Weronika Nowakowska-Ziemniak is a student and currently lives with her husband in Duszniki Zdrój . She started first for KS Duszniki Zdrój , later for KS AZS-AWF Katowice and is trained by Malwina Wojtas. She has competed internationally at junior level since 2004. Her first appearances were in the Junior European Cup in Obertilliach . In 2005 she entered the Junior European Championships in Novosibirsk , where she was tenth in the sprint and won silver behind the Russian relay with the relay, which also included Paulina Bobak and Agnieszka Grzybek . The Junior World Championships in Kontiolahti , which took place shortly afterwards, did not go quite as well , where 32nd place in the individual and ninth place in the relay were the best results. The junior world championships in summer biathlon in Muonio were again more successful for the young Polish woman . In sprint, pursuit and mass start she came in the ranks between 13 and 16, with the relay, to which Grzybek and also Tiffany Tyralla belonged, she won a silver medal behind the relay from Ukraine. The Junior World Championships 2006 in Presque Isle and the Junior European Championships of the same year in Langdorf did not bring any further noteworthy results for Nowakowska, but at the Junior World Championships 2007 in Martell she again took several places in the top 20. The placings in the last one were even better Polish Junior European Championship in Bansko . In all races she came under the best 15. The junior period ended with the World Championships in Summer Biathlon 2007 in Otepää , where Nowakowska was sixth in the individual and ninth in the sprint.
During the 2007/08 season Nowakowska made her debut in the European Biathlon Cup . She ran her first individual in Langdorf and was 35. In the following sprint she won a point for the first time in 30th place and improved to 17th in the pursuit. Nowakowska started the Biathlon World Cup for the first time that season . Her first race was a sprint in Hochfilzen , which she finished 51st. She also achieved good results at her first European Championships for adults in Nové Město na Moravě . She finished 14th in the individual, and 18th in the sprint and pursuit. The Polish woman ran her first biathlon world championships in 2008 in Östersund . After finishing 58th in the sprint, she qualified for the pursuit, where she finished 55th. At the start of the 2008/09 season , Nowakowska finished sixth in the Idre sprint and achieved a top ten finish in the European Cup. But from now on she should primarily be active in the World Cup . At the start of the season in Östersund, she won World Cup points for the first time as 20th of the individual. In Hochfilzen, Nowakowska surprisingly finished third with the season. The 2009 World Cup in Pyeongchang brought improvements again. The Polish woman was 35th in the sprint, 16th in the pursuit, 36th in the individual, eighth in the mixed and sixth in the women's relay. In the first race after the World Championship, a single in Vancouver , Nowakowska managed to finish eighth in the top ten for the first time. At the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver , Nowakowska achieved her best result to date at a major international event after finishing 36th in the 7.5 km sprint and 28th place in the pursuit competition with 5th place in the 15 km individual race. With her leading position in the individual race, Nowakowska had also qualified for the mass start competition, which she finished in 21st place. At the 2015 Biathlon World Championships in Kontiolahti , Finland , she won her first medal at world championships when she finished second in the sprint. This is also her best World Cup result so far. In the subsequent pursuit, she won the bronze medal.
At the end of the 2017/18 season, she ended her career as a professional athlete.
World Cup placements
The table shows all placements (depending on the year, including the Olympic Games and World Championships).
1st - 3rd Place: Number of podium placements
Top 10: Number of placements in the top ten (including podium)
Points ranks: Number of placements within the point ranks (including podium and top 10)
Starts: Number of races run in the respective discipline