Lidia Chojecka Explained

Lidia Chojecka
Birth Date:	25 January 1977
Birth Place:	Siedlce, Poland
Country:	Poland
Sport:	Track and field
Event:	1500 metres, 3000 metres
Retired:	2013

Lidia Chojecka-Leandro (born 25 January 1977)^[1] is a retired Polish middle- and long-distance runner who mainly competed in the 1500 metres and 3000 metres. She won bronze medals in the 1500 m at the 1997 and 1999 World Indoor Championships, and for the 3000 m at the 2006 World Indoor Championships. Chojecka is a six-time European Indoor Championships medallist in the 1500 m and 3000 m events, earning three golds and three silvers. She took the double at the 2007 European Indoor Championships, becoming the first runner, male or female, to win both events at the same championships. 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.^[2]

As a 18-year old, Chojecka won the 1500 m at the 1995 European Under-20 Championships. She placed second in the event at the 1997 European U23 Championships to take gold two years later. As of 2022 Chojecka held eight Polish national records in distances ranging from 1000 to 5000 metres (1000 m indoor, 1500 m out and indoor, one mile indoor, 2000 m, 3000 m out and indoor and 5000 m). She won five Polish outdoor (1500 m, 5000 m, 10,000 m) and 13 indoor (800 m, 1500 m, 3000 m) titles.

Her husband and former coach is a Gabonese-born runner, Jean-Marc Léandro.^[3]

Achievements

Personal bests

800 metres – 1:59.97 (Nuremberg 1999)
- 800 metres indoor – 1:59.99 (Birmingham 1999)
1000 metres – 2:42.89 (Sopot 1994)
- 1000 metres indoor – 2:36.97 (Liévin 2003)
1500 metres – 3:59.22 (Oslo 2000)
- 1500 metres indoor – 4:03.58 (Birmingham 2003)
One mile – 4:25.18 (Lausanne 1998)
- One mile indoor – 4:24.44 (Stuttgart 2000)
2000 metres – 5:38.44 (Brussels 2009)
3000 metres – 8:31.69 (Brussels 2002)
- 3000 metres indoor – 8:38.21 (Stuttgart 2007)
5000 metres – 15:04.88 (Berlin 2002)
10,000 metres – 32:55.10 (Warsaw 2007)

National titles

Polish Athletics Championships
- 1500 m: 1999, 2000, 2002
- 5000 m: 2011
- 10,000 m: 2007
Polish Indoor Athletics Championships
- 800 m: 1999, 2004
- 1500 m: 1998, 1999, 2000, 2004, 2006, 2009
- 3000 m: 2000, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007

International competitions

1994	World Junior Championships	Lisbon, Portugal	7th	1500 m	4:18.70
1995	European Junior Championships	Nyíregyháza, Hungary	bgcolor=gold	1st	1500 m	4:17.29
1996	World Junior Championships	Sydney, Australia	5th	1500 m	4:11.36
1997	World Indoor Championships	Paris, France	3rd	1500 m	4:06.25
	European U23 Championships	Turku, Finland	bgcolor=silver	2nd	1500 m	4:14.70
	Universiade	Catania, Italy	3rd	1500 m	4:12.38
1998	European Indoor Championships	Valencia, Spain	bgcolor=silver	2nd	1500 m	4:14.93
1998	European Championships	Budapest, Hungary	6th	1500 m	4:15.00
1999	World Indoor Championships	Maebashi, Japan	3rd	1500 m	4:05.86
	European U23 Championships	Gothenburg, Sweden	bgcolor=gold	1st	1500 m	4:07.86
	World Championships	Seville, Spain	9th	1500 m	4:05.55
2000	European Indoor Championships	Ghent, Belgium	–	1500 m	DNF
	European Indoor Championships	Ghent, Belgium	bgcolor=silver	2nd	3000 m	8:42.42
	Olympic Games	Sydney, Australia	5th	1500 m	4:06.42
2001	World Championships	Edmonton, Canada	5th	1500 m	4:06.70
2001	Goodwill Games	Brisbane, Australia	4th	Mile	4:39.96
2002	European Championships	Munich, Germany	9th	1500 m	4:10.56
2003	World Indoor Championships	Birmingham, United Kingdom	10th (h)	1500 m	4:10.51
2004	World Indoor Championships	Budapest, Hungary	8th	1500 m	4:10.32
	Olympic Games	Athens, Greece	6th	1500 m	3:59.27
	World Athletics Final	Monte Carlo, Monaco	7th	1500 m	4:06.62
	World Athletics Final	Monte Carlo, Monaco	bgcolor=silver	2nd	3000 m	8:39.16
2005	European Indoor Championships	Madrid, Spain	bgcolor=gold	1st	3000 m	8:43.76
2006	World Indoor Championships	Moscow, Russia	3rd	3000 m	8:42.59
	European Championships	Gothenburg, Sweden	5th	1500 m	4:01.43
	World Athletics Final	Stuttgart, Germany	6th	1500 m	4:07.20
	World Cup	Athens, Greece	5th	1500 m	4:06.52
	World Cup	Athens, Greece	bgcolor=silver	2nd	3000 m	8:39.69
2007	European Indoor Championships	Birmingham, United Kingdom	bgcolor=gold	1st	1500 m	4:05.13
	European Indoor Championships	Birmingham, United Kingdom	bgcolor=gold	1st	3000 m	8:43.25
	World Championships	Osaka, Japan	8th	1500 m	4:08.64
2008	Olympic Games	Beijing, China	31st (h)	1500 m	4:19.57
2009	European Indoor Championships	Turin, Italy	6th	1500 m	4:15.90
	European Indoor Championships	Turin, Italy	–	3000 m	DNF
	World Championships	Berlin, Germany	7th	1500 m	4:07.17
2010	World Indoor Championships	Doha, Qatar	11th	3000 m	9:07.80
2010	European Championships	Barcelona, Spain	–	5000 m	DNF
2011	European Indoor Championships	Paris, France	bgcolor=silver	2nd	3000 m	8:58.30
2012	World Indoor Championships	Istanbul, Turkey	6th	3000 m	8:56.86
2012	European Championships	Helsinki, Finland	25th (h)	1500 m	4:20.66

Notes and References

Web site: Lidia CHOJECKA – Athlete Profile . . 2021-01-01.
Web site: 2017-02-23 . Chojecka does the double in Birmingham . 2017-02-23 . . en.
Web site: 2011-03-06 . Lekkoatletyczne HME: Złoto Kszczota i Rogowskiej . 2021-01-01 . Interia Sport . pl.