Warsaw, Nov 25 (IANS): Konrad Niedzwiedzki, the sporting director of the Polish Speed Skating Association, has praised Karolina Bosiek, who won a bronze medal with her team in the sprint event during the ISU World Cup Speed Skating in Beijing.

Bosiek had a strong start to the season, taking the silver medal with the Poland team in the mixed gender relay in Obihiro, Japan, and leading the team to third place in the women's sprint in Beijing on Sunday, reports Xinhua.

At the beginning of the season, Bosiek is seen as one of Poland's key competitors.

"She started twice and was on the podium twice. She is predisposed to competing at various distances. During the Beijing Olympics, she struggled with health problems, but she dealt with hard moments. She has a huge talent, she proved that in China," Niedzwiedzki said in an interview with Polish media on Saturday.

"Bosiek is able to win gold medals as she still improves her skills. Sooner or later she should look forward to the highest places. What I enjoyed the most is the team race in Beijing. The athletes in the new squad took a high place and understood each other well," he added.

Niedzwiedzki believes that the medal won in Beijing is just the first step for the Polish speed skaters towards further successes.

"You can always improve your performance. We have the quality to win much more; we want more medals. Our speed skaters have made progress in some distances, but we need to take a step forward in short track, as there was no podium finish in six finals," he concluded.