Ewa Kłobukowska


Ewa Janina Kłobukowska is a former Polish sprinter. She competed at the 1964 Olympics in the 4×100 m relay and 100 m sprint and won a gold and a bronze medal, respectively. She also won two gold and one silver medal at the 1966 European Championships. Kłobukowska set three world records, one in the 100 m and two in the 4×100 m relay. They were annulled by the International Association of Athletics Federations after she failed a gender identification test in 1967, though the test procedures were later found to be inadequate.

Personal life

Kłobukowska was born in a family of intellectuals. In 1965, she graduated from a Technical School of Economics No. 6 and in 1972 from the Warsaw School of Economics. In 1968, she became pregnant and successfully bore a son.

Intersex condition

Kłobukowska failed a traditional gender test for European Cup women's track and field competition in Kiev in 1967 and was subsequently banned from competing in professional sports. According to the IAAF she had "one chromosome too many." Medical publications revealed that Klobukowska is a genetic mosaic of XX/XXY. If she had been tested one year later at the Mexico Olympics she would have been eligible on the grounds that she was Barr Body positive. Klobukowska has a Barr Body in all of her cells. Athletes without such a Barr Body were suspended from competition by 1968 in Mexico City. Her humiliation led to a change in the gender verification policies by the International Olympic Committee, which from then on kept test results secret.
IAAF erased the three world records set by Kłobukowska, including the two team records in the 4×100 m relay.