Józef Gąsienica Sobczak

Józef Gąsienica Sobczak’s first foray into sport was in cross-country skiing, and he was successful enough to represent Poland in three events across two editions of the Olympic Games. In 1956, he was 44th in the 15 kilometers and ninth in the relay, alongside Józef Rubiś, Tadeusz Kwapień, and Andrzej Mateja, while in 1960 he was 30th in the 30 kilometers. After these results, he switched his focus to biathlon and began representing Poland at the World Championships in 1961, where he was 13th individually and fifth with the relay. He was 18th and 13th individually at the 1962 and 1963 editions respectively, and was sixth and fifth in the relay those same years. He then competed at the 1964 Innsbruck Olympics, where he was 20th individually.

Gąsienica Sobczak then won bronze in the team event over 20 kilometers at the 1965 World Championships, followed by silver individually and in the 4x7.5 kilometer relay the following year. At the 1967 World Championships, he dropped to 49th individually and sixth in the relay, before failing to finish individually at the 1968 Grenoble Olympics. His final major international tournament was the 1969 World Championships, where he was 20th individually and sixth with the relay. Since Polish national championships in biathlon did not begin until 1967, he never won a title in that sport, but did capture several in skiing relays during his career. Outside of sport, he ran a farm.