Maja Martyna Włoszczowska (Polish pronunciation: ; born 9 November 1983) is a Polish former

mountain biker Mountain biking (MTB) is a sport of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, usually using specially designed mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes but incorporate features designed to enhance durabilit ...

. She is the 2008 and 2016 Olympic silver medalist in

cross-country cycling Cross-country (XC) cycling is a discipline of mountain biking. Cross-country cycling became an Olympic sport in 1996 and is the only form of mountain biking practiced at the Olympics. Terrain Cross-country cycling is defined by the terrain on w ...

. She is a member of the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based i ...

(IOC).

Career

Born in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

, Włoszczowska is a graduate of financial and insurance mathematics, which she studied at the Faculty of Fundamental Technological Problems of the Wroclaw University of Technology. Włoszczowska won the silver medal in

mountain biking Mountain biking (MTB) is a sport of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, usually using specially designed mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes but incorporate features designed to enhance durability ...

at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. Since 2009, she has lent her name to a cross-country race in her home town of

Jelenia Góra Jelenia Góra (; ; ) is a historic city in southwestern Poland, within the historical region of Lower Silesia. Jelenia Góra is situated in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship, close to the Karkonosze mountain range running along the Polish-Czech bo ...

, called "Jelenia Góra Trophy Maja Włoszczowska MTB Race". Riders such as Miguel Martinez, Catharine Pendrel or Mary McConneloug have taken part in it. Włoszczowska became the world champion in elite cross-country mountain biking in

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

. At the 2011 World Championships, she was well-positioned to retain her title, but lost over a minute due to a flat tire and finished in second place, 28 seconds behind Catharine Pendrel. In June 2015, she won the bronze medal in cross-country mountain biking at the inaugural European Games. In August 2016, Włoszczowska won the silver medal in

at the

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. She was on the start list of 2018 Cross Country European Championships and finished 4.

Awards

For her sport achievements, she received:
Golden Cross of Merit in 2008.

Major achievements

;2003 :1st in UCI Mountain Bike Marathon World Championships, Lugano, Switzerland. ;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

, China. :1st in World Cup MTB XCO#9, Schladming, Austria. ;2009 :1st in European XC Continental Championships, Zoetermeer, Netherlands. ;2010 :1st in World Cup MTB XCO#5, Val di Sol, Italy. :Elite Women's XC World Championships 2010 – Mont-Sainte-Anne. ;2011 :2nd in Elite Women's XC World Championships – Champéry, Switzerland. ;2012 :1st in World Cup MTB XCO#1, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. :3rd in World Cup MTB XCO#2, Houffalize, Belgium. ;2013 :2nd in World Cup MTB XCO#1, Albstadt, Germany. :2nd in World Cup MTB XCO#2, Nove Město na Moravě, Czech Republic. :3rd in European Championships, Bern, Switzerland

References

External links

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wloszczowska, Maja 1983 births Living people Polish female cyclists Olympic cyclists for Poland Olympic silver medalists for Poland Olympic silver medalists in cycling Cyclists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Cyclists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Cyclists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Cyclists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics UCI Mountain Bike World Champions (women) European Games bronze medalists for Poland European Games medalists in cycling Cyclists at the 2015 European Games Polish International Olympic Committee members Cross-country mountain bikers Cyclists from Warsaw 21st-century Polish sportswomen