2026 Olympics: Bátovská Fialková – Mixed Relay Update

The biathlon competitions as part of the Winter Olympics in Italy will start on Sunday in Anterselva with a mixed 4×6 km relay, in which two men and two women will compete in each team. And Slovakia will also have its representation.

In the competition of 21 relays, the Slovaks will start from the fourth row with number 11. In the World Cup, as standard, women start the mixed relay and only after them do the men present themselves.

At the 2026 Olympics, it will be the opposite, first two male representatives will run on the track, followed by two women. The Slovak team should consist of Jakub Borguľa, Šimon Adamov, Anastasia Kuzminová and Paulína Bátovská Fialková.

This quartet took 13th place at the recent World Cup race in Novi Mesto na Morava.

In the current season, the mixed relay also took place in its opening in Östersund, Sweden, and the Slovaks finished there in a solid 10th place. There, the Slovak team consisted of Tomáš Sklenárik, Borguľa and the female duo Bátovská Fialková and Kuzminová.

“I will see which section I will run. However, I have the feeling that it will be the last. I will try to perform as well as possible, but it also depends on what my colleagues will perform before. For me, it will mainly be working out before the individual races,” said Bátovská Fialková for Šport STVR.

The history of Slovak participation in the mixed relay at the Winter Olympics is 12 years old, at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, this discipline took place for the first time.

And Slovakia finished there in a great sixth place. The quartet of competitors consisted of Jana Gereková, Anastasia Kuzminová, Pavol Hurajt and Matej Kazár.

“Germany and Russia from the places ahead of the Slovaks later coincidentally disqualified due to doping problems. So history placed us in an amazing fourth place. The Norwegians and Björndalen also took the gold at that time,” wrote the specialized website Slovak Biathlon.

Aiko Tanaka

Aiko Tanaka is a combat sports journalist and general sports reporter at Archysport. A former competitive judoka who represented Japan at the Asian Games, Aiko brings firsthand athletic experience to her coverage of judo, martial arts, and Olympic sports. Beyond combat sports, Aiko covers breaking sports news, major international events, and the stories that cut across disciplines — from doping scandals to governance issues to the business side of global sport. She is passionate about elevating the profile of underrepresented sports and athletes.

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