Eight With CU Ties Wrap Up Competition At 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics
The 2022 Winter Olympic Games came to a close on Sunday after two weeks of top athletes representing their countries in 15 different sports. Of those 15, the University of Colorado Buffaloes saw themselves being represented in four different sports thanks to eight competitors with ties to the university. Representing five different countries, we take a look at how the current and former Buffs fared in this year’s games.
Joanne Reid
Of the more than 80 athletes that have gone on to represent CU at the Olympics, Joanne Reid remains the only Buff to ever compete in the Biathlon. A three time NCAA Champion, Reid would graduate from the University of Colorado in 2013. Representing the United States in her second Olympic Games, Reid competed in four different events throughout the course of the past two weeks. Finishing 57th, 34th, and 29th in the Individual, Sprint, and Pursuit Biathlon events, Reid’s highest finish would come later in the week when Team USA would take 11th place in the Women’s 4×6 km Relay race.
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Petra Hynicova
A 2018 graduate from the University of Colorado who saw endless amounts of success while skiing for the school from 2015-2018, Hynicova would be making her second Olympic appearance representing the Czech Republic. Competing in six different Cross-Country events this month, Hynicova will look to redeem herself in 2026 after finishing in the top twenty in only two of those. Her lowest finish coming early in the Games where she would place 42nd in the Women’s 10 km Classic, Hynicova would redeem herself two days later, finishing 13th in the Women’s 4×5 km Relay race.
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Alvar Alev
Making his first Olympic appearance for his home country of Estonia, Alev would compete in four events falling under the discipline of Cross-Country Skiing throughout the course of the games. Placing 35th, 33th, and 36th in individual events, Alev would find more success in the team event, where Estonia would place 15th in the Men’s 4×10 km Relay race. Only two seasons removed from an All-American season at CU, Alev was a finalist for the CU Male Sports Performer of the Year in 2019 despite only skiing for the university for two seasons.
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Cassidy Gray
In her first year at CU, Cassidy Gray has already made a name for herself in the NCAA. An All-American and National Champion in only her first season at the university, Gray’s accolades in her short time at CU speak for themselves, earning awards such as the Colorado Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame Collegiate Skier of the Year in 2021. In Beijing, Gray would partake in two Alpine Skiing events. While registering a Did Not Finish (DNF) in the Women’s Giant Slalom, the 21-year-old would finish ninth for Team Canada in the Mixed Team Parallel event.
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Magdalena Luczak
A freshman at CU, Magdalena Luczak would make her Olympic debut for the country of Poland in three different Alpine Skiing events. Placing a DNF on the board in the Women’s Slalom, Luczak would make up for it by finding herself sitting at 26th on the podium in the Women’s Giant Slalom instead. Luczak would also finish 10th in the Mixed Team Parallel event, one spot behind fellow CU teammate Cassidy Gray.
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Weronika Kaleta
Also making her Olympic debut for the country of Poland in this year’s games was current CU sophomore Weronika Kaleta. Participating in two Cross-Country Skiing events, Kaleta would finish 50th in the Women’s Sprint Free event, losing a chance to advance to the finals. Kaleta would find more success in the Women’s 4×5 km Relay, where her team would finish in 14th place on the podium.
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Stacy Gaskill
Apart from fellow USA Snowboarding member Taylor Gold’s fifth place finish, Stacy Gaskill would find the next most success out of the eight athletes who would represent CU at this year’s games in Beijing. Only 21 years old and a current student at the university, Gaskill would make it all the way to the semifinals in the Women’s Snowboard Cross event, where she would place fourth and just miss out on securing a spot in the Finals. Gaskill would then place second, earning herself a seventh place finish in this year’s Olympics.
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Taylor Gold
Of the eight Olympic athletes that held ties to the University of Colorado in the 2022 Winter Olympics, no competitor would find themselves placing higher on the podium than Taylor Gold. Competing in the Men’s Snowboard Halfpipe, the 28-year-old American put up a good enough run in the qualifying round to advance to the finals. Putting up an impressive display of athleticism and craftiness in the finals, Gold landed himself in fifth place, only one spot behind fellow American Shaun White.
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