Rafał Jerzy Sznajder (13 October 1972 – 13 April 2014) was a Polish saber fencer."Rafal SZNAJDER,"
Olympics.com. He competed in the three Summer Olympics: Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000, and Athens 2004.

Biography

Sznajder was born in

Będzin Będzin (; also seen spelled ''Bendzin''; ) is a city in the Dąbrowa Basin, in southern Poland. It lies in the Silesian Highlands, on the Czarna Przemsza River (a tributary of the Vistula River, Vistula). Even though part of Silesian Voivodeship ...

, Śląskie, in Poland. Sznajder won three individual Polish sabre titles (1998, 2001–02), and one team Polish sabre title (2003). He also won five silver medals and five bronze medals at the Polish national championships. In 1998 in

Plovdiv Plovdiv (, ) is the List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, second-largest city in Bulgaria, 144 km (93 miles) southeast of the capital Sofia. It had a population of 490,983 and 675,000 in the greater metropolitan area. Plovdiv is a cultural hub ...

, Bulgaria, he was part of the Polish team that won the gold medal at the European Championships. Sznajder also won team silver medals at the European Championships in 2004–05. He won individual

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receives ...

s at the

1997 World Fencing Championships The 1997 World Fencing Championships were held from 13 July to 19 July 1997 in Cape Town, South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces ...

and

2001 World Fencing Championships The 2001 World Fencing Championships were held in Nîmes, France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South ...

. At the World Championships, Sznajder also won a team silver medal in 1999, and a team bronze medal in 1998. He competed in the three Summer Olympics: Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000, and Athens 2004. After he retired as a fencer, Sznajder took and passed the international referee exams in all three fencing weapons. He officiated several senior World Cups,

European Championships A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

, the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, and the

2013 World Fencing Championships The 2013 World Fencing Championships were held at Budapest, Hungary from 5–12 August. Schedule Medal summary Medal table Men's events Women's events Participating nations 827 fencers from 101 countries competed. * (1) * (13) * ...

. He also served in the executive committee of the Polish Fencing Federation. He died suddenly on 13 April 2014 at the end of the 2014 Junior and Cadet World Championships in Plovdiv.

References

External links

* 1972 births 2014 deaths Polish male fencers Olympic fencers for Poland Fencers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Będzin Fencers from Silesian Voivodeship Summer World University Games medalists in fencing FISU World University Games bronze medalists for Poland 21st-century Polish sportsmen 20th-century Polish sportsmen {{Poland-fencing-bio-stub