Kaleta, Hyncicova Participate In 4x5K Relay In Winter Olympics

ZHANGJIAKOU, China—Weronika Kaleta and Petra Hyncicova both took part in the Women's 4x5K relay at the XXIV Winter Olympic Games here Saturday, as the Olympics continue in Beijing.

In a twist of fate only if you're a Buffs fan, while the two didn't compete directly against each other, they did encounter each other on the course. Kaleta was the third skier for Poland and Hyncicova the fourth for the Czech Republic, those two teams neck and neck at the tag between the third and fourth skiers. How close? Approximately one-tenth of a second.

Kaleta's skied her 5K freestyle leg for Poland in 14:24.8 and Poland was in 15th place when she was finishing up, which came at the 45:51.0 mark of the race when she tagged Karolina Kukuczka for the final leg. Meanwhile, the Czech Republic's Katerina Janatova tagged Hyncicova for the final leg at the 45:51.1 mark, meaning when Kaleta came in to tag her teammate, Hyncicova was standing right beside her waiting for her teammate to tag her.

Hyncicova skied her 5K loop in 13:41.5, which was the eighth-fastest in the field. She overtook Kukuczka and Poland and both teams overtook Estonia as the Czech republic finished 13th and Poland 14th in the 19 team field.

Kaleta is a sophomore at CU and picked up All-American honors last year as a freshman. She finished 50th in the women's sprint free race.

Hyncicova was a seven-time All-American and two-time Individual NCAA Champion, sweeping both women's Nordic races at the 2017 NCAA Championships. She finished 42nd in the women's 10K classic, 26th in the 7.5k skiathlon, and 33rd in the women's sprint free races.

Women's cross country has two events left, the women's team sprint classic on Wednesday and the women's 30K mass start Sunday, Feb. 20. Participants for those two races have not yet been determined.

Sunday's action in Beijing 2022 will feature Alvar Alev and Joanne Reid. Alev will take part in the 4x10K relay for Estonia in Cross Country Skiing action and Reid in the 10K pursuit for Team USA in biathlon.

Alev will be the second skier out for Estonia and be in bib 12-2. Reid will start 34th for Team USA and start 2:11 after the start of the race, which was her finishing position in the 7.5K sprint race Friday.

After Aleva and Reid compete Sunday, no Buffs will be in action at the Olympics until Wednesday at the earliest.

Kaleta, Hyncicova Participate In 4x5K Relay In Winter Olympics

Players Mentioned

Weronika Kaleta

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