Lidia Chojecka

Chojecka is a six-time European Indoor Championships medallist in the 1500 m and 3000 m events, earning three golds and three silvers.

She had been one of the most consistent middle-distance runners in Europe throughout the 1990s, and finished fifth and sixth in back-to-back Olympic 1500 m finals in 2000 and 2004.

She placed second in the event at the 1997 European U23 Championships to take gold two years later.

She won five Polish outdoor (1500 m, 5000 m, 10,000 m) and 13 indoor (800 m, 1500 m, 3000 m) titles.

[1] Her husband and former coach is a Gabonese-born runner, Jean-Marc Léandro.

Chojecka (center) races in the 1500 m final of the 2007 World Championships in Osaka , with Nataliya Tobias (L) and Yuliya Fomenko (R).