Paulina Ligocka, also known by the nickname Pola, is a 23-year old halfpipe rider representing Poland. She was born in Gliwice, but she now resides in Cieszyn, which is found near the Czech-Polish border. She started halfpipe riding back in 1998 when she was only 14 and started competing in 2004. She was already 20 years old then.

At a young age, Paulina Ligocka already has made a name for herself in the realm of halfpipe. In fact, 2006 proved to be a very busy and successful year for the then 21-year old. She bagged second place in the FIS World Cup. She also joined the Winter Olympics which was held in Turin, where she was the flag-bearer of Poland during the opening ceremonies. Here she ranked seventeenth in the halfpipe event. Her biggest win that year was in Leysin, Switzerland where she was the first placer in the FIS (Fédération Internationale de Ski) World Cup in January, making her Poland’s first ever halfpipe winner in the said contest. During the same month, she also got fourth place at the Burton European Open and another fourth place in March at the US Open.

Paulina Ligocka is still an active snowboarder, but unfortunately she is enjoying down time back in her hometown because of the knee injury that she got at the Australian Open in August 2007. She got her MCL (medial collateral ligament) half broken and her ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) totally broken, which makes her temporarily unfit to go snowboarding. Thus, instead of heading to New Zealand for another competition, she had to go back to Poland to have a surgery. Now that she’s not yet busy with halfpipe riding, she spends her short break studying, as she is currently taking up Sports Marketing at a sport academy in her hometown.