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JU PhD student to compete at Beijing 2022

JU PhD student to compete at Beijing 2022

For the second consecutive time, the academic community of the Jagiellonian University will be represented at the Winter Olympics. Weronika Biela-Nowaczyk, a doctoral student of the JU Faculty of Physics, Astronomy and Applied Computer Science is one of 57 Polish athletes who will soon compete at Beijing 2022.

On 24 January the Polish Olympic Committee approved the list of Polish participants in the Winter Olympic Games. Altogether, 57 athletes and 71 support staff will be sent to Beijing. The Polish squad consists of 30 women and 27 men from 5 different sports associations, who will compete in biathlon, figure skating, speed skating, short track skating, cross country skiing, ski jumping, Nordic combine, alpine skiing, snowboarding, and luge. The event venues will be located in four zones: Beijing, Yanqing, and Zhangjiakou.

Weronika Biela-Nowaczyk will participate in Winter Olympic Games for the second time. During the previous competition, held in 2018 in Pyeongchang, Korea, she took 24th place. The snowboarder, born in Zakopane will depart for Beijing on 26 February together with the main group of Polish participants, who will all take a single charter flight, in order to ensure maximum pandemic safety. In Beijing, the athletes will also have to follow strict safety rules.

“Unfortunately, there will be only one alpine snowboarding event: parallel giant slalom. I will compete on 8 February, along with four other Polish athletes, so the Polish fans are welcome to watch and support us. This discipline is full of surprises. Unlike, for instance, cross country skiing, being in a good shape and well prepared does not ensure a good result here. In snowboarding it is the snow conditions, positioning of poles and… simply luck that also count. I am in a fighting mood, but I don’t have any specific expectations regarding the result”, says the athlete, adding that the upcoming Olympics will be very special for her, as her husband, Michał Nowaczyk, will also compete in snowboarding.  

Weronika Biela-Nowaczyk graduated from the Jagiellonian University in Physics and Applied Mathematics. Currently, she is a doctoral student at the JU Department of Nuclear Physics. Her scientific interests focus on heavy ion physics. She has successfully combined her sports career with PhD studies. Weronika has practiced snowboarding since high school and had earlier tried alpine skiing. In the future, she would like to work as a researcher.

Weronika Biela-Nowaczyk during a World Cup competition in Carezza, Italy / photo: Miha Matavz

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