Michał Gajownik
Michał Gajownik (15 December 1981 – 13 November 2009) was a Polish sprint canoer who competed from 2000 to 2006. He won three medals at the ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships with two golds (C-4 1000 m: 2002, 2005) and a bronze (C-4 500 m: 2005). He was born in Chrzanów.
Medal record | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Men's canoe sprint | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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World Championships | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2002 Seville | C-4 1000 m | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
2005 Zagreb | C-4 1000 m | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
2005 Zagreb | C-4 500 m | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
European Championships | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2000 Poznań | C2-200 m | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
2005 Poznań | C4-500m | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
2005 Poznań | C4-1000 m | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
2001 Milan | C4-200 m | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
2001 Milan | C4-1000 m |
Gajownik won silver medal in C-1 500 m in Junior European Championships in 1998, after year became C-2 500 m Junior World Championships silver medalist. The following year, at age 19, he became senior European C-2 1000 m champion with Paweł Baraszkiewicz who became later a member of Posnania Poznań . At the Sydney Olympics, however, they finished in eighth place.
After Sydney, Gajownik concentrated on the four-man canoe. At the start of the 2003 season, however, he tested positive for nandrolone – same as Marcin Kobierski, twice medalist in C-2 1000 m. Both denied the charge but were given a two-year ban, which cost them a place at the 2004 Olympics.
Gajownik returned to competitive action in 2005. He was a member of the Posnania Poznań club until 2006. He was killed in a traffic collision on 13 November 2009 in Chrzanów.
References
- ICF medalists for Olympic and World Championships – Part 1: flatwater (now sprint): 1936–2007 at WebCite (archived 2009-01-21). Additional archives: Wayback Machine.
- ICF medalists for Olympic and World Championships – Part 2: rest of flatwater (now sprint) and remaining canoeing disciplines: 1936–2007 at WebCite (archived 2009-11-09)
- Michał Gajownik training group at the Wayback Machine (archived 2006-11-09) (in Polish)
- Posnania Club (in Polish)