn . He emerged as the winner of the 18 km run, but had to be satisfied with the silver medal both in the relay race and in the Nordic combined. At the Czech Marusarzówna Memorial in Zakopane in March, he made it onto the podium in the overall standings as third behind Józef Daniel Krzeptowski and Stefan Dziedzic , thus proving his versatility. Results from ski jumping , cross-country skiing, slalom and downhill were included in the evaluation . In addition, he won the cross-country skiing competition over the short distance for the first time, which he won four times between 1949 and 1958. Over 30 km and with the relay he was successful once. From 1950 Kwapień was directly active at Club Wisła Kraków Sport . He celebrated his first of eighteen Polish championship titles in 1951 over 30 kilometers. With further strong results, he qualified again for the Winter Olympics , which took place in Oslo in 1952 . Kwapień was only used over the short distance of 18 km and, after a good start with a ski break, ultimately came in 41st.

In 1953 Kwapień again took part in the World Academic Winter Games on the Semmering . According to his own account, the 18 km race is remembered as one of his favorite competitions, although he only won silver, two seconds behind Fyodor Terentjew . He also won bronze with the relay. In 1956 and 1957, Kwapień was considered the best cross-country skier in Central and Eastern Europe. As early as January 1956, he was second on the podium at the international ski competitions in Le Brassus . He was given a special honor at the 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo , when he served as the flag bearer at the opening ceremony. With sixteenth place over 15 km, a strong twelfth place over 30 km and ninth with the relay, he completed his best Olympic Games. He also showed strong performances against outstanding competition at the international winter sports week 1957 in Garmisch-Partenkirchen with seventh place in the 15 km race and shortly afterwards second in the Kurrikala Cup. His first and only world championship participation was at the Nordic World Ski Championships in 1958 in Lahti , where he did not finish the 30 km race. The 15 km cross-country skiing did not go optimally either, so it was only 31st place. With the relay, he finished ninth of twelve places. After a long career, Kwapień actually wanted to end his career after the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley , but he was unable to qualify for the field due to a severe flu.

After the end of his sporting career, Kwapień began to work as a coach in the Zakopane clubs of TS Wisła and WKS Legia from 1960. From 1966 to 1970 he was the coach of the men's national team. He was buried in the New Cemetery in Zakopane .

athletics

In addition to his winter sports career, Kwapień was also active in athletics. Originally, he even started medium and long-distance skiing before cross-country skiing . At Polish athletics championships, Kwapień won nine medals. While he had to be content with silver in 1947 and 1948, he won his first championship title in 1949 over 1500 meters. A year later he won his second gold medal over 5000 meters. Kwapień also achieved good results on an international level, as demonstrated by eighth place over 1500 and tenth place over 5000 meters at the Universiade in Budapest in 1949 . In favor of his cross-country skiing career, however, he renounced further assignments in the early 1950s. His personal bests were 2: 00.8 minutes (1950) over 800 meters, 4: 05.0 minutes (1950 in Krakow ) over 1500 meters and 15: 43.8 minutes (1949 in Gdańsk ) over 5000 meters.

Participation in Winter Olympics Olympic rings without rims.svg

Year and place Single NK 15/18 km 30 km Season
SwitzerlandSwitzerland 1948 St. Moritz 25th 47. - 10.
NorwayNorway 1952 Oslo - 41. - -
ItalyItaly 1956 Cortina d'Ampezzo - 16. 12. 09.

Awards

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c AKTUALNOŚCI / ZMARŁ TADEUSZ KWAPIEŃ. In: pzla.pl. November 27, 2012, accessed August 11, 2020 (Polish).
  2. ↑ a b c W Zakopanem pożegnano trzykrotnego olimpijczyka Tadeusza Kwapienia. In: dzieje.pl. November 27, 2012, accessed August 11, 2020 (Polish).
  3. ↑ 1946.12.31 Bieg sztafetowy o mistrzostwo Polski. In: historiawisly.pl , accessed on August 11, 2020 (Polish).
  4. ^ Result and report on the 1948 championship , in: Przegląd Sportowy of February 23, 1948, page 5 (PDF) (Polish).
  5. ↑ Wojciech Szatkowski: Tadeusz Kwapień - skiers and athletes. In: z-ne.pl. April 25, 2007, accessed August 11, 2020 (Polish).
  6. ^ Passauer Neue Presse : Swiss women’s victory in the Alpine Combined. Issue No. 5 from January 9, 1956.
  7. ^ PNP : Sport Rundschau. Hakulinen won the 15 km cross-country skiing. Issue No. 24 from January 30, 1957.
  8. ↑ PNP : Rita Czech-Blasl cross-country skiing champion in Switzerland. Issue 40 from February 18, 1957.
  9. ↑ Tadeusz Kwapień. In: polskaijejhistoria.blogspot.com. October 7, 2016, accessed August 11, 2020 (Polish).
personal data
SURNAME Kwapień, Tadeusz
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Polish cross-country skier
DATE OF BIRTH February 25, 1923
PLACE OF BIRTH Kościelisko , Second Polish Republic
DATE OF DEATH November 23, 2012
Place of death Zakopane , Poland