Stella Walsh
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The fastestwoman inthe world

11.9s

Los Angeles, August 2, 1932. Olympic gold in the 100 metres.

Born in a Polish village and raised in Cleveland, Stella Walsh ran for Poland at the Olympics. In Poland she was Stanisława Walasiewicz.

Read her storyTimeline

Stanisława Walasiewicz smiling, in a white beret and a coat covered in sports badges, 1933
Stanisława Walasiewicz, 1933. Photographer unknown, public domain.

Her story

She was born on April 3, 1911, in Wierzchownia, a village near Górzno in what was then Russian Poland. She was baptised Stefania, but everyone called her Stanisława, or simply Stasia. She was barely a year old when, on June 13, 1912, she and her mother sailed from Bremen to Baltimore to join her father in Cleveland.

In Cleveland she went to a Polish parish school, played basketball and baseball, and began winning races as a teenager. When she hoped to go to the 1928 Olympics, it turned out she was not an American citizen. She trained with the Polish Falcons, the Sokol, and then went to Poland.

In 1932 she had to choose a flag, and she chose Poland. In Los Angeles she won the 100 metres, equalling the world record. Four years later in Berlin she took silver. In the 1930s she set more than a dozen ratified world records and was voted Poland’s athlete of the year four times.

After the war she stayed in Cleveland. She was still racing in her fifties, coached young runners at the Polish Falcons and worked with the Polish Olympic Committee. She was killed on December 4, 1980, shot during a robbery in a parking lot. The autopsy revealed that she was intersex. Her medals and records stand.

Read the full biography

Walasiewicz breaking the tape, the other runners behind her
Crossing the line in the 100 metres, Warsaw, August 4, 1935. Photographer unknown, public domain.

Timeline

1911–1928

From Wierzchownia to Cleveland

A childhood in Cleveland’s Polish neighbourhood and her first race wins.

  1. 1911

    April 3 · Wierzchownia

    Born in Wierzchownia near Górzno, in Russian-ruled Poland, the first child of Julian and Weronika Walasiewicz. She is baptised Stefania.

    SourceAkt chrztu (wg katalogu MSiT 2023); Olympedia

  2. 1912

    June 13 · Bremen to Baltimore

    Barely a year old, she sails with her mother aboard the SS Chemnitz to Baltimore, and on to Cleveland, where her father works in a steel mill.

    SourceLista pasażerów (FamilySearch); Anderson 2017

  3. 1918

    Cleveland, Slavic Village

    She starts at the new Immaculate Heart of Mary parish school. Polish is spoken at home; in America she becomes Stella Walsh.

    SourceAnderson 2017; ECH

  4. 1926

    Cleveland

    At fifteen she equals the women’s record for 50 yards: 6 seconds.

    SourceEncyclopedia of Cleveland History

  5. 1928

    Cleveland

    She hopes to compete at the Amsterdam Olympics, but it turns out she is not an American citizen. She trains with the Polish Falcons, the Sokol.

    SourceECH; Wikipedia PL

1929–1939

The fastest woman in the world

Two Olympic Games, more than a dozen world records, four Polish athlete-of-the-year titles, and races from Prague to Tokyo.

Warsaw, August 4, 1935
Warsaw, August 4, 1935
  1. 1929

    Warsaw

    Her first visit to Poland. She competes for the Warsaw club Sokół-Grażyna.

    SourceWikipedia PL; katalog MSiT

  2. 1930

    Prague, Warsaw, New York

    Express Poranny, 1930

    Three gold medals at the Women’s World Games in Prague: 60, 100 and 200 m. In Warsaw she beats Japan’s star Kinue Hitomi in the sprints. The first woman to run 100 yards in under 11 seconds. Voted Poland’s athlete of the year.

    SourceOlympedia; Anderson 2017; Express Poranny 1930, nr 191

  3. 1932

    August 2 · Los Angeles

    The podium in Los Angeles

    She chooses to run for Poland and wins the Olympic 100 metres in 11.9 seconds, equalling the world record. The Polish press calls her “the fastest woman in the world”. She is awarded the Gold Cross of Merit.

    SourceOlympedia; Kurjer Czerwony 1932, nr 175; Monitor Polski 1932

  4. 1932

    October · Warsaw

    A welcome at Warsaw’s main station. At a reception in the Hotel Angielski, Colonel Władysław Kiliński pins the Gold Cross of Merit on her.

    SourceNAC, sygn. 3/1/0/14/803

  5. 1933

    Poland

    With her trophies, 1933

    A run of world records at 50, 60, 80 and 1,000 metres. On March 17 she receives the Grand Sports Honour Award; on October 17 President Ignacy Mościcki receives her. Voted Poland’s athlete of the year again.

    SourceWikipedia PL; NAC, sygn. 3/1/0/14/147, 3/1/0/2/1445

  6. 1934

    London, Japan, Java

    “Walasiewicz in Java”, 1934

    Gold in the 60 m at the Women’s World Games in London. In the autumn she tours Japan, setting unofficial records in Osaka and Tokyo, and sends a photograph home from Java.

    SourceOlympedia; Anderson 2017; Express Poranny 1934, nr 302

  7. 1935

    Buffalo, Budapest

    The Amateur Athletic Union suspends her for 30 days over a basketball game played before a professional match. Polish diplomats call it “glaring discrimination”. In the summer she wins three golds at the World University Games in Budapest.

    SourceAAN 2/493/0/163; Wikipedia PL

  8. 1936

    August 4 · Berlin

    Warsaw, August 1936

    Olympic silver in the 100 metres, behind America’s Helen Stephens. The two rivals exchanged Christmas cards for years.

    SourceOlympedia; Anderson 2017

  9. 1937

    Warsaw, Gdynia

    Ilustracja Świąteczna, April 4, 1937

    Runs 100 metres in 11.6 seconds, the best of her career. Arrives in Gdynia aboard the MS Batory. Receives the Polish Athletics Association award.

    SourceOlympedia; Goniec Warszawski 1937, nr 193; NAC, sygn. 3/1/0/14/876

  10. 1938

    Vienna

    The long jump podium in Vienna

    The first European Championships open to women: gold in the 100 and 200 metres, silver in the long jump and the 4×100 m relay. The consulate in New York pays her a scholarship from the World Association of Poles Abroad.

    SourceOlympedia; AAN 2/493/0/163

1939–1980

Cleveland

The war closed the road to Poland. She stayed in Cleveland, kept racing into her fifties, coached young athletes and served the Polish community.

The Polish team, Vienna 1938
The Polish team, Vienna 1938
  1. 1946

    Oslo

    Her last appearance for Poland, at the European Championships in Oslo. A second Gold Cross of Merit.

    SourceWikipedia PL; Monitor Polski 1947

  2. 1947

    December · Cleveland

    She becomes an American citizen.

    SourceECH; Olympedia

  3. 1951

    Los Angeles

    The Helms Athletic Foundation names her the greatest woman athlete of the first half of the 20th century. She won 40 US national titles in all.

    SourceECH; Olympedia

  4. 1956

    Las Vegas

    A brief marriage to Harry Olson. From then on she signs her name Stella Walsh Olson.

    SourceOlympedia; ECH

  5. 1967

    Cleveland

    At 56 she wins a 60-yard dash in 7.7 seconds.

    SourceECH

  6. 1974

    Orchard Lake

    Inducted into the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame. Through the 1970s she coaches the Polish Falcons track club in Cleveland.

    SourcePolish Sports Hall of Fame; ECH

  7. 1975

    June 14 · USA

    Inducted into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame, at the same ceremony as her old rival Helen Stephens.

    SourceUSATF; Anderson 2017

  8. 1977

    Warsaw

    Her last visit to Poland. She gives her trophies to the Museum of Sport and Tourism.

    SourceMuzeum Sportu i Turystyki

  9. 1980

    December 4 · Cleveland

    She is buying red-and-white ribbons to welcome a visiting Polish basketball team when she is shot by robbers in a parking lot; she dies in hospital. More than 400 people attend her funeral Mass. She is buried at Calvary Cemetery.

    SourceAnderson 2017; ECH; Wikipedia PL

after 1980

Remembrance

The autopsy revealed that she was intersex. A loud debate followed, but her medals and records stand.

Her gravestone at Calvary Cemetery, Cleveland. Photo: Tim Evanson, CC BY-SA 2.0
Her gravestone at Calvary Cemetery, Cleveland. Photo: Tim Evanson, CC BY-SA 2.0
  1. 1982

    Cleveland

    The city opens the Stella Walsh Recreation Center on Broadway Avenue, next to her old South High School.

    SourceAnderson 2017

  2. 2007

    Rypin

    The municipal stadium in Rypin is named after her.

    SourceMOSiR Rypin

  3. 2021

    Warsaw

    The Museum of Sport and Tourism opens the first exhibition about her: more than 300 photographs from her albums (October 7, 2021 – February 28, 2022).

    SourceMuzeum Sportu i Turystyki

  4. 2023

    Bydgoszcz, Cleveland

    The play “Stella Walsh. The Fastest Person in the World” opens at the Teatr Polski in Bydgoszcz (March 3). In Cleveland the renovated Stella Walsh gym reopens (July 5).

    SourceBydgoszcz Informuje; Cleveland City Council

  5. 2024

    October 13 · Wierzchownia

    The first Stanisława Walasiewicz Memorial Run in her home village: a 10 km run and walk.

    SourceCKZiU Brodnica; gmina Górzno

  6. 2025

    October 12 · Wierzchownia

    The second Memorial Run.

    SourceTKKF Kubuś; Zielona Brodnica

  7. 2026

    October 11 · Wierzchownia

    The third Memorial Run, part of the regional long-distance Grand Prix.

    SourceRegulamin III Memoriału; Radio 7

From the archive

Files of the Polish Consulate in New York, pre-war newspapers, and recordings still waiting to be digitised.

Polish Consulate in Pittsburgh, report of February 25, 1935

The consulate tells the embassy in Washington that the AAU has suspended her for 30 days. It calls this “glaring discrimination” and advises her not to appeal.

AAN, Konsulat Generalny RP w Nowym Jorku, sygn. 2/493/0/163

Letter to the publisher of Wiadomości Codzienne, February 15, 1935

Questions about “our Stasia”: will she lose her amateur status, will she run for Poland in Berlin, and has she really been offered a professional contract, reportedly for $50,000?

AAN, sygn. 2/493/0/163

Scholarship receipt, October 25, 1938

The Consulate General in New York forwards her receipt for a scholarship from the World Association of Poles Abroad: $506.57, or 2,700 złoty, for six months.

AAN, sygn. 2/493/0/163

Kurjer Czerwony, August 1932

The report from Los Angeles, headlined “Walasiewicz the fastest woman in the world”.

Kurjer Czerwony, R. 11, 1932, nr 175. BUW

Goniec Warszawski, July 1937

Her arrival in Gdynia aboard the MS Batory, and the story of a race against a dog in America.

Goniec Warszawski, R. 3, 1937, nr 193. BUW

Express Poranny, 1930

A preview of her race against Kinue Hitomi in Warsaw: “the two most famous women athletes in the world”.

Express Poranny, R. 9, 1930, nr 191. BUW

Films

Reports, trailers, talks and event coverage. A film starts only when you press play.

Stanisława Walasiewicz 1911–1980. Fotograficzna opowieść najszybszej kobiety świata

Muzeum Sportu i Turystyki w Warszawie · 1:21 · PL

Trailer for the first exhibition about her, 2021.

Watch on YouTube

Also worth watching

In the media

Articles, radio, television, encyclopedias and books.

In English and other languages

Articles

Television and film

Encyclopedias and databases

Books

  • Rowman & Littlefield · 2017Sheldon Anderson, The Forgotten Legacy of Stella Walsh

In Polish

Articles

Radio and podcasts

Television and film

Encyclopedias and databases

Books

  • Muzeum Sportu i Turystyki · 2023Marzena Jaworska, Stanisława Walasiewicz. Fotograficzna opowieść najszybszej kobiety świata
  • Wydawnictwo Czarne · 2020Anna Sulińska, Olimpijki
  • Muza · 2020Krzysztof Szujecki, Sportsmenki. Pierwsze polskie olimpijki, medalistki, rekordzistki
  • Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN · 2017Gabriela Jatkowska, Przerwane igrzyska

Memory

A run in Wierzchownia, a play in Bydgoszcz, a stadium in Rypin, streets in seven Polish towns and a recreation centre in Cleveland.

Events

  • Stanisława Walasiewicz Memorial Run

    Wierzchownia, every October

    A 10 km run and walk for the Mayor of Górzno’s Cup, part of the regional long-distance Grand Prix. Three editions so far: 2024, 2025, 2026.

    Regulamin 2026Relacja 2025 (TKKF Kubuś)Radio 7

  • “Stella Walsh. The Fastest Person in the World”

    Teatr Polski, Bydgoszcz, from March 3, 2023

    A play on the theatre’s small stage. Text by Anna Mazurek, directed by Jan Jeliński.

    ZwiastunBydgoszcz Informuje

  • Exhibition: “A Photographic Tale of the World’s Fastest Woman”

    Museum of Sport and Tourism, Warsaw, 2021–2022

    More than 300 photographs from her albums, documents and trophies, followed by a travelling show of 20 panels and a catalogue (2023).

    Informacja muzeum (PDF)Wernisaż (wideo)Finisaż (wideo)

Places

  • The family home

    Wierzchownia, near Górzno

    The thatched wooden house where she was born still stands.

  • A stadium in her name

    Rypin

    The municipal stadium in Rypin, named after her in 2007.

    MOSiR Rypin

  • Streets

    Seven Polish towns

    Górzno, Niemcz near Bydgoszcz, Kłodzko, Biłgoraj, Białogard, Malbork and Oleśnica.

    OpenStreetMap

  • Museum of Sport and Tourism

    Warsaw, Wybrzeże Gdyńskie 4

    The trophies and mementos she donated in 1977, and a photo archive.

    muzeumsportu.waw.pl

  • Stella Walsh Recreation Center

    Cleveland, 7345 Broadway Avenue

    A recreation centre in Slavic Village, in the building of her old high school. Renovated gym since 2023.

    Cleveland City Council

  • Her grave

    Calvary Cemetery, Cleveland

    A flat stone inscribed STELLA WALSH WALASIEWICZOWNA, with the Olympic rings and the words OLYMPIC CHAMPION.

    Find a Grave

Support the archive

This archive is kept by her family. Soon you will be able to chip in for new scans, translations and hosting.