Poland’s most decorated Olympic athlete, Irena Szewińska, has died at the age of 72, according to reports.

A five-time Olympian between 1964 and 1980, Szewińska won seven medals, including three gold, in five different track-and-field events.

She claimed golds in the women’s 4x100 metres relay at the Tokyo Games in 1964, the 200 metres at Mexico City in 1968, and the 400 metres at Montreal in 1976.

She took silvers in the long jump and the 200 metres at Tokyo, and added bronzes in the 100 metres at Mexico City and the 200 metres at the Munich Games in 1972.

She set eight individual and two team world records and was the first woman to run 400 metres in under 50 seconds, according to public broadcaster Polish Radio's IAR news agency.

Szewińska was deputy head of the Polish Olympic Committee and a long-standing member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Poland’s PAP news agency quoted Szewińska's husband and former coach, Janusz Szewiński, as saying that his wife died in Warsaw at around 11:30 pm on Friday.

"She had been battling illness for quite some time, but she was feeling well recently," Szewiński said, as quoted by PAP. “Not long ago she attended the Olympic Picnic."

European Athletics is saddened to learn of the passing of Irena Szewinska at the age of 72.



Szewinska remains one of the greatest athletes in history, winning Olympic titles in the 200m, 400m and 4x100m and European titles in the 100m, 200m, long jump and 4x100m.



RIP Irena. pic.twitter.com/QMDl0ej8jn — European Athletics (@EuroAthletics) June 30, 2018

(gs)

Source: IAR/PAP, Reuters