XXII Summer Olympic Games – Moscow 1980

Honorary Patrons: Polski Komitet Olimpijski, Polski Związek Jeździecki

Sponsors: :

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29 July 1980 – silver team medal at Olympic Games in Moscow 1980. 03 August 1980 – gold Olympic medal – Jan Kowalczyk on Artemor.
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Riders starting in show jumping in the post-war period were luckless during Olympic Games. At first, Polish horsemanship was being rebuilt after war damages when our competitors started and won medals in different Olympic Games. Starts in Olympic Games in Mexico, 1968, and in Munich, 1972, — failed. However, these starts showed that we still have not enough outstanding horses despite of the fact that several of them performed very well in Munich while glorifying Polish breeding; but this was not enough to win a medal.

As regards Montreal in 1976, due to huge costs and lack of even team, only Three Days’ Event team and Jan Kowalczyk individually (who had the best horses made available) were to prepare. Unfortunately, the horse blood tests for piroplasmosis cancelled start of Polish eventing team and Jan Kowalczyk individually in show jumping.

In preparation for Olympic Games in Moscow 1980, the same mistake was committed as in previous years: the preparations started too late. In 1978, a training camp was organized at PSO Łąck, conducted by trainers Marian Kowalczyk and eng. Krzysztof Koziarowski under the guidance of trainer Władysław Byszewski MA. The training camp interlaced with starts in competition at home and abroad lasted only 2 months. In 1979, the training camp at PSO Łąck, conducted by Byszewski MA and eng. Koziarowski was continued. Unfortunately, in view of his official activities at ZHiOZ in Warsaw, Byszewski could not give up himself to trainings completely. This training camp lasting (according to the plan) three months was also interlaced with starts in different competitions. (…)


Read more… (click to go to Polish Digital Equestrian Library)




Author: Eryk Brabec
source: Koń Polski (Polish Horse) magazine, 1980