Husband of 2-time Olympic champion Justyna Kowalczyk killed in avalanche

FILE - Winner Justyna Kowalczyk of Poland skis during the ladies skiathlon 7.5 km classic and 7.5 km free event of the FIS Cross Country World Cup in Pyeongchang, South Korea, Saturday, Feb. 4, 2017. Poland's Alpinism authorities say that climber Kacper Tekieli, husband of Justyna Kowalczyk, Polish multiple Olympic and World champion in cross-country skiing, has died tragically in Swiss Alps. The body of 38-year-old Tekieli was found Thursday, May 18, 2021 under an avalanche. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man, File)

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WARSAW, Poland (AP) — The husband of two-time Olympic champion Justyna Kowalczyk was killed Thursday in an avalanche in the Swiss Alps, the Polish Mountaineering Support Foundation said.

Sports climber Kacper Tekieli, who was 38, last posted on Facebook on Tuesday from Konkordia Hut in Fiescherthal, Switzerland.

“He was most wonderful,” a post on Kowalczyk’s official Facebook page said in Polish, followed by “He was the most beautiful person in the world” in English.

Tekieli was a climbing instructor who climbed in the Himalayas on the Makalu, the fifth highest mountain in the world, and on Broad Peak, as well as in the Alps. He married Kowalczyk in 2020. The couple have a 20-month-old son.

Kowalczyk, a cross-country skier who won gold medals at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and the 2014 Sochi Games, has retired from competition.

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