Novie McCabe competed in the 4×5 kilometer relay at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics last week.
Mazama’s Novie McCabe made her second appearance in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, skiing in the 4×5-kilometer relay on Friday (Feb. 11). McCabe skied the third leg of the relay, putting her skate skiing technique to the test, and passing admirably according to many observers, both local and international.
McCabe raised eyebrows earlier with her 24th-place finish in the 10K women’s classic ski race, an event that featured 98 participants.
Those eyebrows raised even more with her performance in the relay where she improved her team’s placement from seventh to sixth at the time of the handoff from Rosie Brennan. She recorded a 5K time about 10 seconds faster than anchor Jessie Diggins, a two-time Nordic Olympic medalist.
McCabe’s 5K segment time was 12:59.7, Diggins skied her 5K distance in 13:09.7. The relay starts with two 5K segments of classic style and finishes with two freestyle, or skate, segments.
According to her mother Laura McCabe, Novie has been bumped up from the alternate position to a participating athlete in the 30K freestyle race, scheduled as the last event of the games on Sunday (Feb. 20). It will be McCabe’s third Olympic event in her first Olympics. At the age of 20, she is the youngest member of the U.S. Ski Team’s Olympic delegation in Beijing. The event is currently listed to be televised live on both Peacock and USA Network.
