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Justyna Kowalczyk
Kowalczyk on the podium in Trondheim, March 2009
Personal information
Full name Justyna Kowalczyk
Date of birth January 19, 1983 (1983-01-19) (age 27)
Place of birth Limanowa, Poland
Height 173 cm
Professional information
Club AZS AWF Katowice
Skis Fischer
World Cup
Seasons 2001- present
Wins 15 (all wins)
13 (World Cup)
2 (Tour de Ski)
Additional podiums 27 (World Cup)
9 (Tour de Ski)
2 (World Cup finale)
Total podiums 38
Infobox last updated on: 2010-02-05
Medal record
Women's cross country skiing
Competitor for  Poland
Olympic Games
Gold 2010 Vancouver 30 km classical
Silver 2010 Vancouver Individual sprint
Bronze 2010 Vancouver 15 km pursuit
Bronze 2006 Turin 30 km
World Championships
Gold 2009 Liberec 15 km pursuit
Gold 2009 Liberec 30 km
Bronze 2009 Liberec 10 km

Justyna Kowalczyk (pronounced [jusˈtɨna kɔˈvalt​͡ʂɨk] ( listen), born January 19, 1983[1] in Limanowa) is a Polish cross country skier who has been competing since 2000. She won the bronze medal in the 30 km freestyle at the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Turin, becoming the first Pole to medal in cross country skiing at the Winter Olympics. She also won the overall 2008–09 Cross-Country Skiing World Cup, Tour de Ski 2009/2010, and the 30 km mass start classic at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver. She is the first cross country skier in history that has won the World Cup and has never participated in any World Cup event in her own country [2].

Contents

Career

Kowalczyk finished second in the individual Sprint at the 2003 World Junior Championships. She finished 31st in the individual sprint event at the 2003 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships. Recently in Canmore, Canada, on Jan 22, 2008, Justyna Kowalczyk won the race for her second World Cup triumph. She followed in Canmore with two more bronze medals in the same World Cup event. Kowalczyk was 3rd in World Cup 2007.

She has also won eighteen individual events at various distances of various levels since 2001.

At the 2009 world championships in Liberec, Kowalczyk won two gold medals, one in the women's pursuit (7.5 km classical + 7.5 km free technique), and another one in the 30 km mass start. She also secured a bronze medal in the 10 km classical event.

She won the overall 2008–09 Cross-Country Skiing World Cup.

On March 24, 2009, Kowalczyk was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta.

On February 27, 2010, Kowalczyk beat Norway's Marit Bjoergen by 0.3 seconds to win the gold medal in the women's 30 km classical event in the 2010 Winter Olympics. She posted a time of one hour, 30 minutes, 33.7 seconds. She earned two more medals in Vancouver, taking silver behind Bjoergen in the individual sprint classic on February 17, 2010, and bronze in the 15 km pursuit on February 19, 2010.[3]

The Big Crown

Justyna Kowalczyk is the only cross-country skier in the history, who claimed all the Big Crown wins. The Big Crown gold medals: Olympic Games (2010, Vancouver, 30 km), World Championship (2009, Liberec, 15 km pursuit and 30 km), World Cup (2008/2009) and Tour the Ski (2009/2010).

Doping controversy

At the 2005 World Championships, she competed but was subsequently disqualified for doping offences committed at the Under23 (U23) OPA (Alpine Nations) Intercontinental Cup competition in Oberstdorf, Germany back on January 23, 2005. On June 13, 2005, the FIS Doping Panel issued a two-year suspension (January 23, 2005 - January 22, 2007) for Kowalczyk for taking the banned substance dexamethasone, which she used for an injured knee. This suspension was reduced to one year (January 23, 2005 - January 22, 2006) in late June 2005 when the FIS determined at a May 21, 2005, inquiry by the Polish Ski Association (Polski Związek Narciarski) that dexamethasone was a glucocorticosteroid as classified by the World Anti-Doping Agency, and listed as a specified substance on their prohibited substances list. This was appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) which declared Kowalczyk's suspension de novo on December 8, 2005. This allowed Kowalczyk to compete in the 2006 Winter Olympics two months later.

Kowalczyk criticized Marit Bjørgen and other competitors during the olympic games in 2010 for using anti-asthma drugs. Bjørgen won five medals in the olympics 2010, three of them gold.[4] Bjørgen is one of many olympic cross country skiers using the medicine, said to help people with asthma perform as normal, and allowed by FIS only if prescribed by olympic team physician.[4] She later apologized for the timing of her statements, since the olympic games were still going on at the time.[4]

World Cup victories

Season titles

Season Discipline
2008-09 Overall
Distance
2009-10 Overall
Distance
Sprint

Race victories

  1. Estonia Otepää – January 27, 2007 - Individual (10 km) classical
  2. Canada Canmore – January 22, 2008 - (7.5 km + 7.5 km) double pursuit
  3. Canada Whistler – January 17, 2009 - (7.5 km + 7.5 km) double pursuit
  4. Estonia Otepää – January 24, 2009 - Individual (10 km) classical
  5. Italy Valdidentro – February 14, 2009 - Individual (10 km) classical
  6. Finland Lahti – March 8, 2009 – (10 km) freestyle interval start
  7. Sweden Falun – March 18-22, 2009 – (25 km) World Cup Finale
  8. Finland Kuusamo – November 28, 2009 - Individual sprint classical
  9. Slovenia Rogla – December 20, 2009 – (15 km) classical mass start
  10. GermanyCzech RepublicItaly Tour de Ski – January 1-10, 2010 – (60 km)
  11. Estonia Otepää – January 16, 2010 - Individual (10 km) classical
  12. Russia Rybinsk – January 23, 2010 - (7.5 km + 7.5 km) double pursuit
  13. Canada Canmore – February 6, 2010 – Individual sprint classical

Total podiums

  1. Estonia Otepää – January 7, 2006 - Individual (10 km) classical (3. place)
  2. Estonia Otepää – January 27, 2007 - Individual (10 km) classical (1. place)
  3. Finland Kuusamo – December 2, 2007 - Individual (10 km) classical (3. place)
  4. Canada Canmore – January 22, 2008 - (7.5 km + 7.5 km) double pursuit (1. place)
  5. Canada Canmore – January 23, 2008 - Individual sprint classical (3. place)
  6. Canada Canmore – January 25, 2008 – (10 km) freestyle interval start (3. place)
  7. Czech Republic Liberec – February 16, 2008 – (10 km) freestyle interval start (2. place)
  8. Italy Bormio – March 16, 2008 – (10 km) freestyle interval start (2. place)
  9. Finland Kuusamo – November 29, 2008 - Individual sprint classical (3. place)
  10. Canada Whistler – January 16, 2009 - Individual sprint classical (2. place)
  11. Canada Whistler – January 17, 2009 - (7.5 km + 7.5 km) double pursuit (1. place)
  12. Estonia Otepää – January 24, 2009 - Individual (10 km) classical (1. place)
  13. Italy Valdidentro – February 14, 2009 - Individual (10 km) classical (1. place)
  14. Finland Lahti – March 8, 2009 – (10 km) freestyle interval start (1. place)
  15. Norway Trondheim – March 12, 2009 - Individual sprint classical (3. place)
  16. Norway Trondheim – March 14, 2009 – (30 km) classical mass start (2. place)
  17. Sweden Falun – March 18-22, 2009 – (25 km) World Cup Finale (1. place)
  18. Finland Kuusamo – November 28, 2009 - Individual sprint classical (1. place)
  19. Slovenia Rogla – December 19, 2009 - Individual sprint classical (2. place)
  20. Slovenia Rogla – December 20, 2009 – (15 km) classical mass start (1. place)
  21. GermanyCzech RepublicItaly Tour de Ski – January 1-10, 2010 – (60 km) (1.place)
  22. Estonia Otepää – January 16, 2010 - Individual (10 km) classical (1.place)
  23. Russia Rybinsk – January 22, 2010 - Individual sprint freestyle (3. place)
  24. Russia Rybinsk – January 23, 2010 - (7.5 km + 7.5 km) double pursuit (1. place)
  25. Canada Canmore – February 5, 2010 – (10 km) freestyle interval start (2. place)
  26. Canada Canmore – February 6, 2010 – Individual sprint classical (1. place)
  27. Finland Lahti – March 6, 2010 – (7.5 km + 7.5 km) double pursuit (2. place)

Tour de Ski victories

Race victories

  1. Germany Oberhof – January 2, 2010 – (10 km) Classical Handicap Start
  2. Italy Cortina - Toblach – January 7, 2010 - Individual (5 km) Classical

Total podiums

  1. Czech Republic Nove Mesto – December 28, 2007 - (3.3 km) Classical Prologue (3. place)
  2. Italy Asiago – April 1, 2008 - Sprint (1.2 km) Freestyle Final (3. place)
  3. Germany Oberhof – December 27, 2008 - (2.8 km) Freestyle Prologue (3. place)
  4. Germany Oberhof – December 28, 2008 – (10 km) Classical Handicap Start (3. place)
  5. Germany Oberhof – January 1, 2010 - (2.8 km) Freestyle Prologue (3. place)
  6. Germany Oberhof – January 2, 2010 – (10 km) Classical Handicap Start (1. place)
  7. Germany Oberhof – January 3, 2010 - Sprint (1.2 km) Classical Final (2. place)
  8. Italy Cortina - Toblach – January 6, 2010 – (16 km) Freestyle Handicap Start (3. place)
  9. Italy Cortina - Toblach – January 7, 2010 - Individual (5 km) Classical (1. place)

World Cup finale

Total podiums

  1. Sweden Falun – March 20, 2009 – (2.5 km) Freestyle Prologue (3. place)
  2. Sweden Falun – March 21, 2009 – (10 km) Mass Pursuit (3. place)

Footnotes

  1. ^ sport.pl - interview - she explains that in fact she was born 19 January 1983, but a registrar made a mistake and noted 23 January what wasn't officially corrected
  2. ^ Johann Mühlegg - winner in 2000 representing Spain, has earlier participated in World Cup events in Germany as German, and Vladimir Smirnov - winner in 1994 representing Kazakhstan, has earlier participated in World Cup events in Soviet Union which he represented
  3. ^ Vancouver2010.com - Athlete profile
  4. ^ a b c "Cross-Country Skiing: Kowalczyk claims ladies 30 km gold". - 27 February 2010 Vancouver2010.com (AFP) article accessed 28 February 2010.

References

Awards
Preceded by
Robert Kubica		 Polish Sportspersonality of the Year
2009		 Succeeded by
Incumbent
Olympic champions in women's 20 km and 30 km cross-country skiing
20 km
30 km
1992: Stefania Belmondo (ITA) * 1994: Manuela Di Centa (ITA) * 1998: Yuliya Chepalova (RUS) * 2002: Gabriella Paruzzi (ITA) * 2006: Kateřina Neumannová (CZE) * 2010: Justyna Kowalczyk (POL)
World champions in women's cross country combined/double pursuit
5 km + 10 km combined
1993: Stefania Belmondo (ITA) * 1995: Larisa Lazutina (RUS) * 1997: Yelena Välbe (RUS) & Stefania Belmondo (ITA) * 1999: Stefania Belmondo (ITA)
5 km + 5 km combined
2001: Virpi Kuitunen (FIN)
5 km + 5 km double
7.5 km + 7.5 km double
2005: Yuliya Chepalova (RUS) * 2007: Olga Zavyalova (RUS) * 2009: Justyna Kowalczyk (POL)
World champions in women's 20 km and 30 km cross-country skiing
20 km
1978: Zinaida Amosova (URS) * 1980: Veronika Hesse (GDR) * 1982: Raisa Smetanina (URS) * 1985: Grete Ingeborg Nykkelmo (NOR) * 1987: Marie-Helene Westin (SWE)
30 km
1989: Yelena Välbe (URS) * 1991: Lyubov Yegorova (URS) * 1993: Stefania Belmondo (ITA) * 1995: Yelena Välbe (RUS) * 1997: Yelena Välbe (RUS) * 1999: Larisa Lazutina (RUS) * 2001: cancelled * 2003: Olga Zavyalova (URS) * 2005: Marit Bjørgen (NOR) * 2007: Virpi Kuitunen (FIN) * 2009: Justyna Kowalczyk (POL)







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