We’ve reported previously how svexa is working with the Polish Ski Association, achieving great results at last year’s World Cup and University Games. Now we’re happy to add that they’ve had an awesome couple of weeks on the Italian snow at the recent Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina. The team were competitive across the board including the 20k Skiathlon, Sprint, 10k Skate Individual Start, 4×7.5k Relay, Sprint Relay and in particular the 50k Mass Start. Each athlete equalled or bested their expected rankings in the majority of events. Highlights included:
- 86% Polish athletes performed at or above their ranking, in 18 of 21 starts
- 14 top 50 finishes, continuing to their strengthen the team’s base level
- Polish men advanced to the Sprint Final for the first time in 20 years, finishing 13th
- Polish women stayed close to the medal competition for much of the Sprint Final, finishing 11th
- Eliza Rucka-Michalek’s 8th place finish in the Mass Start, the team’s best since the 2014 games in Sochi and well above her world ranking of 21
- Dominik Bury’s 12th place finish in the Mass Start, well above his world ranking of 29
The key to their success has following svexa’s ethos of individualization, encouraging each athlete to understand their unique physiological profile and choose the preparation methodology that best fits their needs. On average, the Polish team are a number of years younger than their international competition – indicating a bright potential future as we together target the next Winter Olympics in 2030. Svexa will continue to assist them, not just with individual athlete training but also talent development, coaching knowledge, and international competition prep. We’re immediately moving on to the next event together – the junior- and U23 World Championships started yesterday, and Poland is again well represented.
As svexa’s cross-country skiing lead Olof Hedberg says, “we’ve been working with these fantastic Polish athletes for a couple of years now. It’s great to see each one embrace their individual training to unlock new bests, and we look forward to helping the team continue their rise up the global rankings.” In addition to his work with the Polish Ski Association, Olof also heads our partnership with the Sollefteå Ski Gymnasium.
