KONIECZEK Alicja

Poland

Athletics

Date of Birth: 2 Nov 1994

Age: 26

Gender: Female

Place of birth: NOWY TOMYSL

Birth Country:

Poland

Place of residence : BOULDER, CO

Residence Country:

United States of America

Events and Medals
Records
Schedule
Bio
General Interest
Milestones

Events and Medals

Discipline	Event	Rank	Medal
Athletics	Women's 3000m Steeplechase

Schedule

Change

Start Time	Location	Event	Status
	Olympic Stadium - Track	Women's 3000m Steeplechase Round 1 - Heat 3	Finished

Biographical Information

Highlights

Athlete:

World Athletics Championships

Year	Location	3000m SC
2019	Doha, QAT	Heats (9:44.96)

European Championships

Year	Location	3000m SC
2018	Berlin, GER	Heats (9:41.16)

World Athletics Continental Tour - Ten best performances since 2020

Rank	Year	Event	Competition	Location	Result
4	2021	3000m Steeplechase	World Athletics Continental Tour	Walnut, CA, USA	9:33.42

Legend
SF - Semifinal, QF - Quarterfinal, 1R - 1st Round, Qual. - Qualification, QR - Qualification Round, DNF - Did Not Finish, DNS - Did Not Start, DQ - Disqualified, NM - No Mark, [Relay athlete without time] - Did not run in final

Nickname:

Ala (Athlete, 31 Jul 2021)

Occupation:

Athlete, Coach, Sales

Education:

Sports Science - Western Colorado University, Gunnison, CO, USA

Languages spoken:

English, Polish

Club name:

On Athletics Club [Boulder, CO, USA]

Coach:

Dathan Ritzenhein, USA

Sporting relatives:

Her younger sister Aneta Konieczek has represented Poland in athletics and competed in the 3000m steeplechase at the 2017 European U23 Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland and at the 2016 World Junior Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland. Her older brother Dawid Konieczek has competed in athletics at national level in Poland and university level in the United States of America, chiefly in steeplechase and middle-distance events. (SportsDeskOnline, 12 Jul 2021; myregion.pl, 25 Jun 2021; tvp.pl, 11 May 2021; worldathletics.org, 26 May 2017)

Injuries:

She sustained a stress fracture in 2017 and was out of action for three months. (Athlete, 31 Jul 2021)

Start:

She took up athletics at age 11 and at age 14 joined the Nadodrze Powodowo club near Wolsztyn, Poland. (interia.pl, 25 Jun 2021; tvp.pl, 11 May 2021; Athlete, 31 Jul 2021)

Reason:

"Running was not my favourite sport but one of the reasons I got into it was there would be really good youth prizes at our town's local road races. That was my motivation for running at a young age. I remember a difficult car ride home when my brother, my sister and I all won bikes for winning our respective races." (blog.streamlineathletes.com, 05 Nov 2020)

Ambition:

To compete at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. (tvp.pl, 11 May 2021)

Training:

She trains with her coach Dathan Ritzenhein three times a week and then alone on the other days of the week. She does two workouts [one running session and one gym session] a day. (interia.pl, 27 Mar 2021)

Memorable:

Winning gold in the 3000m steeplechase at the 2019 World University Games in Naples, Italy. (Athlete, 31 Jul 2021)

Hero:

German 3000m steeplechase athlete Gesa Felicitas Krause. (Athlete, 31 Jul 2021)

Influence:

Her family. (Athlete, 31 Jul 2021)

Ritual:

She has an ice bath the night before a competition. (Athlete, 31 Jul 2021)

Philosophy:

"You cannot do it alone. Your best is not someone else's." (Athlete, 31 Jul 2021)

General Interest

General
POSITIVE POSTPONEMENT
She says that she benefited from the postponement of the 2020 Olympic Games, as it gave her extra time to recover from illness. "It's a blessing in disguise for me, because In early 2020 I was suffering from mononucleosis [glandular fever]. It took me several months to fully recover, and the postponement of the Games was the most positive thing for me in 2020. I also parted ways with coach Zbigniew Krol in April 2020 and started a new coaching partnership [with Dathan Ritzenhein]. In 2021, the preparations have gone very well." (interia.pl, 27 Mar 2021)

FROM POLAND TO USA
Following in the footsteps of her older brother Dawid, she left Poland to study and pursue her sports career in the United States of America at age 19 and graduated from Western Colorado University in Gunnison, Colorado. Her younger sister Aneta also went on to study and compete in athletics at Western Colorado University before transferring to University of Oregon in Eugene, OR, United States of America. "I moved to the USA, because I wanted to find something else. My older brother had already moved there two years earlier. In Europe there are no collegiate sports like there are in the US and the team aspect is lacking so, without fear, I followed in his footsteps. I was looking for conditions to train at high attitude and Gunnison, where I settled down, is a really cool city. It was difficult to handle the winters of -20 degrees Celsius, but the summers and springs are amazing. In addition, there are great facilities with gyms, halls and other world-class venues. I knew I could develop here and meet new people, so I decided to stay. I don't plan to go back to Poland for several years. In December [2021] I will marry my American fiance. He will graduate in law and aims to work here, but I will convince him to spend the second half of our lives in Poland. That's a beautiful prospect. I will never put any other country above my homeland and I cannot imagine not going back to my country and my parents at least once a year." (gomountaineers.com, 12 Jul 2021; tvp.pl, 11 May 2021; blog.streamlineathletes.com, 05 Nov 2020; azs.pl, 17 Jul 2019)

OTHER ACTIVITIES
She has served as a running coach at Chaski Endurance Collective, which provides online coaching and training plans. She has also worked as a personal trainer for fitness group Upward Motion Fitness and Nutrition in Albuquerque, NM, United States of America. (Facebook profile, 12 Jul 2021; LinkedIn profile, 05 Jul 2021)

Social Media

Legend

:: Gold Medal Event
:: Silver Medal Event
:: Bronze Medal Event

Timing and scoring provided by OMEGA. Results powered by Atos