Countdown
The IAAF is saddened to hear about the death of Gerard Mach, a Polish sprinter and coach, who died on Tuesday (22), less than a week after his 89th birthday.
Born in September 1926 in Gdansk, Mach excelled in the 200m and 400m. He competed in both events at the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki and won nine national titles across both distances between 1948 and 1958.
After retiring from competitive athletics in his mid-thirties, Mach went on to be a successful coach. He trained the likes of 1966 European 100m champion Wieslaw Maniak and assisted in the coaching of three-time Olympic gold medallist and former world record-holder Irena Szewinska.
Mach moved to Ottawa in the early 1970s, where he became Canada’s head coach of sprints and hurdles.
IAAF
