XXII Summer Olympic Games – Moscow, 1980

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July 29, 1980 - team silver medal in the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow.
August 3 1980 - Olympic gold medal Jan Kowalczyk on Artemor.
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Riders specializing in show jumping in the post-war period had no luck at the Olympics. First, Polish horse riding was rebuilt after war damage, when our competitors competed and won medals at various Olympics. The starts at the Olympic Games in Mexico — 1968 and Munich — 1972 were unsuccessful. These starts, however, showed that we still have too few outstanding horses, even though a few of them presented themselves in Munich at their best, praising Polish breeding, but this it wasn't enough to take a medal place yet.

For Montreal in 1976, due to the huge costs and the lack of a balanced team, it was assumed in advance that riders in the eventing competition and individually Jan Kowalczyk, to whom the best horses were made available, would be preparing. The horses' blood tests for piroplasmosis finally ruled out the start of the eventing team and Jan Kowalczyk individually in jumping.

In the preparations for the Moscow 1980 Olympic Games, the same mistake was made as in previous years, preparations started too late. In 1978, a training camp was organized in PSO Łąck, led by coaches Marian Kowalczyk and Eng. Krzysztof Koziarowski under the guidance of the coach mgr. Eng. Władysław Byszewski. The training camp, intertwined with competitions in Poland and abroad, lasted only 2 months. In 1979, the grouping was continued at PSO Łąck, led by mgr Byszewski from Eng. Koziarowski. Unfortunately, due to business activities at ZHiOZ in Warsaw, Byszewski, MA, could not fully devote himself to training. This grouping, lasting (according to the plan) three months, was interspersed with various starts in competitions. (…)

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Author: Eryk Brabec
source: Horse Polish magazine, 1980