Janusz Kusociński, aka ‘Kusy’, was the first Polish runner in history to reach the Olympic title. Before World War II, he was as popular as Polish ski jumpers are today. His heroic stance during the war, which cost him his life at the hands of the Gestapo, has also gone down in history.
Before reaching the sporting pinnacle, crowned by winning an Olympic gold medal, Kusociński had to overcome many obstacles. Above all, he had to overcome the resistance of his parents, who were opposed to his taking up the sport. His mother, trying to dissuade him from competitive athletics, often said, ‘You’ll lose your health, you’ll mess up your nerves, and that’s it’. His son’s strong character, however, did not allow him to give up so easily. Only after he had overcome the resistance of those closest to him was it the turn of his treadmill rivals. And it soon became clear how wrong his mother, Zofia née Śmiechowska, was when, after a short adventure with the ‘Sarmata’ club, Janusz enrolled at ‘Warszawianka’. It was there that his talent shone brightest.
He was born in Warsaw in 1907 as the son of a railway official and independence activist Klemens Kusociński. The young Janusz studied poorly and had difficulty mastering the material. He much preferred outdoor exercise to schoolwork. His father, seeing his enthusiasm for exercising outside, concluded that it would be best for his son to become a gardener. So ‘Kusy’ commuted to Warsaw to the State Secondary Gardening School on Wspólna Street, from which he graduated after three years. At the same time, he trained assiduously, breaking through to the national top, and in 1928 he set the first Polish records in long-distance running. His results were so good that he was not far away from being nominated for the Amsterdam Olympics, where Halina Konopacka won the first Olympic gold for Poland.
Kusociński trained more and more and ran faster and faster. Meanwhile, a talented Polish runner of Latvian origin, Stanislaw Petkiewicz, had arrived in the country while still representing Latvia in Amsterdam. Both were the best runners in Poland and dominated the national competition for several years.
The duels between ‘Kusy’ and Petkiewicz excited the whole of sports Poland. Who among pre-war fans did not associate their names? It would certainly be hard to find such. It is as if today’s sports fans were not familiar with the names of, for example, Kamil Stoch and Piotr Żyła.
They both trained at the same club, where their paths crossed. The mutual dislike between the runners, which developed gradually, was an open secret. Initially, Janusz Kusociński even looked forward to meeting his talented rival and confronting him on the treadmill. They trained together for the first few weeks after he arrived in Warsaw. Some even thought they might become friends. In the meantime, the opposite happened. The difference in character proved too great for them to maintain even a correct relationship. They became bitter enemies. From their point of view, the situation became increasingly difficult to bear. From the fans’ point of view, however, it undoubtedly added spice to their fierce duels – both face-to-face and by correspondence.
Petkiewicz marked the year 1929 when he sensationally defeated the famous Finnish runner Paavo Nurmi, making him incredibly popular in Poland and the world. No one expected that beating the ‘great mute’ – as it was said about the Finn – was at all possible. Moreover, he set a dozen or so Polish records at various distances and achieved valuable victories during a series of mics in the USA.
After three years, however, Petkiewicz’s career was abruptly cut short. This happened because the Polish Athletics Association granted the request of the ‘Warszawianka’ activists for his disqualification. The unexpected event took place a few months before the Los Angeles Games. The reason presented to the public for this decision was that he was breaking the rules of amateurism and profiting from sharing his name for advertising purposes. Behind the scenes, however, it was said that the activists of the Warsaw club did this so that ‘Kusy’, who could no longer stand the company of Petkiewicz, would not think of changing club colours. He, however, vehemently denied these rumours.
Kusociński was one of the biggest stars of the 1932 Los Angeles Olympic Games – after all, athletics – like today – was one of the most popular sports in the world. He was also the Polish national team’s greatest hope for a gold medal. It was even decided to finance his journey on the luxurious ship ‘Mauretania’, which took only 5 days to reach New York, while the rest of the team sailed on the average class transatlantic ship ‘Pułaski’, arriving at their destination after… two weeks. The representation’s trip to the USA for the Games of the Tenth Olympiad was financed by the American Polonia, because – due to the world economic crisis – the Polish Olympic Committee did not have funds for such an expensive expedition and for financing the stay of a delegation of several dozen people.
‘Kusy’ fought brilliantly and did not disappoint the expectations of Polish fans and Poles living in the States. He prepared for the competition under the supervision of our national team coach, the Estonian Alexander Klumberg, famous for his murderous training methods. Intensive preparations brought dreamlike results in a relatively short time. During the Olympic season, ‘Kusy’ set two world records (3000 m and 4 miles) and was the first athlete in the world to beat the Finns, who had dominated the long distances since the Stockholm Games in 1912. In Los Angeles, he fought a fierce duel with them during the 10 000m run. The Pole did not withdraw, despite being supplied with the wrong size shoes, which resulted in excruciating pain during the run and bleeding wounds. The main competitors proved to be Volmari Iso-Hollo and Lauri Virtanen. The former seemed to be the most dangerous and he stayed just behind the Polish representative until the last 350 metres of the distance. Then Kusociński decided to accelerate, thanks to which he distanced himself from his rivals, and looking behind him a dozen or so metres before the finish line, he realised he had a safe lead – having slowed down noticeably, he passed the finish line after a while.
He won this run, setting a new Olympic record of 30 min and 11.4 sec.
After this spectacular victory, Finnish newspapers wrote about the Pole in superlatives, appreciating his class. Other foreign dailies, including American and German newspapers of all political persuasions, also shared this tone, naming Kusociński the successor to the legendary Finn Paavo Nurmi. Unfortunately, Kusociński was excluded from the 5,000m race, where he was also among the favourites because his feet were injured after the previous run…
Silver came in 1934 at the European Championships in Turin in the 5,000m run – another success widely reported in the press. It was Kusociński’s second and unfortunately, last medal from a major international event. The following years were associated with constantly recurring injuries. They prevented him from competing at the 1936 Olympics, but he did go to Berlin as a press reporter and technical advisor to the Polish athletics team.
In the following years, he again confirmed his tough character by passing his matriculation exams and even graduating from the CIWF in Warsaw (the predecessor of the later AWF).
In the spring and summer of 1939, it seemed that the worst of his injuries were behind him. The hopes of the fans and, above all, of himself for further success were revived. He recovered while still young for endurance competition (he was 32). He won a gold medal at the Polish 10,000 metres championships, and his form began to improve markedly. He could have easily fought for a medal at the next Games. But then came the fateful day of 1 September 1939, which changed everything. World War II broke out.
At the outbreak of the war, Janusz Kusociński was in Warsaw. Without hesitation, he joined the resistance movement. During the September campaign, he was wounded twice, among others, during the defence of the Czerniaków Fort. By order of the commander of the defence of the capital, General Juliusz Rómmel, he was awarded the Cross of Valour. Unfortunately, a few months later, as a member of the underground Military Organisation ‘Wolves’, he was exposed. One day in March 1940, as he was leaving the gate of his house on Noakowskiego Street, he was arrested by the Gestapo.
He was first imprisoned in the Mokotow detention centre, then taken to the Szucha Alley gulag and only from there was the Olympic champion transported to the Pawiak prison. During the interrogations, he was subjected to draconian torture, but he did not denounce anyone or reveal any secrets. He was soon taken from Pawiak in a large transport of prisoners to the Kampinos Forest near Palmiry and executed there on the night of 20-21 June 1940 in a mass execution.
Janusz Kusociński’s grave is located in the cemetery in Palmiry. Despite the passage of so many years, the memory of the athlete is worthily maintained. It is enough to mention that he is the patron of dozens of streets and schools throughout Poland, as well as of several sports clubs and stadiums. Even one of the paths in the Olympic village in Munich, Germany, where the 1972 Games were held, was named after him.
Krzysztof Szujecki
Source: DlaPolonii.pl
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