Magdalena Luczak

Photo by: Getty Images

Photo by: Alamy

Position:
Alpine
Height:
5-5
Class:
Senior
Hometown:
Lodz, Poland
High School:
I Liceum Ogolnokstztalcace
Prev School:
Polish National Team

Olympian (2022 Beijing)
National Skier of the Year (2024, Women's Alpine, Coaches Association)
Colorado Sports Hall of Fame Collegiate Skier of the Year (2024)
Colorado Sports Hall of Fame Finalist for Female Athlete of the Year (2024)
SportsWomen of Colorado Collegiate Skier of the Year (2024)
Colorado Snowsports Hall of Fame Collegiate Skier of the Year (2024)
Three-Time Individual National Champion (2022 GS, 2024 SL, 2024 GS)
Four-Team First-Team All-American (2022 GS, 2024 SL, 2024 GS, 2025 SL)
Three-Time First-Team All-RMISA (2022, '24, '25)
National All-Academic Ski Team (2022, 3.5 Cumulative GPA)
Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll (2024)
Two-Time Female Athlete of the Year (2022 & 2024 CUSPY)
Female Freshman of the Year (2022, CUSPY)
Two-Time RMISA Skier of the Meet (2024 CU Invitational; 2025 UAA Invitational)
Six-Time CU Athlete of the Week (March 14, 2022; Feb. 4, 2024; Feb. 11, 2024, March 11, 2024; March 2, 2025; March 9, 2025)
Two-Time Outstanding Alpine Woman Award (2022, 2024)
Lucie Hanusova Award (2025)
Three-Time NCAA Championship Qualifier (2022, '24, '25)
Three-Time Letterwinner (2022, '24, '25)

At Colorado: Career—Luczak will take the 2026 season off while rehabilitating her knee after an injury at the NCAA Championships in March and plans to return for her final season of eligibility in 2027. While only competing in 17 college races since the start of the 2022 season, she has put her stamp as one of the top skier in CU and NCAA history with seven race wins, 10 podiums, 12 top fives and 14 top 10s in her 16 finished races in those 17 starts. She is a three-time Individual NCAA Champion and four-time first-team All-American.

2025 (Junior)—Luczak again skied on the World Cup circuit for much of the start of the college season, returning to qualify in Alaska for the UAA Invitational and RMISA Championships. She won both GS races in Alaska and took fourth and sixth in the two slalom races to safely qualify. At the NCAA Championships, after a third place slalom finish, which got her the fourth All-America honor of her career, she unfortunately fell and injured her knee in the GS race, a race she was on track to win by more than a second, which not only put a damper on her becoming the first three-time individual champion in the GS but cost her a shot at the 2026 Olympics, for Poland, as well. Still, had one of the best seasons in CU history with two wins, three podiums and five top six finishes in her five finished races. On top of her All-America honor, she was named first-team All-RMISA, the RMSIA Skier of the Meet for the UAA Invitational and two CU Athlete of the Week honors. She was given the team’s Lucie Hanusova Award, as well.

2024 (Sophomore)—After talking the 2023 season off after an Olympic run, Luczak returned to CU in 2024 and despite racing in just six college races, she turned in simply one of the most dominant seasons in CU history. She won four of six races on the season and took second in the other two, all the while traveling the globe to compete in the World Cup. She was a combined 176-2 against the field in those six races, or 98.9 percent, which included two individual NCAA Championships, both integral in the Buffs run for the team NCAA Championship. She skied in four races over five days in early February to quality for the NCAA Championships, and in those four races she picked up one win and one second place in both disciplines. She opened by taking second in an RMISA Qualifier GS race ahead of the CU Invitational and then won the GS race as part of the CU Invitational the next day. She then took second in the women’s slalom at the CU Invitational and after a day off, won the slalom race as part of the Denver Invitational before returning to World Cup action. Returning for the NCAA Championships where she swept both races, picking up her second and third career individual NCAA Championship. She is the ninth skier to sweep the titles at an NCAA Championship and just second at CU behind Lucie Zikova in 2008. She won CU’s first slalom title since Zikova in 2008 and she joined Zikova with three-plus individual titles in CU history among women’s alpine skiers. On top of her two individual titles, she was name the National Skier of the Year by the Ski Coaches Association while picking up two first-team All-America honors. She won the Colorado Collegiate Skier of the Year from three organizations, Sportwomen of Colorado, the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame and the Colorado Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame. She earned the CUSPY as CU’s Female Athlete of the Year, was named first-team All-RMISA and won the team’s Outstanding Alpine Woman award and she earned multiple CU Athlete of the Week honors and was the RMISA Skier of the Meet. She also got it done in the classroom despite all her travels being named to the Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll. Prior to the college season, she had been competing on the World Cup circuit and responded with three top 30 and two top 20 finishes early in the season. She finished 30th in the season opener GS at Soelden in late October and then had her best World Cup finish taking 17th in Killington in November before bringing home another top 20 with 20th place in Lienz. She also won two GS races on the Nor-Am Cup in Tremblant, Quebec, on back-to-back days in mid December.

2023 (Sophomore)—Luczak unenrolled in school and competed for Poland on the internal circuit. She had a solid season with 11 World Cup starts. Despite not earning any points, she also had success on the European Cup finishing second and fifth in two GS races at Zinal and sixth in the GS at the Italian National Championships where she was also in the top 10 in Super G and Slalom and she was at her best at the Polish National Championship, winning the title in the Giant Slalom, Super G and Alpine Combined events. She also competed at the World Championships in Sweden.

2022 (Freshman)—Luczak made the most of her first season on the CU Ski Team and despite only racing in five collegiate races, she made her mark by winning the Individual NCAA Championship in the GS race at the NCAA Championships. She also earned first-team All-America honors, was given the Female Athlete of the Year and Female Freshman of the Year at CU’s CUSPY Awards. She was given the team’s Outstanding Alpine Woman Award and was named CU’s Athlete of the Week in March. She originally planed to travel back-and-forth from Europe where she was skiing on the World Cup and eventually the Olympics for the Polish National Team, but a bout with COVID made her stay in Europe throughout the season. After competing in the GS, slalom and team parallel events at the Winter Olympic Games, she returned to the US and took part in the final three races of the season, taking fifth in a GS race before having to hike in a slalom race at the RMISA Championships, then taking seventh in an extra qualifier after the RMISA Championships. After petitioning the NCAA Ski Committee to be able to compete at the NCAA Championships, she responded by winning the giant slalom race despite starting 29th, the lowest starting position to win the race in NCAA Championships history. She then had to hike again in the slalom race at the NCAA Champiosnhips but did put up the fifth fastest second run in the field. Between the RMISA and NCAA Championships, she participated in the World Junior Championships Team Parallel event and would’ve been a favorite to win the GS race at that competition, but chose to compete for the Buffs and win an individual championship. In Beijing, she finished 26th in the GS race, did not finish the slalom race and was 10th in the team parallel event. She picked up 11 points in World Cup with a 20th place finish at Courchevel and her 170 GS points on the Europa Cup ranked 13th for the season, with her best finish being third at Andalo in a GS race.

Prior To CU—Luczak has skied for the Mitanski Zakopane club in Poland since 2008 and for the last few years has been a member of the Polish National Team. She has two World Cup starts to her credit and she also competed at the 2021 World Championships in Cortina d’Ampezzo where she finished 19th in the giant slalom race, four spots ahead of Cass Gray, who was believed to have been the top World Championship finish for a women’s alpine skier in CU history. She skied at the World Junior Championships three times with two top 20 finishes, taking 18th in slalom and 20th in GS at Val de Fassa in 2019. She has 37 continental cup starts in her career, mostly on the European Cup (29) but also four starts apiece on the Far East Cup and South American Cup circuits. She has eight top 20 finishes in the European Cup tour and had her best finishes of 12th (GS) and 13th (slalom) in 2021 at Reiteralm. She is a three-time Polish National Champion, winning the slalom title in 2018 at Sczyrk, the 2019 GS title at Szczawnica/Palencia and the 2021 GS title at Szczawnica. She was also runner up in the GS in 2018 and has five total top 10 finishes in national championships. She has also won seven Polish National Junior Championships. In all, she has 127 FIS-level races since her debut in Nov. 2017 at Solda, Italy, and she has 80 total top 30 finishes in those races with 45 top 10 performances and 20 podium appearances. Her podiums include 10 wins, seven runner-up and three third place finishes. Her 10 race wins include seven slalom wins and three in GS. Including her GS win at the Polish National Championships in 2021, she also won a slalom race at Zakopane, Poland, as her most recent slalom victory.

High School—Luczak graduated from I Liceum Ogolnoksztalcace in Lodz, Poland, in 2020. She earned a scholarship from the Polish Ministry for Education for academic and athletic achievement and was also given a Miasto Lodz scholarship.

In The Classroom—Luczak is interested in studying Business at Colorado.

Personal—Magdalena Luczak was born Dec. 31, 2001, in Lodz, Poland. Her parents are Michal and Iwona Luczak and she has one older sister, Maria. She speaks fluent Polish, English, German and Italian and her great grandfather was from Germany. She enjoys traveling, kite surfing and studying art history. She is an active member in a charity program in her hometown and has volunteered at a dog shelter.

Why Colorado?—”Joining the Buffs is an amazing opportunity for me. The ski team is very strong and ambitious and I think I’m the perfect fit. I will also receive a high level education.”