Gold, Alev and Reid Compete in Beijing Friday

ZHANGJIAKOU, CHINA – Three former Buffs were in competition Friday in Beijing at the XIV Winter Olympic Games and all had impressive showings. Taylor Gold competed in the Men's Snowboard Halfpipe Final, Alvar Alev raced in the Men's 15km Classic in Cross Country Skiing and Joanne Reid was on display in the Women's 7.5km Sprint in Biathlon.

Gold threw down his best run on his first attempt in the Men's Snowboard Halfpipe Final, boasting a score of 81.75, which ended up being his final score as he finished in fifth place. His score of 81.75 was the best among the competitors after the first round, however, on his two ensuing runs, Gold recorded scores of 25 and 20 after slipping on a pair of landings.

The Steamboat Springs, Colo. local is in his second Olympic Games representing Team USA. In his first Olympic outing in 2014 in Sochi, Gold failed to qualify for the Men's Halfpipe Final, finishing in 14th in qualifying. His sister, Arielle Gold, is also a two-time Olympian and former CU student and won the bronze medal in 2018 in the Snowboard Halfpipe, the same discipline Taylor competed in.

With his solid fifth place finish in the Men's Halfpipe Final, Gold has concluded his time at the XIV Winter Games and will not compete in any more events.

Alev was the second former Buff to compete as he represented Estonia in the Men's 15km Classic in Cross Country Skiing. The 28-year-old finished in 35th place with a time of 41:12.5 and was the top Estonian finisher in the race. Alev got off to a hot start and was 17th at the 3 km mark at 8:34.4 before faltering down to 35th by the end of the race.

The 35th place finish is the highest for Alev in Olympic or World Cup competition. Competing in his first Olympic Games, Alev has finished as high as 41st in the 15 km Classic in World Cup racing when he did so on Dec. 12, 2021 in Davos, Switzerland.

The Estonian skied for Colorado from 2018-19 and was a three-time All-American, including two first-team honors, and was named All-RMISA twice, as well. He won three races in his two years. He placed second in the freestyle race at the 2018 NCAA Championships and fourth in the classic at the 2019 NCAA Championships.

Alev is next expected to compete in the Men's 4x10k Relay event in Cross Country Skiing on Sunday, Feb. 13 at 3 p.m. local China time which is 12 a.m. MT. on Sunday Feb. 13 in Boulder.

The final Buff to compete Friday in Beijing was Joanne Reid. Competing in her second event at the XIV Winter Olympic Games for Team USA, Reid took part in the Women's 7.5 km Sprint in Biathlon Friday and finished in 34th place in a field of 89 with a time of 22:54.9. Reid nailed all five of her shots at the first shooting portion of the race and jumped all the way into the top 30. Going into the second shooting spot, Reid was in 27th, but two misses caused her to conduct two 150m penalty laps, and she dropped to 38th coming out of the shots before moving back up to 34th where she finished.

The 29-year-old competed in this event at the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in PyeongChang, finishing in 86th.

Reid skied for the Buffs from 2010-13 and earned seven All-America honors and four All-RMISA accolades. She was an Individual NCAA Champion in 2013 in the freestyle discipline and helped the Buffs to two team NCAA Championships in her four years at CU. After completing her master's degree at CU, she turned her attention to Biathlon and has competed in the Biathlon World Cup since 2015.

Reid will next race in the Women's 10K Pursuit on Sunday Feb. 13 at 5 p.m. local China time (2 a.m. MT. on Sunday Feb. 13), where she will be in bib 34 for Team USA.

Petra Hyncicova will compete for the Czech Republic and Weronika Kaleta will represent Poland in the Women's 4x5K Relay in Cross Country Skiing on Saturday, Feb 12 at 3:30 p.m. Beijing time (12:30 a.m. MT. on Saturday Feb. 12). Kaleta will be the third leg off the Poland team in bib 12-3 and Hyncicova will be the fourth and final leg for the Czech Republic team wearing bib 8-4.

Players Mentioned

Weronika Kaleta

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