Paula Gorycka

Paula Gorycka (born 5 November 1990 in Kraków ) is a Polish cross-country mountain bike, road and cyclo-cross cyclist with two medals from the MTB World Championships and one medal from the MTB European Championships.

Olympic Games
In 2012, she finished 22nd in the Olympic Games in London.

Paula Gorycka described her participation in the Olympic Games as follows:"'Participating in the Olympic Games was a fulfillment of my childhood dreams. Of course, I wanted to achieve a better result while being there. I was not satisfied with my 22nd place, but at the same time, I performed similarly to other young athletes who also competed in London. I will continue to work hard to earn another trip to the Olympics, where I hope to compete for a much better result.'"

Cross Country (XCO)
She won two bronze medals at the U23 World Championships in cross-country. In 2010 in Monte Sainte Anne, Canada, and in 2012 in Saalfelden, Austria.

Short track (XCC)

 * 13th place in Les Gets (FRA) category Elite on 26 August 2022

Team relay (XCR)

 * 15th place in Les Gets (FRA) category Mixed Elite on 24 August 2022

Cyclocross (CX)

 * 37th place in Tabor (CZE) category Elite on 31 January 2015

European Championships
In 2012, she won a silver medal at the European Championships in the U23 category in Moscow. She finished eight seconds behind the winner, Jolanda Neff.

Marathon (XCM)

 * 12th place in Singen (GER) category Elite on 10 May 2015

Cyclo-cross (CX)

 * 22nd place in Huijbergen (NED) category Elite on 7 November 2015

Road Race (RR)

 * 15th place in Offida (ITA) category U23 on 16 July 2011

Individual Time Trial (ITT)

 * 21st place in Hooglede Gits (BEL) category U23 on 1 July 2009
 * 6th place in Offida (ITA) category U23 on 14 July 2011

World Cup
In the U23 category, Paula Gorycka has four podium finishes in the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup. She first reached the podium in her second World Cup race in September 2009 in Schladming, finishing in third place. In April 2011, she took second place in Pietermaritzburg. She was leading the race and had a good chance of winning, but a crash – in which she later found out she had broken her tibia – prevented her from doing so. With a broken leg, she still managed to complete the remaining six kilometers to the finish line. In August 2011, she finished third in the World Cup in Val di Sole. In May 2012, she once again finished in third place, this time at the World Cup in Nove Mesto na Morave.

European Games
In 2015, she placed 15th in the European Games in Baku.

Polish Championships
In the elite category, she has won the Polish National Championships in cross-country twice, in 2012 and 2022, and in 2013 she became the Polish National Champion in cyclo-cross. She has also won national titles as a junior (in 2008 in cross-country and mountainous road race) and as an under-23 rider (in 2010 in road race and mountainous road race, in 2011 in cross-country, and in 2012 in cross-country and individual time trial). In total, she has won 26 medals in the Polish National Championships – 10 gold, 10 silver, and 6 bronze – which she earned in mountain biking in cross-country, marathon, short track, and MTB relay, in cyclo-cross, and in road cycling in road race, individual time trial, mountainous road race, and tandem time trial.

Short track (XCC)

 * 3rd place in Jelenia Góra (POL) category Elite on 24 September 2021
 * 2nd place in Boguszów Gorce (POL) category Elite on 22 July 2022

Marathon (XCM)

 * 2nd place in Wałbrzych (POL) category Elite on 27 September 2009

Team relay (XCR)

 * 2nd place in Kielce (POL) category Mixed Elite on 17 July 2009
 * 2nd place in Żerków (POL) category Mixed Elite on 6 July 2013
 * 7th place in Sławno (POL) category Mixed Elite on 13 August 2016

Cyclo-cross (CX)

 * 2nd place in Koziegłowy (POL) category Elite on 13 January 2013
 * 1st place in Bieganów (POL) category Elite on 12 January 2014
 * 2nd place in Bytów (POL) category Elite on 11 January 2015
 * 8th place in Sławno (POL) category Elite on 8 January 2017

Road cycling – road race (RR)

 * 6th place (1st in U23) in Kielce (POL) category Elite on 26 June 2010
 * 27th place (13th in U23) in Złotoryja (POL) category Elite on 25 June 2011
 * 24th place (14th in U23) in Sędziszów (POL) category Elite on 23 June 2012
 * 13th place in Świdnica (POL) category Elite on 25 June 2016

Road cycling – individual time trial (ITT)

 * 8th place (4th in U23) in Kielce (POL) category Elite on 24 June 2010
 * 7th place (3rd in U23) in Złotoryja (POL) category Elite on 23 June 2011
 * 2nd place (1st in U23) in Jędrzejów (POL) category Elite on 21 June 2012
 * 16th place in Świdnica (POL) category Elite on 22 June 2016

Road cycling – mountain race

 * 1st place in Podgórzyn (POL) category Junior on 2 August 2008
 * 2nd place (1st in U23) in Podgórzyn (POL) category Elite on 11 July 2010
 * 3rd place in Jelenia Góra (POL) category Elite on 24 August 2013
 * 4th place in Jelenia Góra (POL) category Elite on 30 August 2014
 * Did not finish (DNF) in Jelenia Góra (POL) category Elite on 12 September 2015

Road cycling – team time trial

 * 2nd place in Grudziądz (POL) category Elite on 28 September 2012
 * Did not finish (DNF) in Opatówek (POL) category Elite on 3 October 2015

Swiss Bike Cup
Since 2017, when she joined the Swiss team Strüby Sting, Paula has regularly competed in the Swiss Bike Cup series. In earlier seasons, she only sporadically participated in the series. In 2019, she achieved second place in the overall classification of the series, and in the 2022 season, she finished on the third step of the podium in the general classification.

ÖKK Bike Revolution
Since 2022, a new series of races has appeared in Switzerland – ÖKK Bike Revolution. Paula has been participating in it from the beginning.

Road Races
From 2008 to 2016, Paula Gorycka took part in road stage races.

In 2008, during her second year as a junior, she competed in the Tour de Feminin – Krasna Lipa. Although she did not complete the fifth and final stage, she managed to finish 76th, 61st, 81st, and 60th respectively in the other stages (including the individual time trial). This was her first experience in a road stage race. In August of that year, she took part in the International Multi-Stage Cycling Race Fortum in Walbrzych, where she finished seventh in the general classification in the women's open category and was also the first classified junior. Her rankings in the individual stages were 14th (individual time trial), 4th (night criterium), 15th, and 18th.

In 2009, she finished seventh in the general classification of the Grande Boucle Feminine Internationale. She completed individual stages in 10th place (individual time trial), 44th place, 49th place, and 7th place. In August, she finished third in the general classification of the Górski Wałbrzyski Cycling Race. She completed individual stages in 2nd place (individual time trial), 12th place (night criterium), 2nd place, and 18th place.

In 2010, Paula won the Górski Wałbrzyski Cycling Race. She won the first stage (individual time trial) and finished 6th place (night criterium), 3rd place, and 11th place on the following stages.

In 2012, she again finished third in the Górski Wałbrzyski Cycling Race, repeating her result from 2009. She completed individual stages in 4th place (night criterium), 2nd place (individual time trial), 3rd place, and 23rd place.

In 2013, she competed twice in stage races. In the first one – Gracia Orlova, she finished 77th place in the general classification. She finished individual stages in 50th place, 57th place, 37th place (individual time trial), 94th place, 29th place, and 92nd place. She finished the Tour Cycliste Feminin International de l'Ardeche in 62nd place in the general classification. On the following stages, she finished in 113th place, 84th place, 137th place (crash during individual time trial), 68th place, 57th place, 32nd place, and 39th place.

In 2014, completed the Premondiale Giro Toscana Int. Femminile – Memorial Michela Fanini, finishing in 38th place in the general classification. She finished individual stages in 50th place, 39th place, and 41st place.

In 2015, Paula again competed in two road stage races. In the Gracia Orlova race, she finished 11th in the general classification and 17th in the points' classification. She finished individual stages in 12th place, 10th place, 51st place (individual time trial), 34th place, and 49th place. She did not finish the Lotto Belgium Tour race, withdrawing after the third of four stages. Furthermore, she finished the first two stages in 71st and 57th place, respectively.

In 2016, the first edition of the Tour de Pologne Feminin was launched. She finished 48th in the general classification, and on individual stages, she finished 61st, 26th (individual time trial), and 34th.