Topics of coins
Polish Olympic Team – Beijing 2022
The XXIV Olympic Winter Games will be held in
Beijing on 4-20 February 2022. The Chinese capital
is the first city in history to host both the summer
and winter games. However, Beijing itself will host
only the “ice” disciplines, while the “snow” disciplines
will be held at two resorts located at a distance of
approximately 160 km from the capital.
Poland first participated in the Winter Olympic
Games as early as 1924, but it had to wait 32 years
for its first medal, when Franciszek Gąsienica Groń
won the bronze medal in Nordic combined in Cortina
d’Ampezzo. The first Polish gold medallist of the Winter
Olympic Games was the ski jumper, Wojciech Fortuna,
who won the 1972 competition in Sapporo. It was ski
jumping that became the most successful discipline
for Polish sport in subsequent winter competitions.
Olympic medals were won individually by Adam
Małysz (three silver medals and one bronze) and Kamil
Stoch (three gold medals) and in the team competition,
when Stefan Hula, Maciej Kot, Dawid Kubacki and
Kamil Stoch won the bronze medal.
The gold coin with the face value of 200 złoty issued by
Narodowy Bank Polski features a silhouette of a male
ski jumper surrounded by sparkling snowflakes. May
this colour be a good omen for Polish competitors
during the Games.
It was not only ski jumping that proved successful at
the Olympics – let us not forget the outstanding cross-
-country skier Justyna Kowalczyk and the achievements
of speed skaters or biathletes. Before the Olympic
Games in Beijing, we pin high hopes on Natalia
Maliszewska, a short track skater. She started
the Olympic season very successfully, among others,
by winning the World Cup competitions in ... Beijing.
The obverse of the 10 złoty coin shows the image
of the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, which
is one of the buildings in the Temple of Heaven
in Beijing, an image of the Eagle established as
the state emblem of the Republic of Poland and
the inscription “Rzeczpospolita Polska 2022”.
The reverse features the silhouette of a female short
track skater.
Henryk Urbaś
Polish Olympic Committee