Stanisława Walasiewicz

Stanisława Walasiewicz (3 April 1911 – 4 December 1980), also known as Stefania Walasiewicz, and Stella Walsh, was a Polish-American track and field athlete, who became a women's Olympic champion in the 100 metres. Born in Poland and raised in the United States, she became an American citizen in 1947.

Background Walasiewicz was born on 3 April 1911 in Wierzchownia (now Brodnica County), so-called Congress Poland. Her family emigrated to the United States when she was three months old. Her parents, Julian and Weronika Walasiewicz (in USA Veronica), settled in Cleveland, Ohio, where her father found a job as a steel mill worker. Her family called her Stasia, a common Polish diminutive of her Christian name, which later led to the nickname Stella, as she was known in the United States of America. For her part in interstate athletic championships, the city of Cleveland awarded her a car. In 1930, she was chosen the most popular Polish athlete by readers of the (Sports Review) daily.

In the 1932 Summer Olympics, Walasiewicz represented Poland. In the 100 m dash, Walasiewicz equaled then world record of 11.9 seconds and won the gold medal. On the same day, she finished 6th out of 9 in the discus throw event. Upon her return to Poland, she almost instantly became a well-known personality. She was welcomed by crowds in the port of Gdynia, and a few days later, she was awarded the Golden Cross of Merit for her achievements. She was again chosen the most popular Polish person in sports, and held that title for three years. On 17 September 1933, in Poznań, she beat two world records in one day: 7.4 seconds for the 60 m and 11.8 seconds for the 100 m. Her Olympic success also won her a scholarship at the Warsaw Institute of Physical Education, where she met some of the most notable Polish athletes of the time, including Jadwiga Wajs, Felicja Schabińska, Maria Kwaśniewska, and Janusz Kusociński.

In the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Walasiewicz attempted to defend her Olympic title for the 100 m dash, but Helen Stephens of the U.S. beat her by 0.02 seconds; Walasiewicz won the silver medal. Stephens was accused by a Polish newspaper reporter of being male and was given a genital inspection by the International Olympic Committee, which confirmed her gender as female.

After the Olympic Games, Walasiewicz moved to the US and resumed her amateur career. Although the marriage did not last long, she continued to use the name Stella Walsh Olson for the rest of her life. She won her last U.S. title in 1951 at the age of 40. She was inducted into the U.S. Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1975.

Post-athletic career After her retirement, she continued to be active in a variety of Polish sport associations in the U.S., where she organized championships and helped young athletes. She also funded a variety of awards for Polish sports people living in America. In 1974, Stella Walsh was inducted into the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame. Stella Walsh was a contestant on the 16 June 1954 episode of the radio quiz program You Bet Your Life, hosted by Groucho Marx.

Death Walsh was killed during an armed robbery in a parking lot in Cleveland, on December 4, 1980. She was buying ribbons for a welcoming ceremony for visiting Polish basketball players when the assault occurred.

Intersex status An autopsy after Walsh's death showed that she was intersex, although her precise condition was not made clear. According to reports, she had a male reproductive system including a non-functioning underdeveloped penis, an abnormal urethra, small testes, and a small prostate. She lacked female sex organs, such as a vagina, uterus, or ovaries. Walsh also reportedly had genetic mosaicism. Most of her cells contained XY chromosomes, but some contained a single X0 chromosome. Cuyahoga County coroner Samuel Gerber said that Walasiewicz was "socially, culturally and legally" a woman, but that her sex would have been ambiguous at birth.

Walasiewicz was discussed on BBC Radio 4's The Long View in April 2019 when the contentious issue was the "Gender in women's sport". Stella was also the subject of the documentary Stella Walsh directed by Rob Lucas of American Stories fame. The documentary focused on her gender ambiguity and untimely death.