Polish snowboard star switches to German team
PR dla Zagranicy
Peter Gentle
29.07.2011 13:47
One of Poland's most successful winter sports stars will be switching to compete for Germany, following long-running wrangles with the Polish Snowboarding Association.
Paulina Ligocka, who was the standard-bearer of the Polish team at the Turin Winter Olympics (2006), and who has twice won world championship medals for her country, announced the news yesterday.
Describing the move as “the hardest decision of my life,” Ligocka explained that she “no longer had the strength to wrangle with the authorities of the Polish Snowboarding Association.
“It's a cry of despair,” said the 27-year-old.
“I took the decision out of desperation,” she explained, stressing her hopes that her fans would understand her move.
“My goal now is the Winter Olympics in Sochi in 2014. The German federation has given me a chance to realise my dreams,” she said.
In a previous interview with Polish Radio last year, Ligocka acknowledged that she had “strongly criticised” the leadership of the Polish Snowboarding Association.
The final straw for Ligocka was discovering that the Ministry of Sport had not included her in this season's Olympic squad. (nh/pg)
Source: nSport, IAR