Antoni Cejzik

Regarded as one of the best all-round athletes of the interwar period, Antoni Cejzik won eight Soviet championships before moving to Poland where he won 26 Polish titles. Cejzik was born in Jelets in the Russian Empire and grew up in Moskva where he started to compete in athletics. He won his first national title in 1920 with victory in the shot put. In 1922 Cejzik won six Soviet titles with wins in the 400 metres, 110 metres hurdles, 4 x 100 metres relay, high jump, shot put, and the discus throw. He won his eighth and final Soviet title in 1923 with another win in the 110 metres hurdles.

In 1924 Cejzik moved to Poland to represent Polonia Warszawa where he won multiple Polish titles in athletics. From 1924 to 1930 he was a 26-time champion with wins in the 110 metres hurdles (1924–25), 4 x 100 metres relay (1925), 4 x 400 metres relay (1929), high jump (1924–25), triple jump (1924–25), shot put (1924–25), discus (1928, 1930), hammer (1924–26, 1928, 1930), pentathlon (1925–29), and decathlon (1926–29). Cejzik also won thirteen silver medals and five bronze at the Polish championships and set 23 national records during this period.

Cejzik competed in the decathlon at the 1924 Paris and 1928 Amsterdam Olympics. His success at the national level, however, did not translate to international success, as he finished 12th and 18th, respectively. In 1930 he married Genowefa Kobielska who also won Polish titles in athletics and competed at the Olympics.

From 1931 to 1936 Cejzik worked as a coach for the PZLA trade union where he trained athletes for the 1932 Los Angeles and 1936 Berlin Olympics. In 1939 he was part of the 13th Infantry Regiment that fought in the September Campaign. Cejzik was killed in action as a soldier in the Modlin Army near Zaborów on 12 September 1939.

Personal Best: Dec – 6107 (1929).