Stanisława Walasiewicz

Stanisława Walasiewicz

Stanisława Walasiewicz in 1938
Personal information
Born	3 April 1911 Wierzchownia, Congress Poland, Russian Empire
Died	4 December 1980 (aged 69) Cleveland, Ohio, United States
Height	1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)
Weight	60 kg (130 lb)
Sport
Sport	Athletics
Event(s)	100 m, 200 m, long jump
Club	Warszawianka, Warszawa Legia Warszawa
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)	100 yd – 10.5 (1944) 100 m – 11.6 (1937) 200 m – 23.6 (1935) long jump – 6.12 m (1939)
Medal record Representing  Poland Event 1st 2nd 3rd Olympic Games 1 1 0 World Championships 0 0 0 European Championships 2 0 0 Women's World Games 4 2 0 Total 7 3 0 Olympic Games 1932 Los Angeles 100 m 1936 Berlin 100 m Women's World Games 1930 Prague 60 m 1930 Prague 100 m 1930 Prague 200 m 1934 London 60 m 1934 London 100 m 1934 London 200 m European Athletics Championships 1938 Paris 100 m 1938 Paris 4 x 100 m relay

Stanisława Walasiewicz, also known as Stefania Walasiewicz,Stanisława Walasiewiczówna (see Polish name) and Stella Walsh (3 April 1911 – 4 December 1980) was a Polish track and field athlete, who became a women's Olympic champion in the 100 metres. It was later learned that Walasiewicz had a Y chromosome and was intersex.

Walasiewicz was born on 3 April 1911 in Wierzchownia (now Brodnica County), Congress Poland. Her family emigrated to the United States when she was three months old. Her parents, Julian and Veronika Walasiewicz, settled in Cleveland, Ohio, where her father found a job as a steel mill worker. Her family called her Stasia, a common Polish diminutive of her Christian name, which later gave birth to the American version of her name, Stella.

Walasiewicz started her athletic career in a public school in Cleveland. In 1927, she qualified for a place on the American Olympic team started by the Cleveland Press newspaper. However, Walasiewicz was not an American citizen and could not obtain citizenship under the age of 21, so she could not compete. The success of Halina Konopacka, a Polish athlete who won gold in the discus throw at the 1928 Summer Olympics, inspired Walasiewicz to join the local branch of Sokół, a Polish sports and patriotic organization active among the Polish diaspora. During the Pan-Slavic meeting of the Sokół movement in Poznań, she scored her first major international victories; she won five gold medals in the 60 metre, 100 metre, 200 metre and 400 metre races, as well as the long jump. She was asked to stay in Poland and join the Polish national athletic team, and she continued to run in American challenges and games.