On the 12th October 1919 at the Hotel Francuski in Kraków, a group of the national administration representatives and sports activists, who were convinced about the importance of Poland’s participation in the international Olympic movement, and who wanted the Polish players to have a start in the 7th Olympic Games in Antwerp (1920), established the Committee for Poland’s Participation in the Olympic Games, under their own national flag. The Committee quickly gained the social acceptance and the government support, and the protectorate of the Chief of State, Józef Piłsudski, who appreciated the role of sport and the meaning of the Olympics in promotion of the Reborn Poland on the international scene. The first chairman of the Committee was Prince Stefan Lubomirski, and the honorary chairmen were General Józef Haller and the minister of Public Health, doctor Tomasz Janiszewski. At the same time, the Committee changed the name for the Polish Committee of the Olympic Games, which in 1925 was changed again for the Polish Olympics Committee.
The POC submitted Poland to the International Olympic Committee and started preparing the Polish team to the Olympic Games in Antwerp. It established special divisions for every sport discipline with representatives of the PCOG, sports unions, sports clubs and sports societies. It conducted through the divisions a selection of candidates for Olympians. It obtained for them a temporary release from the military service and organised 8 specialized training centres for particular disciplines, and also – qualification tournament to select the team for Antwerp. Despite advanced sports and administration preparations, the situation on the Bolshie-Polish war front made it impossible for the Polish sportsmen to take part in the Olympics 1920. Since it was necessary to direct all forces to protect the country, the PCOG decided on the 12th of July to cancel our start in Antwerp. When informing about it, the chairman Lubomirski requested for understanding of the Polish stand and our absence there. On the day of the event opening, the decision was announced to the participants, and Poland had only symbolically participated in the official march with flags.
The debut of Poland in the Olympics was postponed until the 8th Olympic Games in Paris in 1924. Since that time, our sportsmen has been regularly takin part in the Olympic competitions – both in the summer, and in the winter. An exception were the 13th Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 1984, when under the influence of the political governors, the Polish representation didn’t take part in it.
The Polish Committee of the Olympic Games conducted preparations for the participation of the Polish team in the Olympics in 1920, initiated establishing of the national sports unions and took action to create organization structures for the Polish sport – it acted as the central sports movement. It promoted sport, its educative and social importance, it spread the rules of Olympics among the society and the national administrative bodies. Sport, and mainly the Olympic Movement, contributed significantly within the first years of independent Poland to the integration of the society divided by invaders and to strengthening of the national conscience among Polish people. In the mid-war period, and also after the second world war, it was an important element of Poland’s promotion on the international scene.
The PCOG since the beginning has shown a social character of its activity. In this respect, the decisive were traditions and the approach of people who formed the Polish Olympic movement, who treated sport as a part social life. The PCOG created this way in the country and abroad, though located according to the formal-legal aspects within the organization structures of the Polish sport – from a regulatory society, through integration in 1925 with the Society of the Polish Sports Unions, and later, after 1948 with the national administration bodies for physical culture – turned into a self-governing organization, with its own legal status and acting in our country within a variable social-political situation, and it has gained a common acceptance and a high position in the country and on the international forum, and it still shapes the system of physical education and sport in Poland.
After Poland restored its independence in 1918, conditions for sport development were unusually difficult. The years of the Second Republic of Poland (1918 – 1939) were the period of intense rebirth of the nation after a long-term enslavement. This was the time that couldn’t be compared with any other period in the history of Polish culture, arts, science and sport development. Action taken already during the partitions period – conventions and congresses for teachers, conventions by the “Sokół” society , anniversaries of societies and sport organizations, scouts, press and sport exhibitions contributed to a quick development of sport in the independent Poland.
Among all Olympic starts of the Polish sportsmen, the most successful was their performance in Moscow in 1980. Our representatives won 32 medals there ( 3 gold, 14 silver and 15 brown). Almost the same successful were for our representation the tournaments in Montreal – 26 medals (7-6-13) and Tokyo – 23 medals (7-6-10). Irena Szewińska won the biggest number of medals, she took part in five Olympic Games – in sprinter racing and long jump she won seven medals – 3 gold, 2 silver and 2 brown. Four gold medals were won by another athlete – Robert Korzeniowski, specializing in race-walking. The history of not only the Polish sport, marks also achievements other Polish multi-medal Olympic winners – among others: fencers – Jerzy Pawłowski – winner of 5 medals (1-3-1) and Witold Woyda – 4 (2-1-1), and in winter sports – ski runner Justyna Kowalczk – 5 medals (2-1-2) and Kamil Stoch – 4 (3-0-1). Several sportsmen and women have won 2 gold medals. Disciplines in which they won Olympic medals were: athletics – 57 (25-18-14), boxing – 43 (8-9-26), weightlifting – 34 (6-5-23), wrestling – 26 (5-9-12) and fencing – 22 (4-9-9).
The history of the Polish Olympic sport is an important part of our history, a part which carries a particular load of emotions. The achievements of the Polish Olympics Representation include 305 Olympic medals. There were also 8 medal winners in the Olympic Art Competition, which were held in 1912-1948 (3 gold, 2 silver, 3 brown).
The Polish Olympic Committee (POC) is a society uniting Polish sports unions of Olympic disciplines and some other sport organizations that follow the rules set by the Olympic movement. It is their representative and partner – both on the national and international scene. It is enhanced by a strong position of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in the structures of the European Olympic Committee (EOC) and the International Olympic Movement (IOM).
The main statutory tasks of the POC are promoting the Olympic idea, conducting a variety of educative activities addressed mostly to children and adolescents. They are, among others, “Olympic lessons”, meetings with Olympic winners, often combined with a sport competition of the participants. The POC has been promoting all the time the fundamental for sport, and in particular for the Olympic movement, values of fair play. It also tries to strengthen contacts between the Olympic sport and culture and arts, by organising exhibitions, artistic sessions, promotions of books about sport. It puts efforts to save the national sport achievements and its heroes from being forgotten. It promotes (among others by sport-recreation picnics every year) a healthy lifestyle, higher activity of women in sport. And last, but not least – it conducts its own publishing activity.
The role of the Polish Olympic Committee is valuable in the process of preparations of the Polish Olympic Representation to take part in the Olympics and during the games. This is the POC – as the only entity authorized to this – responsible for confirming the participation of the Polish athletes in the games; it conducts a long-term and complicated procedure of athletes applications and the staff co-working with them, it provides the Olympic logistics (including the uniforms for teams, their transport to the Olympics venue and back, accommodation, catering, training, medical care, etc. ). After the games, the Polish Olympic Committee, according to the regulations agreed before the event, pays rewards to the medal winners, which come from sponsors contributions, because it finances its whole activity only with donations from sponsors. It should be remembered that the winter and summer Olympic games are not the only events which the POC is responsible for in terms of organization and logistics. Similar events, but a bit smaller, are: the winter and summer European Youth Olympic Festivals, the winter and summer Youth Olympic Games, European Olympics, The World Games, or the World Beach Games.
The work done by the Polish Olympic Committee is based largely on activities of 20 commissions, which were established according to recommendations and guidelines of the IOC. The commissions have about half a thousand of experts, who specialize in numerous issues related to sport and Olympics. The most active are: Fair Play Club, Women and Sport Commission, Olympic Athletes Co-operation Commission, Culture and Olympic Education Commission, National Olympic Academy of Poland.
Presidents of the Polish Olympic Committee:
Stefan Lubomirski 1919-1923, Kazimierz Lubomirski 1923-1929, Kazimierz Glabisz 1929-1945, Alfred Loth 1946-1952, Włodzimierz Reczek 1952-1973, Bolesław Kapitan 1973-1978 i 1986-1988, Marian Renke 1978-1986, Aleksander Kwaśniewski 1988-1991, Andrzej Szalewicz 1991-1997, Stanisław Stefan Paszczyk 1997-2005, Piotr Nurowski 2005-2010, Andrzej Kraśnicki since 2010.
General Secretaries of the Polish Olympic Committee:
Henryk Szot-Jeziorowski 1919-1921, Adam Mryc 1922-1923, Marian Strzelecki 1923-1924, Jerzy Giżycki 1924-1925, Wincenty Skotnicki 1925-1926, Mieczysław Orłowicz 1926-1929, Walenty Foryś 1930-1939, Tomasz Lempart 1953-1963, Leonard Grześkowiak 1964-1968, Tadeusz Breguła 1969-1972, Stanisław Drążdżewski 1972-1980, Janusz Pawluk 1981-1988, Zygmunt Szulc 1989-1991, Tadeusz Wróblewski 1991-1997, Janusz Tatera 1997-2005, Adam Krzesiński since 2005.
