Kowalczyk strikes gold!

5th March 2010

© Petr Novak, www.wikipedia.pl Justyna Kowalczyk comes out on top Share:

Cross-country skier Justyna Kowalczyk sent Polish sports fans into raptures this Saturday Feb 27, when she took gold in a nail-biting finish at the 30km race in Whistler, only the second ever gold won by a Pole at the Winter Olympics.

Following a 90-minute battle in which the 27-year-old from Kasina Wielka fought shoulder to shoulder with her arch-rival, Norwegian Marit Bjoergen, Kowalczyk came out top in the final desperate lunge for the line, beating the Scandinavian by a mere three tenths of a second, or half a metre.

The rivalry between the two had been ramped up prior to the race with Kowalczyk saying she wished she “could take asthma medication” - a comment on Bjoergen’s use of asthma medication - which led to veiled allegations of doping.

But Bjoergen was first to congratulate the Pole who was still spread-eagled in the snow after her gargantuan effort. Kowalczyk later revealed she had apologised to the Norwegian for her remarks.

For most of the second half of the race Kowalczyk and Bjoergen had raced alone, leaving the pack far behind. Kowalczyk used her strength to gain the advantage on the uphill sections, Bjoergen took advantage of her superior technique on the downhill parts. The Norwegian being an acknowledged master in a sprint finish, it was vital Kowalczyk led into the stadium.

She did so by attacking powerfully on the last uphill section, opening out a lead of several metres that she clung onto in the dangerous downhill section around the so-called Turn of Death leading into the stadium.

The two skiers then fought shoulder to shoulder with Kowalczyk just edging out Bjoergen in a last gasp finish, sending millions of Poles into ecstasy.

The victory makes Kowalczyk the second Pole to take gold at the Winter Olympics, following Wojciech Fortuna’s ski-jumping gold in Sapporo way back in 1972, and the Whistler Games the most successful ever for the Polish team.

Further joy was provided by an unexpected bronze medal for the ladies speed skating team.

Katarzyna Bachleda-Curus, Katarzyna Wozniak and Luiza Zlotkowska defeated the Americans by over 1.5 seconds to take the medal in the third-place race-off.

The skaters are more used to struggling with the fact that there isn’t a single speed skating track for them to train on anywhere in Poland, forcing them to spend months away training in Germany. Following their success, they are hoping that a training facility will be built for them nearer to home.