Justyna Kowalczyk

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Justyna Kowalczyk
Personal information
Full name Justyna Kowalczyk
Born January 19, 1983 (1983-01-19) (age 29)
Limanowa, Poland
Height 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Professional information
Club AZS AWF Katowice
Skis Fischer
World Cup
Seasons 2001- present
Wins 30 (all wins)
19 (World Cup)
10 (Tour de Ski)
1 (World Cup finale)
Additional podiums 42 (World Cup)
24 (Tour de Ski)
7 (World Cup finale)
Total podiums 73
Updated on 2012-01-22.
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
Silver 2011 Oslo 10 km classical
Silver 2011 Oslo 15 km pursuit
Bronze 2011 Oslo 30 km
Bronze 2009 Liberec 10 km

Justyna Kowalczyk (pronounced [jusˈtɨna kɔˈvalt​͡ʂɨk] ( listen), born January 19, 1983[1]) is a Polish cross country skier who has been competing since 2000. She is one of the most successful cross country skiers of all time, being the only skier in the history with victories in all the most important sport events, so called "The Big Crown": Olympic Games, World Championships, World Cup and Tour de Ski.

Kowalczyk is an Olympic Champion and a double World Champion. She is also the only skier who won the Tour de Ski three times in a row and one of two female skiers, who won the FIS Cross-Country World Cup three times in a row (the other one being Finn Marjo Matikainen). Kowalczyk holds the all-time record for the most wins in Tour de Ski with 10 competitions won.

Contents

[edit] 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 the 2007 World Cup.

She has also won eighteen individual events at various distances and 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 Bjørgen 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 Bjørgen in the individual sprint classic on February 17, 2010, and bronze in the 15 km pursuit on February 19, 2010.[2]

[edit] The Big Crown

Kowalczyk is the only cross-country skier in history to have won all the "Big Crown": Olympic Games (2010, Vancouver, 30 km), World Championship (2009, Liberec, 15 km pursuit and 30 km), World Cup (2008/2009, 2009/2010 and 2010/2011) and Tour de Ski (2009/2010, 2010/2011 and 2011/2012).

[edit] The suspension in 2005

At the 2005 World Championships, Kowalczyk competed but was subsequently disqualified for taking dexamethasone at the Under23 (U23) OPA (Alpine Nations) Intercontinental Cup competition in Oberstdorf, Germany back on January 23, 2005. Dexamethason is a substance that is allowed Out-of-Competition but prohibited In-Competition. It acts as an anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressant. Kowalczyk used the substance to alleviate an Achilles tendon condition.

On June 13, 2005, the FIS Doping Panel issued a two-year suspension (January 23, 2005 - January 22, 2007) for Kowalczyk. In late June 2005 FIS determined that since dexamethasone was a glucocorticosteroid, it was classified as a specified substance on the World Anti-Doping Agency list of prohibited substances, and therefore the period of ineligibility for the first violation is at a maximum, one year's ineligibility. The FIS Doping Panel therefore reduced the suspension to one year.

Kowalczyk appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) which held that Kowalczyk did not use Dexamethason to enhance her sport performance. However, she acted negligently, but the measure of the negligence did not justify a one year term of ineligibility. According to CAS, a reduced period of ineligibility ending 8 December 2005 (the day of the hearing) provided the fair and proportionate measure of sanction.

CAS criticised the FIS Doping Panel that their decision excluded any consideration of Kowalczyk's defence that she did not use the substance to enhance her sport performance. According to CAS, Kowalczyk had disclosed and substantiated her defence that Dexamethason was not intended to enhance performance. She had submitted corresponding medical certifications to the FIS Doping Panel as proof of use in alleviating an Achilles tendon condition. Upon Kowalczyk's prima facie showing that her use of the substance was for medical reasons, the burden of proof shifted to FIS to prove the contrary.

[edit] Criticism of anti-asthma drugs

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, three of them gold.[3] The drug is allowed by FIS if prescribed by an Olympic team physician.[3] Kowalczyk later apologized for the timing of her statements, since the Games were still going on at the time.[3]

[edit] World Cup victories

[edit] Season titles

Season Discipline
2008-09 Overall
Distance
2009-10 Overall
Distance
Sprint
2010-11 Overall
Distance

[edit] 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
  14. GermanyItaly Tour de Ski – January 9, 2010/2011 – (60 km)
  15. Russia Rybinsk – February 4, 2011 - (5 km + 5 km) double pursuit
  16. Slovenia Rogla – December 17, 2011 – (10 km) classical mass start
  17. GermanyItaly Tour de Ski – January 8, 2011/2012 – (63 km)
  18. Estonia Otepää – January 21, 2012 - Individual sprint classical
  19. Estonia Otepää – January 22, 2012 - Individual (10 km) classical

[edit] 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)
  28. Sweden Falun – March 17–21, 2010 – (25 km) World Cup Finale (2. place)
  29. Finland Kuusamo – November 28, 2010 - (15 km) freestyle interval start (2. place)
  30. Switzerland Davos – December 11, 2010 - Individual (10 km) classical (2.place)
  31. France La Clusaz – December 18, 2010 - (15 km) mass start (2. place)
  32. GermanyItaly Tour de Ski – January 9, 2010/2011 – (60 km) (1. place)
  33. Estonia Otepää – January 22, 2011 - Individual (10 km) classical (2. place)
  34. Russia Rybinsk – February 4, 2011 - (5 km + 5 km) double pursuit (1. place)
  35. Russia Rybinsk – February 5, 2011 - Individual sprint classical (3. place)
  36. Norway Drammen – February 19, 2011 - Individual (10 km) classical (2. place)
  37. Finland Lahti – March 12, 2011 – (5 km +5 km) double pursuit (2. place)
  38. Sweden Falun – March 16–20, 2011 – (25 km) World Cup Finale (2. place)
  39. Slovenia Rogla – December 17, 2011 – (10 km) classical mass start (1. place)
  40. GermanyItaly Tour de Ski – January 8, 2011/2012 – (63 km) (1. place)
  41. Estonia Otepää – January 21, 2012 - Individual sprint classical (1. place)
  42. Estonia Otepää – January 22, 2012 - Individual (10 km) classical (1. place)

[edit] Tour de Ski victories

[edit] Race victories

  1. Germany Oberhof – January 2, 2010 – (10 km) Classical Handicap Start
  2. Italy Cortina - Toblach – January 7, 2010 - Individual (5 km) Classical
  3. Germany Oberhof – December 31, 2010 – (2.5 km) Freestyle Prologue
  4. Germany Oberhof – January 1, 2011 – (10 km) Classical Pursuit
  5. Italy Cortina - Toblach – January 6, 2011 – (16 km) Freestyle Pursuit
  6. Italy Cortina - Toblach – January 8, 2011 – (10 km) Classical Mass Start
  7. Germany Oberhof – December 29, 2011 – (2.5 km) Freestyle Prologue
  8. Germany Oberhof – December 30, 2011 – (10 km) Classical Pursuit
  9. Germany Oberhof – December 31, 2011 – Sprint (1.2 km) Classical Final
  10. Italy Val di Fiemme – January 7, 2012 – (10 km) Classical Mass Start

[edit] Total podiums

  1. Czech Republic Nove Mesto – December 28, 2007 - (3.3 km) Classical Prologue (3. place)
  2. Czech Republic Nove Mesto – December 29, 2007 - (10 km) Freestyle Handicap (3. place)
  3. Italy Asiago – January 4, 2008 - (0,8 km) Sprint Freestyle (3. place)
  4. Germany Oberhof – December 27, 2008 - (2.8 km) Freestyle Prologue (3. place)
  5. Germany Oberhof – December 28, 2008 – (10 km) Classical Handicap Start (3. place)
  6. Germany Oberhof – January 1, 2010 - (2.8 km) Freestyle Prologue (3. place)
  7. Germany Oberhof – January 2, 2010 – (10 km) Classical Handicap Start (1. place)
  8. Germany Oberhof – January 3, 2010 - Sprint (1.2 km) Classical Final (2. place)
  9. Italy Cortina - Toblach – January 6, 2010 – (16 km) Freestyle Handicap Start (3. place)
  10. Italy Cortina - Toblach – January 7, 2010 - Individual (5 km) Classical (1. place)
  11. Germany Oberhof – December 31, 2010 – (2.5 km) Freestyle Prologue (1. place)
  12. Germany Oberhof – January 1, 2011 – 10 km) Classical Pursuit (1. place)
  13. Germany Oberstdorf – January 2, 2011 – Sprint Classical (2. place)
  14. Italy Cortina - Toblach – January 6, 2011 – 16 km Freestyle Pursuit (1. place)
  15. Italy Cortina - Toblach – January 8, 2011 – 10 km Classical Mst (1. place)
  16. Germany Oberhof – December 29, 2011 – (2.5 km) Freestyle Prologue (1. place)
  17. Germany Oberhof – December 30, 2011 – 10 km) Classical Pursuit (1. place)
  18. Germany Oberhof – December 31, 2011 – Sprint (1.2 km) Classical Final (1. place)
  19. Germany Oberhof – January 1, 2012 – 5+5 km C/F Skiathlon (2. place)
  20. Italy Cortina - Toblach – January 3, 2012 – 3 km Classical (2. place)
  21. Italy Cortina - Toblach – January 4, 2012 – Sprint (1.3 km) Freestyle Final
  22. Italy Cortina - Toblach – January 5, 2012 – 15 km Freestyle Pursuit (2. place)
  23. Italy Val di Fiemme – January 7, 2012 – (10 km) Classical Mass Start (1. place)
  24. Italy Val di Fiemme – January 8, 2012 – (9 km) Classical Handicap Start (2. place)


[edit] World Cup finale victories

[edit] Race victories

  1. Sweden Falun – March 19, 2010 – (2.5 km) Classical Prologue

[edit] 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)
  3. Sweden Stockholm – March 17, 2010 – Sprint 1.1 km Classical (2. place)
  4. Sweden Falun – March 19, 2010 – (2.5 km) Classical Prologue (1. place)
  5. Sweden Falun – March 21, 2010 – (10 km) Freestyle Handicap (2. place)
  6. Sweden Falun – March 18, 2011 – (2.5 km) Classical Prologue (2. place)
  7. Sweden Falun – March 19, 2011 – (10 km) Freestyle Handicap (2. place)

[edit] 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, which wasn't officially corrected
  2. ^ Vancouver2010.com - Athlete profile
  3. ^ a b c "Cross-Country Skiing: Kowalczyk claims ladies 30 km gold".[dead link] - 27 February 2010 Vancouver2010.com (AFP) article accessed 28 February 2010.

[edit] References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Justyna Kowalczyk
Awards
Preceded by
Robert Kubica		 Polish Sportspersonality of the Year
2009–2011		 Succeeded by
Incumbent
20 km
30 km
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
2003: Kristina Šmigun (EST)
7.5 km + 7.5 km double
2005: Yuliya Chepalova (RUS) * 2007: Olga Zavyalova (RUS) * 2009: Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) * 2011: Marit Bjørgen (NOR)
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) * 2011: Therese Johaug (NOR)
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Justyna_Kowalczyk&oldid=472628363"
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