Robert Korzeniowski (born July 30, 1968 in Lubaczów

Lubaczów

Lubaczów is a town in southeastern Poland, close to the border with Ukraine, with 12,405 inhabitants .Situated in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship , it is the capital of Lubaczów County and is located 50 kilometers northeast of Przemyśl....

) is a former Polish

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

 racewalker. He has won four gold medals at the Summer Olympics and three at world championships.

Korzeniowski is a three-peat

Three-peat

Three-peat is a contraction of the words three and repeat, which has been trademarked for commercial use by retired basketball coach Pat Riley; the active trademarks in force are registered under numbers 1552980, 1878690, and 1886018...

 winner of the 50 km walk at the Summer Olympics. He won 1996 in Atlanta

1996 Summer Olympics

The 1996 Summer Olympics of Atlanta, officially known as the Games of the XXVI Olympiad and unofficially known as the Centennial Olympics, was an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1996 in Atlanta, Georgia, United States....

, 2000 in Sydney

2000 Summer Olympics

The Sydney 2000 Summer Olympic Games or the Millennium Games/Games of the New Millennium, officially known as the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated between 15 September and 1 October 2000 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...

, and 2004 in Athens

2004 Summer Olympics

The 2004 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad, was a premier international multi-sport event held in Athens, Greece from August 13 to August 29, 2004 with the motto Welcome Home. 10,625 athletes competed, some 600 more than expected, accompanied by 5,501 team...

. In addition, he became the first athlete to claim both the long distance and the short distance crown, when he won the 20 km title at the 2000 games. He won world championship titles in 1997

1997 World Championships in Athletics

The 6th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held at the Olympic Stadium, Athens, Greece between August 1 and August 10, 1997. In this event participated 1882 athletes from 198 participant nations...

, 2001

2001 World Championships in Athletics

The 8th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held at the Commonwealth Stadium, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada between 3 August and 12 August and was the first time the event had visited North America...

, and 2003

2003 World Championships in Athletics

The 9th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held from 23 August to 31 August 2003 in the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis, France.-Track:...

. He won two times a European Championship in Budapest 1998

1998 European Championships in Athletics

The 17th European Athletics Championships were held from 18 August to 23 August 1998 in Budapest, the capital city of Hungary.-Track:1990 |1994 |1998 |2002 |2006 |-Field:1990 |1994 |1998 |2002 |2006 |-Track:1990 |1994 |1998 |2002 |2006 |-Field:...

 and in Munich 2002

2002 European Championships in Athletics

The 18th European Athletics Championships were held from 6 August to 11 August 2002 in the Olympic Stadium of Munich, Germany.-Track:1994 |1998 |2002 |2006 |2010 |...

. He is also the former world record holder in the 50 kilometers race.

He retired after the 2004 Games but is looking to become actively involved in various roles at the International Olympic Committee

International Olympic Committee

The International Olympic Committee is an international corporation based in Lausanne, Switzerland, created by Pierre de Coubertin on 23 June 1894 with Demetrios Vikelas as its first president...

. He is also the coach and mentor of former world record-holder Francisco Javier Fernandez

Francisco Javier Fernández

Francisco Javier Fernández Peláez is a Spanish race walker. He specializes in the 20 km race walk....

 Since 2005 he worked for Polish Public Television as a chief of sport department and in 2007 he became a General Manager of TVP Sport

TVP Sport

TVP Sport is a Polish sport channel owned by TVP launched on 18 November 2006. The channel is available on n, cyfra+, cyfrowy polsat, as well as over cable providers....

, a new specialized channel in Poland. He created a new approach for sports in TV by eliminating live broadcast and focusing on history of sports and talk shows about sport. On 6th November 2009 he announced his resignation.

After his retirement he took part in commercials

Television advertisement

A television advertisement or television commercial, often just commercial, advert, ad, or ad-film – is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization that conveys a message, typically one intended to market a product...

.

For his sport achievements, he received the Order of Polonia Restituta

Polonia Restituta

The Order of Polonia Restituta is one of Poland's highest Orders. The Order can be conferred for outstanding achievements in the fields of education, science, sport, culture, art, economics, defense of the country, social work, civil service, or for furthering good relations between countries...

:

Knight's Cross (5th Class) in 1996,

Officer's Cross (4th Class) in 2000,

Commander's Cross (3rd Class) in 2004.

External links

• Official website (in Polish)
• IOC tribute