Piotr Michalski fell agonisingly short of a podium finish, once again, in the men’s 1000m finishing 4^th by 0.08 seconds on Day 14 of Beijing 2022

The speed skater had led from early in the competition, having been one of the first competitors to race the distance, and was left with the task of helplessly watching as the other competitors attempted to beat his time of 1:08.56.The 1000m is raced amongst 30 competitors racing a time trial in pairings of 1 v 1. All the times from the run are ranked to determine the final standings.

Michalski led up until the 13^th pairing, where he was pushed back two places. Having held his position for the following pairing, he awaited the final race knowing that, at worse, he would be finishing in 5^th place. However, the 27 year old faced a repeat of his appearance in the 500m earlier this week (where he lost by 0.03 seconds), missing out on a medal by the barest of margins yet again.

Whilst Michalski’s performances twice stoked realistic hopes of a medal which didn’t materialise, this should not be seen as a disappointment. The current 500m European Champion held aspirations arriving at these Games of breaking into the top 10, and whilst he was happy to have achieved that, in an interview with Eurosport.pl, he showed his bittersweet emotions his result.

“Who would have expected this! Another occasion where a few hundredths of a second have escaped, but the final place is a little higher. I don’t know what to say.” However Michalski was able to add, “I am among the 4^th best in the world. At the beginning of the season, I never thought I would be saying that!”

Following his heroics, the Polish Olympic Team announced that Michalski would be the flagbearer at the closing ceremony. Poland’s Chef de Mission, Konrad Niedzwiedzki, called the decision “deserved”.

Meanwhile, compatriot Damian Żurek achieved an impressive 13^th place. The 22-year old, who’s arrival to Beijing was delayed due to contracting Covid-19, showed great maturity at his debut Games and looks to build on a promising future for Polish male speed skating.

Across Beijing, to the Zhangjiakou region, in the biathlon the women’s 12.5km mass start was starting a day earlier than planned, due to a poor forecast for Saturday. Despite the adjustment, the conditions were still difficult as temperatures sat at a freezing -13°C. Monika Hojnisz-Staręga was Poland’s only representative in this event, and was hoping to challenge for a medal after a promising 4^th place in the 2020 World Championships.

Those hopes were blown away, not just by the 11mph winds, but with wayward shooting on all four rounds, leaving the 30 year old in 27^th place out of the 30 competitors. This will have deeply affected Hojnisz-Staręga who after the race, did not make herself available for any interviews.