Dr Bartłomiej Bydoń at the scientific conference “Od Paryża do Paryża. Polski sport olimpijski na tle dziejów najnowszych”
On 6–7 May 2024, the Olympic Centre in Warsaw hosted the interdisciplinary scientific conference “Od Paryża do Paryża. Polski sport olimpijski na tle dziejów najnowszych” (in English: From Paris to Paris: Polish Olympic Sport in the Context of Contemporary History”). The conference was organised on the initiative of the Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) in cooperation with the Museum of Sport and Tourism in Warsaw and the Polish Olympic Committee. The event commemorated the 100th anniversary of the participation of Polish athletes in the Olympic Games.
Nearly fifty participants took part in the event, including former athletes, coaches and journalists, as well as scholars from a range of academic disciplines representing several archival and research institutions, and staff members of cultural institutions from across Poland. The programme featured more than 40 academic papers, two expert panel discussions involving journalists, historians, former Olympians and coaches, screenings of documentary films, and the opening of the exhibition “Poles at the Summer Olympic Games, 1924–1992”.
The Katyn Museum was represented by Dr Bartłomiej Bydoń, Head of its Research Section. As part of a panel devoted to Polish sport during the Second World War, he delivered a paper entitled “A Knight with a Stain – Major Franciszek Koprowski: Soldier, Athlete, Olympian and Coach”.
The conference provided an opportunity to explore the history of Polish Olympic sport within the broader context of Poland’s contemporary history, as well as to exchange experience and research findings among representatives of academic institutions, museums and the sporting community.
