Katarzyna Kowalska

Katarzyna Kowalska ( born April 7, 1985 in Lipno ) is a Polish long-distance runner who specializes in the 3000 meters steeplechase. She represented Poland at the Olympic Games in Beijing in 2008 and reached the final at the World Athletics Championships in 2009. She also took part in the European Championships in 2006 and 2007 World Championships.

She was 39th in the U23 European Championships. With under 23, she won numerous medals, including two gold medals at the U23 European Championships and a bronze medal at the European Cross Country Championships.

Career

Her first international competition was the 2004 World Junior Championships, where she was fourth in their passages. Kowalska won the 2005 U23 European Athletics Championships gold. In 2006 she won bronze at the European Cup and the European Championships achieved a personal best time of 9:42,50 min in qualifying before they reached the ninth in the final. She represented Europe at the World Cup over the 5000 meters in Athens, where she reached the last goal. They also ran at the European Cross Country Championships in 2006, where she was ninth in the individual and the team second. She won the gold medal at the European Cup in 2007 and defended her title at the U23 European Championships. Also in 2007, at the World Championships, she was only eleventh. In December of the same year at the European Cross Country Championships she won in singles and team bronze. She represented Poland at the 2008 Olympics, where she was eleventh. With her personal best time of 9:26,93 min Kowalska reached for the first time as a Senior the finals at the World Championships and was twelfth. At the IAAF World Athletics Final 2009, she was eighth. At the 2010 World Cross Country Championships, she was 36te and at the European Cross Country Championships decades.