There was no shortage of drama for supporters of the Polish Winter Olympic team today as athletes across four sports took to the greatest stage.

“There will be bread from this flour!” is how Eurosport.pl’s Kacper Merk described the performance of cross-country skier Izabela Marcisz, as she finished in 16^th place in the gruelling women’s 15km skiathlon. The skiers had to battle winds of over 18mph as they took part in the two-discipline race. Overnight temperatures of -20°C had hardened the artificial snow course which acted like sand when the wind picked it up. Marcisz – an u23 10km freestyle world champion – has been hotly tipped as a future star, but even by her standards, this was an impressive result. Her teammate Magdalena Kobielusz crossed the line in 59^th.

Whilst Marcisz showed tears of joy at the performance of her debut Olympics, Kamila Stormowska was not able to share her tears for the same reason. The short track speed skater was drafted in with two hours’ notice into the women’s 500m heats, as the Covid-19 status of Natalia Maliszewska rumbled on.

Since our article yesterday, Maliszewska was cleared overnight to leave isolation, paving the way for her to compete in today’s heats. However, despite producing the required negative tests to free her from isolation, another positive test the morning of the race resulted in her withdrawal again, leaving Stormowska to compete in an event she had not raced in for two years. This prompted Sporting Director of the Polish Speed Skating Association, Konrad Niedzwiedzki, to describe the matter as “a circus on wheels” where he was “lost for words”.

Despite valiant efforts from Stormowska, Patrycja Maliszewska and Nikola Mazur, none of the team were able to qualify from the heats. Further misery was added to the short track speed skating team as they lost out to China, Italy and South Korea in the quarter-finals of the mixed 2000m relay. Łukasz Kuczyński and Michał Niewiński joined Mazur and Stormowska for the chance to qualify, but a Niewiński fall with ten laps to go ended those hopes.

Disappointment was also felt across the region in Zhangjikou at the National Ski Jumping Centre where Kinga Rajda and Nicole Konderla finished in 35^th and 36^th place, respectively, failing to qualify for the final jump in the women’s normal hill. Supporters had been offered some hope after seeing promising jumps from Konderla and Rajda in the practice round, only an hour before competition, but the gulf in class showed once the first round started.

Meanwhile ski jumpers Piotr Żyła, Dawid Kubacki, Stefan Hula and Kamil Stoch all successfully qualified for the main competition of the men’s normal hill. Mateusz Sochowicz will also be making a subsequent appearance in the men’s singles of the luge as he successfully completed runs one and two at the Yanqing National Sliding Centre.