Husband of 2-time Olympic champion Justyna Kowalczyk killed in avalanche
According to the Polish Mountaineering Support Foundation, the husband of two-time Olympic champion Justyna Kowalczyk has died in an avalanche in the Swiss Alps
FILE – Champion Justyna Kowalczyk of Poland skis in the women’s skiathlon 7.5 km classic and 7.5 km free at the FIS Cross-Country World Cup in Pyeongchang, South Korea, Saturday February 4, 2017. Poland’s mountaineering authorities say that Mountaineer Kacper Tekieli, husband of Polish multiple Olympic and cross-country skiing world champion Justyna Kowalczyk, has died tragically in the Swiss Alps. The body of 38-year-old Tekieli was found under an avalanche on Thursday, May 18, 2021. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man, file)
The Associated Press
Warsaw, Poland — The husband of two-time Olympic champion Justyna Kowalczyk died in an avalanche in the Swiss Alps on Thursday, the Polish Mountaineering Support Foundation said.
38-year-old sport climber Kacper Tekieli last posted on Facebook on Tuesday from the Konkordia Hut in Fiescherthal, Switzerland.
“He was the most beautiful person in the world,” read a post on Kowalczyk’s official Facebook page in Polish, followed by “He was the most beautiful person in the world” in English.
Tekieli was a climbing instructor who climbed Makalu, the fifth highest mountain in the world, and Broad Peak in the Himalayas and the Alps. In 2020 he married Kowalczyk. The couple have a 20-month-old son.
Kowalczyk, a cross-country skier who won gold medals at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics and the 2014 Sochi Games, has retired from competition.
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