Polish cycling commentator Włodzimierz Rezner dies at 83 after cancer battle

Career at Polish Radio Kielce

Włodzimierz Rezner, a long-time sports journalist and commentator for Polish Radio Kielce, died in the night from Saturday to Sunday, 9 August 2026, one day after his 83rd birthday. He had been battling cancer for months. Born in Kielce, he completed his studies at the Main School of Planning and Statistics in Warsaw before returning to his home region. In May 1971, he won a competition for a sports reporter position at the regional station, launching a career that would span more than five decades. On 2 January 1976, he led the inaugural edition of the morning news programme "Aktualności Dnia" on Radio Kielce, a moment the station itself recalls as part of its local media history.

Olympic coverage and cycling passion

Rezner reported from three Olympic Games: Moscow in 1980, Barcelona in 1992, and Atlanta in 1996, bringing listeners not only results but the atmosphere of the events. His deepest passion, however, was cycling, a discipline he practiced in his youth riding for Lechia Kielce and later SHL Kielce. For decades, his voice accompanied cyclists on the route of the Tour de Pologne and the Wyścig Pokoju (Peace Race), both as a radio reporter and as a live announcer at events including the Polish national championships. He remained faithful to the sport throughout his professional life, not only as a journalist but also as an activist. He served as president of the District Cycling Association in Kielce, sat on the board of the Polish Cycling Association (PZKol), and in the 1990s was a member of the presidium of the PZKol board.

Civic engagement and honours

Beyond journalism, Rezner was active in civic life. He initiated the mass campaign "Rowerem po radość i zdrowie" (By bicycle for joy and health), encouraging Poles to adopt active lifestyles. He also served briefly as a city councilor in Kielce around the turn of 2001 and 2002. For his contributions to cycling, he received the Gold Cross of Merit in 2000 and the Knight's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta in 2010, both recognitions cited as appreciation for his persistent work on behalf of Polish cycling.

Reactions

Czesław Lang, director of the Tour de Pologne, paid tribute to Rezner on social media. Roman Czejarek, a journalist at Radio Jedynka, wrote on Facebook:

A giant of the microphone, a man of great knowledge about sport (and not only), full of enthusiasm for work. Simply a good guy. Thank you that we could meet.

Polish Radio Kielce, the station where Rezner worked since the 1970s, confirmed his death in an official statement, saying he had lost his battle with a cancerous illness. The station described cycling as his beloved discipline and noted his role in promoting the sport through both his reporting and his organisational work within the Polish Cycling Association.