Maja Włoszczowska is a Polish

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

 mountain biker. She became world champion in Elite cross-country mountain biking in 2010. In the 2011 world championships Maja looked like she was about to retain the title, but finished in second place after losing over a minute to the eventual winner Catharine Pendrel

Catharine Pendrel

Catharine Pendrel is a Canadian cross-country mountain biker. She has been a member of the Canadian National team since 2003. She finished 4th at the 2008 Summer Olympics in the cross-country event. She was born in Fredericton, New Brunswick, and grew up outside the small community of Harvey...

 due to a flat tire.

For her sport achievements, she received:

Golden Cross of Merit in 2008.

Major achievements

2003

1st in UCI Mountain Bike Marathon World Championships, Lugano, ITALIA.

2004

2nd in UCI Mountain Bike World Championships, Les Gets, France.

2005

2nd in UCI Mountain Bike World Championships, Livigno, ITALIA.

2nd in UCI Mountain Bike European Championships, Kluisbergen, Belgium.

2006

7th in World Cup MTB XCO#1, Curaçao.

4th in World Cup MTB XCO#2, Madrid, Spain.

13th in World Cup MTM XCO#3, Spa Francorchamps, Belgium.

12th in World Cup MTM XCO#4, Fort William, Great Britain.

6th in UCI Mountain Bike European Championships, Chies d'Alpago, ITALIA.

4th in UCI Mountain Bike World Championships, Rotorua, New Zealand.

8th in World Cup MTB XCO#6, Schladming, Austria.

2007

13th in World Cup MTB XCO#1, Houffalize, Belgium.

8th in World Cup MTB XCO#2, Offenburg, Germany.

7th in UCI Mountain Bike European Championships, Cappadocia , Turkey.

4th in UCI Mountain Bike Marathon European Championships, Sankt Wendel, Germany.

2008

12th in World Cup MTB XCO#2, Offenburg, Germany.

18th in UCI Mountain Bike European Championships, Sankt Wendel, Germany.

5th in UCI Mountain Bike World Championships, Val di Sole, ITALIA.

1st in Polish MTB National Championships.

2nd in Women's cross-country at the 2008 Summer Olympics

2008 Summer Olympics

The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, was a major international multi-sport event that took place in Beijing, China, from August 8 to August 24, 2008. A total of 11,028 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees competed in 28 sports and 302 events...

 in Beijing

Beijing

Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...

, China.

1st in World Cup MTB XCO#9, Schladming, Austria.

2009

1st in European XC Continental Championship, Zoetermeer, Netherlands.

2010

1st in World Cup MTB XCO#5, Val di Sol, Italy.

Elite Women's XC World Champion 2010 – Mont-Sainte-Anne.

2011

2nd in Elite Women's XC World Championships – Champéry, Switzerland.

The Race

Since 2009 Maja Włoszczowska lends her name to a cross country race in her home town of Jelenia Góra

Jelenia Góra

----Jelenia Góra is a city in Lower Silesia, south-western Poland. The name of the city means "deer mountain" in Polish, Czech and German. It is close to the Krkonoše mountain range running along the Polish-Czech border – ski resorts such as Karpacz and Szklarska Poręba can be found...

. Riders such as Miguel Martinez

Miguel Martinez (cyclist)

Miguel Martinez is a French cyclist specializing in competitive cross-country mountain biking. He won the gold medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia after having finished in third place in the inaugural event at the 1996 Summer Olympics.-References:...

, Catharine Pendrel

Catharine Pendrel

Catharine Pendrel is a Canadian cross-country mountain biker. She has been a member of the Canadian National team since 2003. She finished 4th at the 2008 Summer Olympics in the cross-country event. She was born in Fredericton, New Brunswick, and grew up outside the small community of Harvey...

or Mary McConneloug took part in it.

External links