Colombia at the 2018 Winter Olympics

Colombia competed at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, from 9 to 25 February 2018. The country returned to the Winter Olympics after last competing in 2010, which also marked its debut. The Colombian team consisted of three males and one female, competing in three different sports.[1][2]

Colombia at the 2018 Winter Olympics
Flag of Colombia
IOC code	COL
NOC	Comité Olímpico Colombiano
Website	www.coc.org.co (in Spanish)
in Pyeongchang, South Korea 9–25 February 2018
Competitors	4 in 3 sports
Flag bearer	Pedro Causil (opening)
Medals	Gold 0 Silver 0 Bronze 0 Total 0
Winter Olympics appearances (overview)
2010 2014 2018 2022

Competitors

The following is the list of number of competitors participating in the Colombian delegation per sport.

Sport	Men	Women	Total
Alpine skiing	1	0	1
Cross-country skiing	1	0	1
Speed skating	1	1	2
Total	3	1	4

Alpine skiing

Colombia qualified one male athlete, Michael Poettoz.[3] Poettoz was born in Cali and was adopted by a French family when he was aged 21 months. Poettoz grew up and learned how to ski in Les Carroz d'Araches, France. Poettoz also represented the country at the Winter Youth Olympics in 2016 in Lillehammer, Norway.[4] Poettoz's upbringing is similar to Madagascar's Mialitiana Clerc, who also qualified to compete at the 2018 Games.

Athlete	Event	Run 1		Run 2		Total
		Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Behind	Rank
Michael Poettoz	Men's slalom	57.46	44	1:00.00	37	1:57.46	+18.47	37
	Men's giant slalom	1:21.41	73	DNF

Cross-country skiing

Colombia qualified one male athlete, Sebastián Uprimny.[5] Uprimny was born to Colombian parents in Paris, France.[6][7] Colombia made its Winter Olympics debut in the sport.

Distance

Athlete	Event	Final
		Time	Deficit	Rank
Sebastián Uprimny	Men's 15 km freestyle	58:08.1	+24:24.2	115

Speed skating

Pedro Causil (far left) pictured on the podium after winning a silver medal in the men's 200 metres time-trial roller speed skating event at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto, Canada, represented the country in two speed skating events

Colombia is one of the strongest nations in inline speed skating, as it was the overall champion since 2010 at the World Roller Speed Skating Championships. However the sport is not on the Olympic program. In 2015, the Colombian Federation of Inline Skating was approved by the International Skating Union to become a member in the (ice) speed skating branch, allowing the nation the possibility to qualify for the Winter Olympics.[8] One Colombian male skater won a provisional quota spot in the men's 500 m and 1000 m event.[9][10] Causil was the first speed skater from South America to compete at the Winter Olympics, also marking Colombia's debut in the sport.[11][12][13] Colombia was later reallocated a spot for a female speed skater in the women's mass start. This was because of the reallocation of quotas from Russian athletes.[2]

Individual

Athlete	Event	Race
		Time	Rank
Pedro Causil	Men's 500 m	35.196	20
	Men's 1000 m	1:10.71	34

Mass start

Athlete	Event	Semifinal			Final
		Points	Time	Rank	Points	Time	Rank
Laura Gómez	Women's mass start	0	8:54.99	10	Did not advance

See also

• Colombia at the 2016 Winter Youth Olympics

References

1. Ordóñez Olano, Luis Guillermo (10 January 2018). "Los tres colombianos en los Olímpicos de Invierno" [The three Colombians in the Winter Olympics]. El Espectador (in Spanish). Bogotá, Colombia. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
2. "Laura Gómez, cuarta colombiana clasificada a los Olímpicos de Invierno" [Laura Gómez, fourth Colombian qualified to the Winter Olympics]. El Tiempo (in Spanish). Bogota, Colombia. 25 January 2018. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
3. "Alpine Skiing Quota List for Olympic Games 2018". www.data.fis-ski.com/. International Ski Federation (FIS). 5 December 2017. Archived from the original on 28 July 2017. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
4. "Michael Poettoz – The first ever Colombian at the Winter Youth Olympics!". International Olympic Committee. 4 February 2016. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
5. "Cross-country Skiing Quota List for Olympic Games 2018". www.data.fis-ski.com/. International Ski Federation (FIS). 3 January 2018. Archived from the original on 22 December 2017. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
6. "Sebastián Uprimny, tercer colombiano en los Olímpicos de Invierno" [Sebastián Uprimny, third Colombian in the Winter Olympics]. El Tiempo (in Spanish). Bogota, Colombia. 29 December 2017. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
7. "Sebastián Uprimny representará a Colombia en los Olímpicos de Pyeongchang" [Sebastián Uprimny will represent Colombia at the Olympic Games in Pyeongchang]. W Radio (in Spanish). Bogota, Colombia. 2 January 2017. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
8. Huigen, Freek (16 November 2016). "Colombia skates to winter Olympic opportunity". The Bogota Post. Bogota, Colombia. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
9. "Pedro Causil, el primer patinador colombiano en clasificar Juegos Olímpicos de invierno" [Pedro Causil, the first Colombian skater to classify Olympic Winter Games]. www.semana.com/ (in Spanish). Semana. 13 December 2017. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
10. "Communication No. 2136: XXIII Olympic Winter Games 2018 PyeongChang Entries Speed Skating". www.isu.org/. International Skating Union (ISU). 20 December 2017. Retrieved 26 December 2017.
11. Arana, Javier (11 December 2017). "'Cumplí mi palabra de clasificar a los Olímpicos de Invierno': Causil" ['I fulfilled my word to classify the Winter Olympics': Causil]. El Tiempo (in Spanish). Bogota, Colombia. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
12. "Record number of nations in Olympic Speed Skating". www.isu.org/. International Skating Union (ISU). 22 December 2017. Retrieved 23 December 2017.
13. Morgan, Liam (23 December 2017). "Colombia join record number of nations set to compete in speed skating at Pyeongchang 2018". Insidethegames.biz. Dunsar Media. Retrieved 2 January 2018.