Paula Gorycka (born 5 November 1990 in Kraków^[7]) is a Polish cross-country mountain bike,^[8] road and cyclo-cross cyclist with two medals from the MTB World Championships and one medal from the MTB European Championships.^[9]

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Paula Gorycka

Finished the Swiss Bike Cup season in 3rd place overall in the elite women's category in 2022
Personal information
Full name	Paula Gorycka
Born	(1990-11-05) 5 November 1990 (age 33) Kraków, Poland
Team information
Current team	Strüby Sting[1]
Discipline	Mountain biking (Cross-country) Cyclo-cross Road
Role	Rider
Rider type	Cross-country
Amateur teams
2006-2008	ULKS Sprint Valvex Jordanów[2]
2009	DEK Meble Cyclo Korona Kielce[3]
2016	Prolog Jabłonna
Professional teams
2010-2011	CCC Polkowice (UCI team)[4]
2012-2015	4F Racing Team[note 1] (UCI team)[5]
Since 2017	Strüby Sting / BiXS[note 2] (UCI team)[6]
Medal record Women's mountain bike racing World Under-23 Championships 2012 Saalfelden Cross-country 2010 Mont Sainte Anne Cross-country European Under-23 Championships 2012 Moscow Cross-country

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In 2012, she finished 22nd in the Olympic Games in London.^[10]

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."^{[11] [note 3]}

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.^[23]

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.^[38] 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.

In 2015, she placed 15th in the European Games in Baku.^[40]

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.

Since 2017, when she joined the Swiss team Strüby Sting,^{[note 4]} Paula has regularly competed in the Swiss Bike Cup series.^{[note 5]} 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.^[12][58][59]

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

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.^[60] 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.^[61]

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.^[62]

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.^[63]

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.^[64]

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.^[65]

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.^[66]

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.^[67]

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.^[52]

• Races of Paula Gorycka
• Coupe de France VTT, France, Alpe d’Huez, 8 August 2020, 21st place, elite women
• World Championships XCT in Les Gets 24 August 2022, 15th place with team POLAND, mixed elite
• World Championships XCO, France, Les Gets, 28 August 2022, 33rd place, elite women

• Training of Paula Gorycka
• Paula with her trainer Andreas Kurmann (2020)
• Doing indoor cycling training on a road bike (2019)
• Cross country skiing race Rothenthurmer Volksskilauf on 1 January 2022