Obituary – Polish Volleyball legend Tomasz Wójtowicz

Polish Volleyball legend Tomasz Wójtowicz, a 1974 world champion and Olympic gold medallist in 1976, passed away earlier this week after a long illness – aged 69.

Wójtowicz was born on September 22, 1953, in Lublin. He started his journey in the sport in his hometown, where his father, Kazimierz, was his first volleyball teacher and the ‘longest-serving’ coach. He played as many as 335 international matches for Team Poland between 1973 and 1984. He joined the senior national team shortly after claiming a silver medal from the U20 European Championship held in 1971 in Spain. The climaxes of his career came with the double gold medal that Poland claimed at the 1974 World Championships in Mexico – and two years later at the Montreal Olympics. He helped Poland secure EuroVolley silver medals in 1975, 1977, 1979 and 1983. The only setback of such a glorious international career came at the 1980 Olympics in Moscow where Wójtowicz and Poland had to be content with fourth place.

He spent many years playing for Avia ŚWIDNIK and Legia WARSZAWA, becoming a Polish national champion in 1983 – to go with two silver (1981, 1982) and just as many bronze medals (in 1978 and 1980). He was among the first players from the ‘Eastern Bloc’ to move abroad, spending as many as eight years in Italy where he played in Modena, Parma, Ferrara, and Città di Castello. Together with Santal PARMA, he won the 1985 edition of the CEV Champions Cup.  

In the plebiscite announced by the FIVB for the best player of the twentieth century, he finished among the top eight and in 2002, he was the first Pole to join the International Volleyball Hall of Fame located in Holyoke, USA.

Back in September of 2019, Wójtowicz was a special guest of the CEV for the final weekend of EuroVolley Men in Paris, where he would enjoy the time spent with CEV President Aleksandar Boričić and with a former rival on the court – Bulgaria’s legend Dimitar Zlatanov.

The CEV and the European Volleyball family extend the most heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of Mr Wójtowicz. May he rest in peace.