For all the turmoil endured to get to the rink, a fairy-tale ending was not to be for short track speed skater Natalia Maliszewska on Day 7 of the Olympic Games

The Polish speed skater crashed out of the quarterfinal with half a lap to go to the finish. Maliszewska chose to play a tactical game to qualify for the A final, as preparations disrupted by isolation and changes in protocol, meant she had missed out on her final preparations in the run-up to the Games. The 26 year old – who was the oldest competitor in her quarterfinal – spent most of the race at the back of the close pack of five racers, waiting to pick her moment to work her way through the field.

She made her first move with relative ease, but as the bell rang for the final lap, a tired Maliszewska had to dig deep to make her next attack. Her best chance to qualify was to take a win or bust approach and get through to the final by the barest of margins. But in the brutal cauldron of short track speed skating, the smallest falter can make the biggest difference, and as Maliszewska’s left leg lost contact with the ice, she spun out.

Despite an appearance in the B final of the women’s 3000m relay, and possibly the women’s 1500m, failure to make it to today’s final effectively ended Maliszewska’s medal hopes at this Olympics. However, whilst the disappointment will still be raw, Natalia Maliszewska has impressed the world by her constant fight and determination to race on the greatest stage.

In the women’s Super-G, Maryna Gąsienica-Daniel returned to the slopes to finish 26^th, 2.3 seconds behind the overall winner. Whilst this wasn’t a result that matched the lofty heights of her performance in the giant slalom, this was still a good run which lacked errors on the course but didn’t have the speed to match.

Also pleased with her performance was biathlete Monika Hojnisz-Staręga who finished 16^th in the women’s 7.5km sprint. The 30 year old – who had not previously broken into the top 30 in this discipline – only made one shooting error in the competition as did her compatriot, Kamila Żuk, whose slower skiing left her in 53^rd. Anna Mąka and Kinga Zbylut lacked the accuracy of their teammates, finishing in 66^th and 69^th, respectively.

Like Hojnisz-Staręga, cross-country skier Dominik Bury will be more than satisfied with his 27^th placed finish in the men’s 15km classic. After a slow start which saw him fall back to 43^rd, Bury slowly began clawing his way back to an eventual top 30 finish. Fellow cross-country skier, Mateusz Haratyk was not able to find similar form finishing 60^th overall.

On the anniversary of Poland’s first ever gold medal at a Winter Olympics, the ensemble of Kamil Stoch, Dawid Kubacki, Piotr Żyła and Paweł Wąsek competed in the ski jumping men’s large hill qualification round. 50 years on from Wojciech Fortuna’s gold medal in the large hill at Sapporo 1972, all four jumpers successfully qualified for Saturday’s main competition.