Zbigniew Podlecki (19 January 1940 – 8 January 2009) was a Polish

motorcycle speedway Motorcycle speedway, usually referred to simply as speedway, is a motorcycle sport involving four and sometimes up to six riders competing over four clockwise, anti-clockwise laps of an oval circuit. The motorcycles are specialist machines that ...

rider who won Team World Champion title in 1965. He was born in

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

Career

Podlecki began riding as a 19-year-old, during the 1959 Polish speedway season for LPŻ Neptun Gdańsk. The team then became Legia Gdańsk and he helped them to a second place finish in the top division of the Polish leagues. In 1962, the team became

Wybrzeże Gdańsk Wybrzeże Gdańsk was a Polish multi-sports club based in Gdańsk, established in 1945, most known for its motorcycle speedway and handball teams. Club has closed in 2005, due to financial problems. Before 2006 speedway season was established ...

, for which it is still known today. Podlecki was called up to the

Poland national speedway team The Poland national speedway team is the national motorcycle speedway team of Poland and is controlled by the Polish Motor Union ( PZM). They are one of the most successful speedway nations of all time. History The Polish speedway team parti ...

in 1964 and also in 1964 he won the

Individual Speedway European Championship The Individual Speedway European Championship is an annual individual speedway event organized by the European Motorcycle Union (UEM) to determine the champion of Europe. The competition was founded in 2001 and was initially staged as a one-off ...

in Wrocław, before reaching the World final in Gothenburg. The following year he helped Poland win the

1965 Speedway World Team Cup 1965 Speedway World Team Cup was the sixth edition of the FIM Speedway World Team Cup to determine the team world champions. The final took place at the Illerstadion in Kempten, West Germany. The World Champion title was won by Poland. Format ...

. Podlecki toured the United Kingdom with the Polish national team in 1966. His career ended during the

1972 Polish speedway season The 1972 Polish Speedway season was the 1972 season of motorcycle speedway in Poland. Individual Polish Individual Speedway Championship The 1972 Individual Speedway Polish Championship final was held on 1 October at Bydgoszcz. Golden H ...

, when on 19 August, returning from his parents house he had a car accident after trying to avoid a pedestrian who had run out into the road. The crash left him with paralysis from the waist down. He died in

Gdańsk Gdańsk is a city on the Baltic Sea, Baltic coast of northern Poland, and the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. With a population of 486,492, Data for territorial unit 2261000. it is Poland's sixth-largest city and principal seaport. Gdań ...

in January 2009 and after a resolution of the Gdańsk City Council and with the agreement of his team

, the stadium was renamed in his honour and it is now called the

Zbigniew Podlecki Stadium The Zbigniew Podlecki Stadium (Polish Stadion im. Zbigniewa Podleckiego) formerly the Stadion Wybrzeże, is a 10,000-capacity motorcycle speedway stadium on the eastern outskirts of Gdańsk in Poland. The venue is used by the speedway team Wy ...

World Final Appearances

Individual World Championship

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...

Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...

Ullevi Ullevi, sometimes known as Nya Ullevi (, ''New Ullevi''), is a multi-purpose stadium in Gothenburg, Sweden. It was built for the 1958 FIFA World Cup, but since then has also hosted the World Allround Speed Skating Championships six times; the ...

- 14th - 3pts *

1969 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 2nd millennium, the 69th year of the 20th century, and the ...

- London,

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

- Reserve - 3pts

World Team Cup

Abensberg Abensberg () is a town in the Lower Bavarian Districts of Germany, district of Kelheim (district), Kelheim, in Bavaria, Germany, lying around southwest of Regensburg, east of Ingolstadt, northwest of Landshut and north of Munich. It is situa ...

Abensberg Stadion The Wack Hofmeister Stadium formerly the Altes Stadion Abensberg (the Old Stadium) is a motorcycle speedway and association football stadium located slightly east of the centre of Abensberg in Germany. It hosts the speedway team MSC Abensberg ...

(with

Andrzej Pogorzelski Andrzej Pogorzelski (12 October 1938 – 16 October 2020) was a Polish motorcycle speedway rider and coach. Career He started his career in Unia Leszno and represented the club in 1956 and 1973-1976 seasons. While at Unia Leszno he won 2 bronz ...

Andrzej Wyglenda Andrzej Wyglenda (born 4 May 1941 in Rybnik, Poland) is a former motorcycle speedway rider from Poland. Career Wyglenda has won 1971 Speedway World Pairs Championship and Speedway World Team Cup three times. He was won Polish Individual Speedw ...

Marian Kaiser Marian Kaiser (14 January 1933 – 10 April 1991) was an international motorcycle speedway rider from Poland. He earned 31 international caps for the Poland national speedway team. Speedway career Kaiser reached the final of the Speedway Worl ...

/ Marian Rose) - 4th - 16pts (3) *

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The First Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lynd ...

Kempten Kempten (; ) is the largest town of Allgäu, in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany. The population was about 68,000 in 2016. The area was possibly settled originally by Celts, but was later taken over by the Romans, who called the town ''Cambodunum''. K ...

(with

Antoni Woryna Antoni Woryna (15 February 1941 – 14 December 2002) was a Polish motorcycle speedway rider. He appeared in the Speedway World Championship finals five times. He earned 47 international caps for the Poland national speedway team. Career Wor ...

) - Winner - 28pts (7) *

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...

Malmö Malmö is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, sixth-largest city in Nordic countries, the Nordic region. Located on ...

Malmö Stadion Malmö Stadion, often known simply as Stadion before the construction of the new Stadion, Malmö, Stadion between 2007 and 2009, is a multi-purpose stadium in Malmö, Sweden. As of 2015, it is the home of association football club IFK Malmö, p ...

(with Jerzy Trzeszkowski /

) - 2nd - 26pts (3)

References

External links