2005 Winter Universiade, Innsbruck and Seefeld: Gold in the classical mass start 15km, silver in the 5km freestyle and bronze in the individual sprint. 2007 Winter Universiade, Turin: Gold in individual sprint, 5km freestyle and 10km double pursuit.

Competing in the Winter Universiades of 2005 and 2007 earned Polish cross-country skier Justyna Kowalczyk a healthy collection of medals and laid the foundation for an illustrious career in terms of Olympic and World Championship success.

Born in Limanowa, southern Poland, on January 19, 1983, Kowalczyk was 22 when she travelled to her first Winter Universiade, where she collected a complete set of medals in her various competitions at the Seefeld Arena in Austria.

By the time she returned home, Kowalczyk was 23 and the owner of a bronze medal for the individual sprint, a silver for the 5km freestyle and a gold for the classical mass start 15km event.

Two years later, she returned to the FISU arena and earned three individual Universiade golds in the individual sprint, the 5km freestyle and the 10km double pursuit event.

The competition was held in Turin, where a year earlier she had marked her Olympic debut by taking bronze in the 30km freestyle event.

Kowalczyk graduated from the Jerzy Kukuczka University of Physical Education in Katowice with an MA in physical education, and in 2014 completed a Ph.D at the Bronisław Czech University of Physical Education in Krakow.

Two years after her triumphs in Turin, she became world champion in the 15km pursuit and 30km freestyle in Liberec, where she also claimed bronze in the 10km classical competition.

A year later, in Vancouver, she earned a complete set of Olympic medals as she won gold in the 30km classical event, silver in the individual sprint and bronze in the 15km pursuit.

She added another Olympic title four years later in Sochi, where she won the 10km classical event.

Following her initial success in the World Championships, she went on to amass another three silver and two bronze medals between 2011 and 2015.

She made her fourth Olympic appearance in Pyeongchang in 2018, finishing seventh in the team sprint and 14th in the 30km mass start.