Page 121 - Olympism in Socialism

were enjoyed by the Poles living in the Austrian
partition. It was there that in 1867, the Polish
Sokol sports-gymnastics association was founded
along the lines of the Czech Sokol. In Polish
schools throughout the Austrian partition, there
were many specialists in physical training.
Together with the foremost members of the
Sokol, they succeeded in evoking great interest in
sports among school pupils who soon started
setting up school and later also out-of-school
sports organizations.
The most active area in the Russian partition
as regards sports was Warsaw. It was here that
in 1882 the Warsaw Rowing Society was formally
established (it actually started functioning from
1878) and it was also here that in 1886 the
Warsaw Cycling Society was founded. Following
that, in 1894, the Warsaw Skating Society was
formed. All these associations were also active in
other fields of sports. Theory (and practice as
well) was mainly taught by Helena Kuczalska,
Józefa Gebethner and Władysław Ryszard
Kozłowski who at the turn of the 19th and 20th
centuries trained sports instructors. The most
famous of all Polish sportsmen at that time was
Wlaclyslaw Pytlasinski, a professional wrestler
from Warsaw, who won the world title.
The most difficult start to sports was in the
Prussian partition. The first, truly Polish, sports
club to be established there was the Warta Club
and this was only opened in 1912 (the
Gymnastics Associations had been active since
1885).
It was in 1912 that the first Polish sportsmen
took part in the Olympic Games. They were,
however, included in the teams of the partitioning
powers. A famous Polish athlete, Wladyslaw
Ponurski (100 m. and 200 m.), competed as a

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