walpurga.jarzabek
20.06.02, 16:09
Irena Szewinska
Irena Szewinska was a model athlete. First and foremost, she should be seen as
a highly successful woman. First a top class student (she holds a master's
degree in economics) then a wife, mother and currently a member of the IAAF
Women's Committee. Szewinska has succeeded in everything she has tried.
From the age of 18 until she was 34, Szewinska had one of the longest (and most
glorious) careers in international sport. Between 1964 and 1980 she
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 100m, 200m and 400m at the same time. She was also the first woman to break
the 50 second barrier in the latter event. Unassuming but firm, romantic but a
realist, gentle but aggressive on the track, powerful yet slim, shy but
determined, Szewinska always had her sights set on the highest peaks.
Born Irina Kirszenstein in 1946 in a Leningrad refugee camp (her parents were
Jews), she discovered athletics at the age of 14. From then on there was no
holding her back, thanks to her superb physique (1.79m and 61 kilos) and her
intelligence. She trained with total dedication, as if preparing her revenge on
a cruel destiny. Patient, courageous and methodical, she became known as
the "Queen of the Track", for her ability to rise to every challenge. She was
also a pioneer who opened new horizons for women, particularly when she won the
400m at the Montreal Olympics with a ten metre advantage. "I have often been
asked," Szewinska said, "whether I wasn't sometimes bored with athletics. I
have always replied 'no'. Sport is my passion. Together with my family, it has
brought me all the joys of the world."
