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Bogdan Kowalczyk (born 12 August 1946) is a former Polish handball player who competed in the 1972 Summer Olympics and then became a handball coach; he coached the Iceland men's national handball team to victory in the 1989 World Men's Handball Championship of B teams and was later coach of the Polish national team. He is widely considered to be a major influence on the development of handball in Iceland. [1] [2] [3] [4]
Kowalczyk was born in Warsaw. He began his career as a handball player with Warszawianka in 1961, where he was on the team that won the Polish Junior Championships in 1964. From 1965 to 1968 he played for KS Warszawianka and from 1968 to 1978 for Śląsk Wrocław in Wrocław, where he was on the teams that won the second division of the Polish Handball League in 1969–1971 and won the Polish Superliga championship every year from 1972 to 1978. [5]
He played 43 times for the Polish national team, first appearing in an international friendly game on 6 December 1964 and making his last appearance against Norway on 9 September 1972. [5] In 1972 he was part of the Polish team that finished tenth at the 1972 Summer Olympics. He played two matches. [6]
In 1970 Kowalczyk graduated from the University of Wrocław with a master's degree in physical education. [6] From 1973 to 1978 he was a coach as well as a player at Śląsk Wrocław; the team continued to top the Superliga and won the Polish handball cup in 1976. In 1978 they lost in the final of the European Cup. [5]
In 1978 he went to Iceland, where he coached the Víkingur team for 12 years, [7] [8] leading them to national league championships in 1980–1983. [5]
In 1983 he was appointed coach of the Iceland men's national handball team. Under him they came 6th in the 1984 Summer Olympics, 8th at the 1988 Summer Olympics, and 6th at the 1986 World Championships, and won the 1989 World Men's Handball Championship of B teams. [5]
In 1990 he returned to Poland, where he continued to coach until 2014. [5] From 1992 to 1994 he coached the Poland men's national handball team. At the club level, he coached at Warszawianka (1997–2001), Wisła Płock (2003–2004, 2008), and KS Azoty-Puławy (2005, 2007, 2010–2011).
Poland's sports include almost all sporting disciplines, in particular: football, volleyball, motorcycle speedway, ski jumping, track and field, handball, basketball, tennis, and combat sport. The first Polish Formula One driver, Robert Kubica, has brought awareness of Formula One Racing to Poland. Volleyball is one of the country's most popular sports, with a rich history of international competition. Poland has made a distinctive mark in motorcycle speedway racing thanks to Tomasz Gollob, Jaroslaw Hampel, Bartosz Zmarzlik, Maciej Janowski and Rune Holta. Speedway is very popular in Poland. They won the world cup (2014), and the Polish Extraleague has the highest average attendances for any sport in Poland. The Polish mountains are an ideal venue for hiking, skiing and mountain biking and attract millions of tourists every year from all over the world. Cross country skiing and ski jumping are popular TV sports, gathering 4–5 million viewers each competition, with Justyna Kowalczyk, Dawid Kubacki, Adam Małysz and Kamil Stoch as the main attractions. Baltic beaches and resorts are popular locations for fishing, canoeing, kayaking and a broad-range of other water-themed sports.
Wrocławski Klub Sportowy Śląsk Wrocław Spółka Akcyjna, commonly known as Śląsk Wrocław or simply Śląsk, is a Polish football club based in Wrocław that plays in Ekstraklasa, the highest level of the Polish football league system. The club was founded in 1947 and has competed under many names since then; adopting the name Śląsk Wrocław ten years after their foundation. In 1977, Śląsk Wrocław won the Polish league championship for the first time. The club has also won the Polish Cup twice, the Polish Super Cup twice and the Ekstraklasa Cup once. The club's home is Stadion Wrocław, a 45,105 capacity stadium in Wrocław which was one of the host venues during UEFA Euro 2012. Club previously played at Olympic Stadium and Stadion Oporowska.
WKS Śląsk Wrocław is a professional men's handball club based in Wrocław in southwestern Poland, founded in 1955. The club currently plays in Central League, the second tier competition of Polish handball. Fifteen times Polish Champion, seven–time Polish Cup winner, and a silver medallist of the EHF Champions League (1978). One of the most titled Polish handball clubs.
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