Izabela Marcisz and Monika Skinder were the stars of Day 12, as they put their rumoured differences behind them, finishing 9th in the women’s team classic sprint

The cross-country skiers finished their semi-final in 6^th place, and qualified to the final as “lucky losers”. Two hours later, and they were back on the snow finishing the final in 9^th position. Whilst they were over a minute and 38 seconds behind the winners, these were encouraging signs from the Polish representatives.

After the semi-final, Marcisz and Skinder were seen together in good spirits, helping the other with their equipment. This will come as positive news following reports of a rift in the camp between two stars, with the prospect of them not competing together in this event a real possibility.

Poland’s best finish in the women’s team pursuit was 7^th in PyeongChang 2018. The duo on that occasion included double Olympic and world champion Justyna Kowalczyk-Tekieli. With these two current competitors both in their early twenties, many will be excited about the prospect these athletes have at future Games.

Whilst the women will be excited by the future, their male counterparts will be scratching their heads with their result in the men’s team classic sprint. Maciej Staręga and Kamil Bury finished 8^th in their semi-final, ranking them 15^th overall. Staręga – who is seen as a sprint specialist – did get the duo as high as 5^th, but the two of them couldn’t keep up with the pace of the race, which required the skiers to complete three laps each of the 1.4km course, alternating their turns.

If Jason and Laura Kenny are known as Team GB’s Olympic power couple, then Poland’s candidates for the title would be Maciej Staręga and Monika Hojnisz-Staręga. Monika – wife of Maciej – led the team of Anna Mąka, Kinga Zbylut and Kamila Żuk in the women’s 4 x 6km relay. The biathletes were left ruing their wayward shooting, amassing 11 faults between them despite Mąka’s perfect score, finishing 14th.

Whilst Hojnisz-Staręga still has another opportunity for a medal in the women’s 12.5km mass start on Saturday, short track speed skaters Kamila Stormowska and Natalia Maliszewska bowed out of Beijing 2022 in the quarterfinals of the women’s 1500m.

Stormowska finished her quarterfinal in 4^th, less than 0.3 seconds from automatic qualification, whilst Maliszewska crossed the line in 5^th. Whilst disappointing, these results were not a surprise given Polish team favour the shorter distances, and have simply done well to compete despite their disrupted preparation upon arriving in Beijing.

Disrupted would be a good word to describe the performances of Paweł Pyjas and Michał Jasiczek in the men’s slalom. Pyjas failed to complete the first run, whilst Jasiczek successfully skied down the course 30^th fastest – over three seconds behind the leader. The 27 year old has been unable to successfully complete an Olympic competition since Sochi 2014, and it was downhill once again for the alpine skier, as he pushed too hard and missed a gate on the course, disqualifying him once again.