She is the only athlete in history, male or female, to have held the world record in the 100 m, the 200 m and the 400 m events.

[15] In 1967, she married her coach, Janusz Szewiński,[16] who also competed in hurdles at the national level and later worked as a sports photographer.

She died of cancer aged 72 in Warsaw at the Military Institute of Medicine on Szaserów Street.

[18][19] Irena Szewińska was buried as a Catholic at the "Avenue of the Meritorious" in the Powązki Military Cemetery in Warsaw.

[20] In 2020, she was posthumously honoured with a World Athletics Heritage Plaque, one of the first ever awarded, during a ceremony before the Szewinska Memorial meeting in Bydgoszcz.

At her second Olympics in Mexico, She won a bronze in the 100 metres, but failed to qualify for the Long Jump final.

In the sprint relay the Polish team dropped the baton on the final exchange in the semi-final and finished last.

After giving birth to her son, in 1971, she managed a bronze medal in the long jump at the European Championships in Helsinki.

She obtained United Press International Athlete of the Year Award, Female 1974.