Editing Stanisława Walasiewicz (section)

==Athletic career==
Walasiewicz started her athletic career at South High School, a school located in the historic Slavic Village neighborhood on the east side of Cleveland, Ohio. In 1927, she qualified for a place on the American Olympic team started by the ''[[Cleveland Press]]''. However, Walasiewicz was not an American citizen and could not obtain citizenship under the age of 21, so she could not compete.<ref name="Snochowska-Gonzales"/> The success of [[Halina Konopacka]], a Polish athlete who won gold in the [[discus throw]] at the [[1928 Summer Olympics]], inspired Walasiewicz to join the local branch of the [[Sokół movement]], a Polish sports and patriotic organization active among the [[Polish diaspora]]. During the Pan-Slavic meeting of the Sokół movement in [[Poznań]], she scored her first major international victories; she won five [[gold medals]] in the [[60 metres|60 metre]], [[100 metres|100 metre]], [[200 metres|200 metre]] and [[400 metres|400 metre]] races, as well as the [[long jump]].<ref name="Snochowska-Gonzales"/> She was asked to stay in Poland and join the Polish national athletic team, and she continued to run in American challenges and games.

Walasiewicz continued to compete as an amateur while working as a clerk in Cleveland. In the period leading up to the [[1932 Summer Olympics]], she won American national championships in the [[100-yard dash]] (1930), 220 yard dash (1930–31), and long jump (1930).<ref name=usatf>[http://www.legacy.usatf.org/statistics/USA-Champions/USAOutdoorTF/women/100m.aspx USA Track & Field – USA Outdoor Track & Field Champions] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211226164549/http://www.legacy.usatf.org/statistics/USA-Champions/USAOutdoorTF/women/100m.aspx |date=26 December 2021 }}. Usatf.org. Retrieved on 13 July 2015.</ref> For her part in interstate athletic championships, the city of Cleveland awarded her a car.<ref name="Snochowska-Gonzales"/><ref name=USALJ/> She was offered American citizenship; however, just two days before taking her [[Oath of citizenship (United States)|oath of citizenship]], she changed her mind and instead adopted Polish citizenship, offered to her by the Polish consulate in New York City.<ref name="Snochowska-Gonzales"/><ref name="Citizenship">At the time of Walasiewicz's birth, Poland was under [[Partitions of Poland|partition]], and she was officially a citizen of the [[Russian Empire]] despite the state's not existing as a result of the [[Russian Civil War]].</ref> In 1930, she was chosen the most popular Polish athlete by readers of the {{lang|pl|italic=yes|[[Przegląd Sportowy]]}} (''Sports Review'') daily.<ref name="Przegląd Sportowy">{{cite web|url=http://www.ozarow.maz.pl/ozarowianka/plebiscyt.htm|title=Plebiscyt PS|website=ozarow.maz.pl|access-date=13 July 2015}}</ref>

In the 1932 Summer Olympics, Walasiewicz represented Poland. In the 100&nbsp;m dash, Walasiewicz equaled the current [[List of world records in athletics|world record]] of 11.9 seconds and won the gold medal.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/6344437/|title=Women's 100 meter run finals|date=August 3, 1932|newspaper=The San Bernardino County Sun|via=[[Newspapers.com]]|access-date=August 23, 2016}} {{free access}}</ref> On the same day, she finished 6th out of 9 in the [[discus throw]] event.<ref name="PKOl">{{cite web|year=2005|url=http://www.olimpijski.pl/10322.html|title=Los Angeles – 1932.08.02|work=Polski Portal Olimpijski PKOl|publisher=Polish Olympic Committee|access-date=1 June 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060203092324/http://www.olimpijski.pl/10322.html|archive-date=3 February 2006|url-status=dead|df=dmy}}</ref> Upon her return to Poland, she almost instantly became a well-known personality. She was welcomed by crowds in the port of [[Gdynia]], and a few days later, she was awarded the Golden [[Krzyż Zasługi|Cross of Merit]] for her achievements. She was again chosen the most popular Polish person in sports, and held that title for three years.<ref name="Przegląd Sportowy"/>

In Spring 1933, Walasiewicz appeared at the Championships of Warsaw, where she seized nine gold medals in track and field, including [[80 metres hurdles|80 metres hurdling]], [[4 × 200 metres relay|4 × 200 relay]], and long jump.<ref name="Bazylow">{{cite web|author=Krzysztof Bazylow|date=25 October 2004|url=http://new.sports.pl/index.php?show=1&s=15&ns=42900&action=send_to_friend&sid=806ffe2f50f5c147e02cc1bacd500c0c|language=pl|title=1933 – Stanisława Walasiewicz|website=sports.pl|access-date=1 June 2006|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930043449/http://new.sports.pl/index.php?show=1&s=15&ns=42900&action=send_to_friend&sid=806ffe2f50f5c147e02cc1bacd500c0c|archive-date=30 September 2007|df=dmy}}</ref> On 17 September 1933, in Poznań, she beat two world records in one day: 7.4 seconds for the 60&nbsp;m and 11.8 seconds for the 100&nbsp;m. Her Olympic success also won her a scholarship at the Warsaw Institute of Physical Education, where she met some of the most notable Polish athletes of the time, including [[Jadwiga Wajs]], [[Felicja Schabińska]], [[Maria Kwaśniewska]], and [[Janusz Kusociński]].

In the [[1936 Summer Olympics|1936 Olympics]] in Berlin, Walasiewicz attempted to defend her Olympic title for the 100 m dash, but [[Helen Stephens]] of the U.S. beat her by 0.02 seconds; Walasiewicz won the silver medal.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/6344461/|title=Bettered Olympic mark in broad jump; America leads by forty-five points now|date=August 5, 1936|newspaper=Times Herald |location=New York|author=Stuart Cameron|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=August 23, 2016}} {{free access}}</ref> Stephens was accused by a Polish newspaper reporter of being male and was forced to submit to a genital inspection, which confirmed her gender as female.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/6344479/|title=Helen Stephens is real girl|date=August 6, 1936|newspaper=Harrisburg Telegraph|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=August 23, 2016}} {{free access}}</ref>

After the Olympic Games, Walasiewicz moved to the U.S. and resumed her amateur career.<ref name="Snochowska-Gonzales"/> During and after World War II, she won American national championships in the 100 metres (1943, 1944 and 1948), the 200 metres (1939–40 and 1942–1948), the [[discus throw]] (1941–1942), and the long jump (1938–1946, 1948 and 1951).<ref name=usatf/><ref name=USALJ/>

In 1947, she accepted American citizenship, and she later married aviation draftsman Harry Olson in 1956.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://library.la84.org/SportsLibrary/ISOR/isor2014h.pdf|title=The Strange Tale of Stella Walsh's Olympic Eligibility|website=[[LA84 Foundation|Amateur Athletic Foundation]]|author1=Toby C. Rider (Pennsylvania State University, Berks, USA)|author2=Sarah Teetzel (University of Manitoba, Canada)|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160825200102/http://library.la84.org/SportsLibrary/ISOR/isor2014h.pdf|archive-date=25 August 2016}}</ref> Although the marriage did not last long, she continued to use the name Stella Walsh Olson for the rest of her life. She won her last U.S. title in 1951 at the age of 40.<ref name=USALJ>{{cite web|url=http://www.legacy.usatf.org/statistics/USA-Champions/USAOutdoorTF/women/LJ.aspx|title=USA Outdoor Track & Field Champions—Women's Long Jump|website=[[USA Track & Field]]|access-date=13 July 2015|archive-date=26 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211226164549/http://www.legacy.usatf.org/statistics/USA-Champions/USAOutdoorTF/women/LJ.aspx|url-status=dead}}</ref> She was inducted into the [[National Track and Field Hall of Fame|U.S. Track and Field Hall of Fame]] in 1975.