Olympic silver medal-winning mountain biker named as Baku 2015 ambassador

Ms Włoszczowska won silver at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in women’s cross-country mountain biking, before becoming World Champion in the same event in 2010.

A versatile rider, she won her first major title in 2003 when she became World Champion in the mountain bike marathon event, and has won a total of 22 World and European Championship medals in her career to date.

Mr Simon Clegg, Chief Operating Officer of Baku 2015, said: "Bringing Maja on board as an international Athlete Ambassador is a great endorsement of the first European Games and testament to the calibre of athletes we will attract to Baku this summer.

"The success which Maja has enjoyed so far in her career reflects her dedication to the sport of mountain biking and we very much look forward to seeing her compete for the European Games title here in June.” 

Baku 2015 Athlete Ambassadors will represent their sports, and feature in marketing campaigns around the continent and on social media, to promote the European Games.

Ms Włoszczowska, 31, said: "I am very excited to be an Athlete Ambassador for the first European Games and I am looking forward to competing in Baku this summer. I will do my best to raise the profile of the Games and the sport of mountain biking in Europe and around the world.”

Mr Andrzej Kraśnicki, President of the Polish Olympic Committee, said: "Maja is an excellent addition to the Baku 2015 Ambassador programme and I am sure she will do a fantastic job of promoting the Games in Poland and building support for our athletes this summer.”

Ms Włoszczowska joins German table tennis player Dimitrij Ovtcharov, Greek fencer Vassiliki Vougiouka, Irish boxer Katie Taylor, Team GB’s taekwondo athlete Jade Jones, French rhythmic gymnast Kseniya Moustafaeva, Denmark’s canoe sprinter René Holten Poulsen, and Serbia’s 3x3 basketball team of Dušan Domović Bulut, Marko Savic, Marko Zdero and Dejan Majstorovic, as Baku 2015 international Athlete Ambassadors, with more to be announced in the near future.