Janusz Kusocinski
Plaque name: Janusz Kusociński
Location: Silesian Stadium, ul. Katowicka 10, 41-500 Chorzów, Silesia, Poland
Plaque awarded: 21/03/2026
Reason: Plaque Category (posthumous) – Legend
Janusz Tadeusz Kusociński was born on 15 January 1907 in Warsaw.
Kusociński, the 1932 Olympic 10,000m champion, was the first ever male Polish athlete to win an Olympic gold medal across all sports.
After breaking world records at 3000m and 4 Miles earlier in 1932, Kusociński competed at the Los Angeles Olympics and famously became the first athlete to break the grip of The Flying Finns on the Olympic 10,000m title which had first been contested in 1912 and won by Finland ever since.
In the process of his historic victory in the LA Memorial Coliseum, Kusociński set an Olympic record of 30:11.4, then the second fastest time in history.
Persistent injuries to his feet and knees curtailed his career and he retired after taking silver over 5000m at the 1934 European Championships, though he did make a comeback in 1939 winning the Polish 10,000m title and breaking the national 5000m record twice.
World War II ended his running career. During the German invasion of Poland in September 1939, he fought and was wounded twice during the defence of Warsaw.
Following Poland’s defeat, he became a waiter while working for the Polish resistance.
In March 1940, Kusociński was arrested by the Gestapo, imprisoned and tortured. In June that year he was murdered along with hundreds of other Poles by the Nazis in a forest near Palmiry, where his remains were buried. A war cemetery today marks the site of the massacre.