30-year-old UNM physical therapy doctoral student Jessica Yeaton is set to compete in this year’s Winter Olympics in cross-country skiing for Australia. Yeaton competed in the 2018 Winter Olympics for Australia while balancing her studies at New Mexico’s flagship university.
Yeaton will compete in five events: the 15k skiathlon, the skate sprint, the 10k classic, the team sprint and the 30k skate. The five events will take place over a period of three weeks.
At the 2018 Olympics, Yeaton placed 41st in the 10k freestyle and 12th in the 12k team sprint. Yeaton also placed 50th in the 15k skiathlon, 48th in the sprint classic, and 42nd in the 30k. Yeaton competed in the most events for Australia in the 2018 Winter Olympics.
Leading up to the Winter Olympics, Yeaton requested a leave of absence to train in Switzerland. When the Olympic athlete and UNM doctoral student is not training in the Swiss Alps, she takes full advantage of the Sandias as a training ground.
Yeaton is set to complete her physical program later this year after completing her final three physical therapy rotations.