Zofia Kowalczyk

Zofia Kowalczyk took up gymnastics full-time in 1946 and, three years later, became the Polish national champion in the balance beam. In 1950 she was part of the national team that travelled to that year’s World Championships, where she was fifth in the team all-around and 11th individually. Her next, and last, major stop was the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, where she was 8th and 14th in the team all-around and portable apparatus respectively. Her best individual finish, meanwhile, was 51st in the floor exercise. She trained to attend a second edition of the Games, in 1956, but sustained several injuries and retired from active competition before that could happen.