Medals update: Alexander Bolshunov wins much-wanted Olympic title, gold in skiathlon
The ROC athlete finally claimed top spot in an Olympic cross-country skiing race with compatriot Denis Spitsov winning silver and Finland’s Iivo Niskanen holding on for bronze.
Cross-Country Skiing
Alexander Bolshunov finally claims the Olympic gold medal he’s been dreaming of since winning three silvers and one bronze at his debut Olympic Winter Games at PyeongChang 2018.
The ROC athlete won the Beijing 2022 cross-country skiing 15km + 15km skiathlon on Sunday (6 February) at the Zhangjiakou National Cross-Country Skiing Centre.
"My emotions cannot be expressed. I still have not realised that I am truly an Olympic champion. This last month, I believed in myself a lot and understood that I had to become an Olympic champion and I'm especially happy that I was able to do it here in the first race."
Bolshunov finished in a time of 1:16:09.8 beating his countryman Denis Spitsov into second place (1:17:20.8).
"In the middle of the season, many people told me that I do not believe in myself, that I need to believe in myself," said Spitsov post race. "And on this day I truly believed in myself."
Finland’s Iivo Niskanen held on for bronze (1:18:10.0) after being chased to the podium in the final stages by Norwegian Hans Christer Holund (1:18:40.7) who finished fourth with teammate Paal Golberg in fifth (1:19:02.3).
"It was a really long race," said Niskanen. "My plan was to do the job in the classic part. The pace was high after the first lap all the time and I couldn't hang with the Russians."
After completing a clean sweep of the podium in this event at PyeongChang 2018, the Norwegians don’t have any athletes on the podium this time around.
Norwegian favourite and Bolshunov's great rival Johannes Klaebo finished well down the field in 40th after deciding to save his energy for races to come after realising a medal was out of the question.
Results in men's cross-country skiing 15km + 15km skiathlon
1 BOLSHUNOV Alexander (ROC) 1:16:09.8
2 SPITSOV Denis (ROC) 1:17:20.8
3 NISKANEN Iivo (FIN) 1:18:10.0
For full results click here.
Next cross-country skiing event at Beijing 2022 is the women’s and men’s sprint qualification and medal races on Tuesday (8 February) starting 16:00 Beijing time.