Stanislawa Walasiewicz, also known as Stefania Walasiewicz, Stanislawa Walasiewiczówna (see Polish name) and Stella Walsh (3 April 1911 – 4 December 1980) was a Polish athlete who became a women's Olympic champion. It was later learned that Walasiewicz had ambiguous genitalia and could not easily be identified as either biologically male or female.
Walasiewicz was born on 3 April 1911 in Wierzchownia (now in Brodnica County), Congress Poland. Her...
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Stanislawa Walasiewicz, also known as Stefania Walasiewicz, Stanislawa Walasiewiczówna (see Polish name) and Stella Walsh (3 April 1911 – 4 December 1980) was a Polish athlete who became a women's Olympic champion. It was later learned that Walasiewicz had ambiguous genitalia and could not easily be identified as either biologically male or female.
Walasiewicz was born on 3 April 1911 in Wierzchownia (now in Brodnica County), Congress Poland. Her family emigrated to the United States when she was only three months old. Her father, Julian Walasiewicz, settled in Cleveland, where he found a job as a steel mill worker. Her family called her Stasia, a common Polish diminutive of her Christian name, which later gave birth to the American version of her name, Stella.
She started her athletic career in a public school in Cleveland. Fast and agile, in 1927 she easily won the competition for a place in the American Olympic team started by the Cleveland Press newspaper. However, Walasiewicz was...
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