Article by Giovanni Manenti
Among individual sports, Athletics and Swimming more than the others offer those who practice them the opportunity to try their hand at several specialties up to dedicating themselves both to the one most congenial to them that also to vary some choices of participation in individual tenders on the basis of the opposing competition of the specific period, and the cases are so many that it is not worth wasting time to describe them …
And if, in Swimming, one of the variables in this sense consists of the reviews that take place in 50-metre pools (the so-called “Olympic swimming pool” …) as well as 25 meterswhose European and/or World Championships are usually held in the winter and are often deserted by the best international exponents, Athletics offers the possibility of an indoor season which also includes world championship and continental events which, of course, given the small size, cannot accommodate all the various specialties, in particular the Throws, reduced to the shot put only.
The same value of results is relative, given that the small size of the track allows only part of the individual races to be held – for the hurdles only the m.60hs are scheduled – as well as the fact that for the m.200 flats, for example , two curves have to be run compared to the only one in outdoor competitions, makes it easy to understand how the chronometric results are completely different, unlike vice versa Jumps where, conversely, indoor records are of greater value as indoor performance is not affected by external events such as rain, cold or wind which can compromise its performance …
Having made such a premise, let us introduce the protagonist of our story today, a specialist in pure speed (100 and 200 meters, in addition to the 4×100 relay) who was able to collect an enviable Palmarès in indoor races, made of as many as 5 continental titles on the 60 m floors, where outdoors he manages to seize, on an individual level, only the bronze on the 100 m floors at the European Championships in Athens 1982.
And, mind you, we are talking about the prince sprinter of your country, or Poland, in that Marian Woronin, born on 13 August 1956 in Grodzisk Mazowiecki, a city of just under 40,000 souls, still holds, almost 40 years later, the national record on 100 meters with a clear 10” (as corrected after the scoreboard had signaled 9″99) with which he stopped the clocks on June 9, 1984albeit benefiting from a wind at the limit of the allowed, a time which at the time was also a European record, then improved by the British Linford Christie with 9 “97 at the 1988 Seoul Olympics …
Forced to compete in a period in which speed in the Old Continent was characterized first by the dominance of the Soviet Valery Borzov and then by the rivalry between the Italian Pietro Mennea and the British Allan WellsWoronin’s international debut takes place on the occasion of the European Championships in Rome 1974, where just 18 years old he fails to overcome the heats of both the 100 and the 200 meters, courses respectively in 10″77 and 21″60, which also leads him to be excluded from the 4×100 relay which ends in fifth place in the Final.
Still being a Junior, the following season Woronin made his first appearance at the Continental Indoor Show at the beginning of March 1975 which took place in his own country in Katowice, this time managing to gain access to the 60 m floor Final which saw him finish fourth in 6″76 in the race won by ‘impregnable Borzov with 6″59 to then take part in the Junior Championships which take place in the third ten days of August in Athens, which see him win the bronze medal on the 100m floors with a time of 10”55 and, vice versa, finish sixth on the double distance e touching the podium with the 4×100m relay, the first signs of a progressive growth that will lead Woronin to win 6 consecutive national titles (1978-’83) over the 100m – with a best result of 10”17 in 1982 – combining it on the last occasion also on the double distance …
Definitely having become the top sprinter for his Federation, many hopes are placed on the 20-year-old Marian in view of the appointment made up of Montreal 1976 Games, only partially disregarded, given that he is the only one of the Polish trio entered in the 100m race to reach the semifinals which prove to be too difficult an obstacle, finishing in last place of the first series in 10″69 after giving my best in the quarterfinals, I ran in 10”53 so as to be included, as second fractionist, in the 4×100m relay that touches the podium, mocked (38″78 to 38″83) for only 0″05 cents by the Soviet quartet in the Final won by the USA (38″33 to 38″66) over East Germany.
The partial Olympic disappointment is compensated by Woronin with his first indoor medal won at the San Sebastian 1977 Continental Show, thanks to the bronze medal on the 60m flat course in 6”67 which saw the eternal Borzov seize his seventh (!!) European titlestill capable of running in 6″59 even though he was approaching the age of 30, while the following year, with the Championships taking place in the second ten days of March 1978 in Milan, nearly the podium with 6″75 compared to the 6″73 of the Soviet Aleksandr Aksinin, with the series of affirmations of the representatives of the USSR to be guaranteed by Nikolay Kolesnikov which imposes itself with a time of 6”64 …
Stably among the top positions in indoor competitions, Conversely, Woronin disappoints outdoors, given that the access to the 100m Final is denied to the European Championships in Prague by Borzov who, in his farewell step to the competitions, precedes him (10″53 to 10″54) by just one 0.01 centeven though he manages to fully redeem himself as the last member of the 4×100m relay which makes the title its own with the record of the Championships of 38”58, its only continental affirmation outdoors.
In any case, this medal has the effect of galvanizing the Polish sprinter who opens the 1979 season with his first triumph on the m.60 at the European Indoor Championships in Vienna, in the Final of which he precedes his compatriot Leszek Dunecki (6″57 to 6″62)a time that equals the record of the event established by Borzov, to then carry out a more than dignified outdoor season that sees him second on the 100 m in the European Cup in Turin with a time of 10”16 and selected as the representative of Europe for the second edition of the World Cup which takes place in Montreal, where he is third both in the 100 meters in 10″28 and as a member of the Polish 4×100 relayso much so that it is placed in seventh place in the “Top Ten” at the end of the season drawn up by the prestigious US magazine “Track & Field News” …
With these premises, Woronin is expected as one of the protagonists Moscow 1980 Olympics, all the more after having confirmed the continental title on the 60 m with a time of 6″62 at the beginning of March in Sindelfingen and also in consideration of the boycott imposed by US President Jimmy Carter, with the consequent absence of American sprinters, but on the slopes of the “Stadium Lenin” of the Soviet capital, the 24-year-old Pole does not live up to the predictions, reaching the 100 and 200 meters Final (a competition, the latter, which had seen him create his own “Personal Best” with 20”49 …), but only to conclude in both cases no better than seventh, with the respective chronometric results of 10”46 and 20”81 …
Again, the consolation comes from 4×100m relay, which sees him lined up as the last fractionist to contend for the Gold Medal with the Soviet quartet, who finally (38″36 to 38″33) win, for what remains his only Olympic career laureleven though Poland is considered the most reliable formation as regards the European selection in view of the third edition of the Rome 1981 World Cup, not betraying expectations by allowing itself the luxury of preceding East Germany and the United Stateswhile at the end of February in Grenoble Woronin had collected his third consecutive European indoor title, this time on the reduced distance of 50m floors due to the size of the transalpine facility clearly preceding (5″65 to 5″76) the Soviet Vladimir Muravyov.
It has now become “the man to beat” in indoor competitions, that’s it Woronin did not disappoint the following year either, redeeming the disappointment of fourth place in the 1978 edition on the same track at the Palazzo dello Sport in Milan, where he preceded the Bulgarian Valentin Atanasov by a whisker (6″61 to 6″62)to then play his chances at the Continental Review at the beginning of September 1982 in Athens, given the absence of Mennea, reigning Champion and in which he reached the Final of the 100m after having imposed himself both in the heat with a time of 10″20 and in the semifinal in 10″44, but with a headwind of -2.9m/s, except failing to repeat himself in the final act which sees the British Cameron Sharp snatch the bronze on the wire (10”28 for both …), while the title is won by the East German Frank Emmelmann who precedes (10”21 to 10”25) the blue Pierfrancesco Pavoni.
Many people think that for the Polish sprinter – indoor claims aside – it was the last chance to make the continental title his own, especially since the following year, in which he missed the winter session, he did not go beyond the quarterfinals in the inaugural edition of the World Championships held in Helsinki in the second half of August 1983while, as already anticipated, he achieves (even with all the necessary precautions having regard to the measurement of the wind …) the European record on 100m at the beginning of June 1984 with 10″ net, equal moreover to the sixth best absolute world performance at the era, though unable to participate in the Los Angeles Olympics the following August due to the counter-boycott imposed by Moscow to countries within the Soviet sphere…
Woronin, however, did not lose heart and, the following year, lined up a series of good performances – first in the European Cup Final in Moscow in 10″14, doing the same at the Berlin and Cologne Meetings with the respective times of 10″20 and 10″19 – so much to reappear in the End of season ranking in fifth position, also repeated in 1986 for almost identical chronometric resultsdespite being forced to retire due to a muscle problem in the heats of the m.100 at the European Championships in Stuttgart …
Having crossed the threshold of 30 years, for the Polish sprinter there are no more hopes of successes at great levels, but after skipping four years of winter sessions to concentrate on training for the summer seasons, he is still able to provide a last acute showing up at the European Indoor Championships at the end of February 1987 in Lievin, France, where he staged his best performance, comforted by the chronometer response of 6″51, record of the Championshipsto precede Pavoni who finishes in 6”58.
Paraphrasing a historic phrase by the lawyer Gianni Agnelli who had labeled one of his compatriots, Zbigniew Boniek, as “Beautiful at night…”, as it was better expressed in European Cup matches than in the Championship, one could equally say that Woronin has been, in the course of his competitive activity, “Beautiful indoors” in comparison with its participation in major events outdoors …
But, perhaps, his big break could have been the 1984 Los Angeles Games, except that “someone” he had decided otherwise…