50 kilometres (Mass Start, Freestyle), Men1

For the first time in the history of the Winter Games, the race was not held over the full 50 km. Because of icy temperatures and strong winds, the start was pushed back by an hour and the distance shortened to just under 30 km.

Cross-country skier Aleksandr Bolshunov won the “Marathon”, showing his powers of endurance. He underlined his dominance in cross-country skiing at Beijing 2022 and secured the gold in the last men’s cross-country race of the Games, in a time of 1:11:32.0. His compatriot Ivan Yakimushkin finished 5.5 seconds behind his team-mate to take silver, with Norwegian Simen Hegstad Krüger taking the bronze (+7.0 seconds).

Bolshunov claimed his third gold medal of the Games following earlier triumphs in the 15 km + 15 km skiathlon and the 4x10 km relay. For Krüger, it was a remarkable achievement in what his only race at these Olympic. He fell ill with Covid-19 the month before the start of the Games , with his arrival in Beijing delayed due to 10 days in quarantine. Krüger did his best to stay in good condition during isolation by using an exercise bike and walking laps of his hotel room.

The field was close together for a long time, and advances by individual runners were repeatedly thwarted. The pace wasn’t too high owing to the slow snow on the trail, and the athletes had to pace themselves on the demanding course. The first attacks came after about a third of the race. The field spread out for the first time and a group of about 15 runners was able to pull away. Halfway through the race, it was the Russians who dominated, notably with top favorite Bolshunov.

Eight runners tackled the last few km together and waited for the right moment to make the decisive attack. It was Bolshunov, who injected two decisive bursts of acceleration, at six kilometres then 2.6 kilometres from the finish, to leave his rivals trailing.

Johannes Høsflot Klæbo was considered one of the medal candidates on the shortened route. But the Norwegian, who had already won gold twice in Beijing, couldn’t keep up the pace halfway through the race and dropped out after 20 kilometres.