10 kilometres, Classical, Men
| Date | 12 February 1998 — 9:00 |
|---|---|
| Status | Olympic |
| Location | Snow Harp, Hakuba |
| Participants | 97 from 35 countries |
| Venue details | Course Length: ? Height Differential: 100 m Intermediate 1: 1.8 km Intermediate 2: 6.5 km Maximum Climb: 67 m Total Climbing: 419 m |
Bjørn Dæhlie was the defending champion, had won the 1997 World Championship at this distance, and had won the 1996-97 sprint World Cup. Already with eight Olympic medals and five golds, to describe him as the favorite was an understatement. The race was held in a steady rain, which made conditions difficult for the skiers. But the Norwegian waxers set up five pairs of skis for Dæhlie who tested them shortly before starting and then chose the best pair.
Dæhlie started fast and had the lead at both of the time checks, with Kazakhstan’s Vladimir Smirnov in second at 6.5 km. Both slowed down in the final kilometers but Dæhlie had done enough to stay ahead, and won the gold medal by eight seconds. The silver medal went to the surprising Austrian Markus Gandler. Gandler had been skiing internationally since the late 1980s but had won little. He started slowly in this race, but had the fastest finishing split from 6.5 km to the line to place second.
This race also saw the appearance of the first black African in cross-country skiing, Philip Boit of Kenya. Boit was last of the 92 finishers, almost eight minutes behind 91st place, Gjoko Dineski of Macedonia. But when he finished, waiting at the line for his arrival was Bjørn Dæhlie, who embraced him after his finish. After 1998 this race was not held at the 2002 or 2006 Winter Olympics, replaced by the 15 km.
| Pos | Nr | Skier | NOC | Time | Int 1 (Pos) | Int 2 (Pos) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 45 | Bjørn Dæhlie |  NOR | 27:24.5 | 4:40.1 (1) | 16:59.4 (1) | Gold | ||
| 2 | 53 | Markus Gandler |  AUT | 27:32.5 | 4:56.2 (8) | 17:26.3 (3) | Silver | ||
| 3 | 39 | Mika Myllylä |  FIN | 27:40.1 | 4:47.4 (3) | 17:28.0 (5) | Bronze | ||
| 4 | 47 | Vladimir Smirnov |  KAZ | 27:45.1 | 4:47.5 (4) | 17:24.5 (2) | |||
| 5 | 43 | Thomas Alsgaard | NOR | 27:48.1 | 4:46.4 (2) | 17:27.3 (4) | |||
| 6 | 56 | Jaak Mae |  EST | 27:56.0 | 4:59.8 (=19) | 17:46.2 (10) | |||
| 7 | 33 | Erling Jevne | NOR | 27:58.7 | 5:01.0 (27) | 17:40.5 (7) | |||
| 8 | 57 | Andrus Veerpalu | EST | 28:00.7 | 4:56.5 (10) | 17:43.2 (9) | |||
| 9 | 38 | Sture Sivertsen | NOR | 28:10.6 | 5:05.8 (=41) | 17:55.7 (13) | |||
| 10 | 46 | Silvio Fauner |  ITA | 28:15.5 | 5:00.3 (23) | 17:56.0 (14) | |||
| 11 | 37 | Fulvio Valbusa | ITA | 28:17.0 | 5:03.5 (33) | 17:51.9 (12) | |||
| 12 | 41 | Alois Stadlober | AUT | 28:21.2 | 5:05.5 (38) | 17:47.1 (11) | |||
| 13 | 67 | Harri Kirvesniemi | FIN | 28:22.5 | 4:53.6 (6) | 17:41.0 (8) | |||
| 14 | 82 | Gerhard Urain | AUT | 28:25.2 | 4:56.3 (9) | 17:36.9 (6) | |||
| 15 | 36 | Jari Isometsä | FIN | 28:36.7 | 5:03.3 (32) | 18:05.3 (19) | |||
| 16 | 24 | Andreas Schlütter |  GER | 28:48.0 | 4:58.5 (14) | 18:24.2 (=26) | |||
| 17 | 59 | Beat Koch |  SUI | 28:49.6 | 5:00.8 (26) | 18:04.6 (18) | |||
| 18 | 92 | Sami Repo | FIN | 28:51.3 | 4:59.5 (17) | 18:00.8 (16) | |||
| 19 | 85 | Hiroyuki Imai |  JPN | 28:51.5 | 5:00.5 (25) | 17:59.3 (15) | |||
| =20 | 54 | Patrick Remy |  FRA | 28:55.2 | 4:58.1 (=12) | 18:22.6 (25) | |||
| =20 | 55 | Markus Hasler |  LIE | 28:55.2 | 4:57.2 (11) | 18:12.7 (21) | |||
| 22 | 66 | Sergey Chepikov |  RUS | 28:55.9 | 5:05.8 (=41) | 18:16.2 (23) | |||
| 23 | 30 | Achim Walcher | AUT | 28:58.6 | 5:04.5 (36) | 18:25.0 (29) | |||
| 24 | 11 | Vincent Vittoz | FRA | 29:03.5 | 4:54.8 (7) | 18:04.3 (17) | |||
| 25 | 31 | Niklas Jonsson |  SWE | 29:04.9 | 5:03.0 (31) | 18:31.6 (34) | |||
| 26 | 20 | Marco Albarello | ITA | 29:10.1 | 4:59.2 (16) | 18:24.9 (28) | |||
| 27 | 35 | Johann Mühlegg | GER | 29:12.3 | 5:05.6 (=39) | 18:30.7 (32) | |||
| 28 | 44 | Fabio Maj | ITA | 29:13.8 | 4:59.8 (=19) | 18:26.0 (30) | |||
| 29 | 28 | Masaaki Kozu | JPN | 29:23.1 | 5:02.7 (30) | 18:31.1 (33) | |||
| 30 | 15 | Ričardas Panavas |  LTU | 29:24.1 | 5:03.9 (34) | 18:37.9 (37) | |||
| 31 | 40 | Aleksey Prokurorov | RUS | 29:27.3 | 5:04.0 (35) | 18:43.6 (41) | |||
| 32 | 93 | Petr Michl |  CZE | 29:28.5 | 5:01.3 (28) | 18:34.3 (35) | |||
| 33 | 61 | Juan Jesús Gutiérrez |  ESP | 29:29.0 | 5:00.1 (22) | 18:29.1 (31) | |||
| 34 | 71 | Katsuhito Ebisawa | JPN | 29:30.0 | 4:52.8 (5) | 18:10.4 (20) | |||
| 35 | 64 | Martin Koukal | CZE | 29:41.8 | 5:05.4 (37) | 18:35.6 (36) | |||
| 36 | 49 | Mitsuo Horigome | JPN | 29:44.8 | 5:10.6 (50) | 19:01.0 (46) | |||
| 37 | 76 | Raul Olle | EST | 29:52.3 | 4:59.8 (=19) | 18:40.1 (39) | |||
| 38 | 77 | René Sommerfeldt | GER | 29:52.5 | 4:58.1 (=12) | 18:14.6 (22) | |||
| 39 | 73 | Aliaksandr Sannikou |  BLR | 29:54.7 | 5:08.5 (47) | 18:24.2 (=26) | |||
| 40 | 74 | Jochen Behle | GER | 29:55.9 | 5:00.4 (24) | 18:18.1 (24) | |||
| 41 | 69 | John Bauer |  USA | 29:58.4 | 5:11.5 (53) | 18:39.2 (38) | |||
| 42 | 78 | Sergey Kryanin | RUS | 30:03.2 | 5:06.7 (43) | 18:49.6 (43) | |||
| 43 | 81 | Patrick Weaver | USA | 30:04.4 | 5:13.5 (56) | 18:46.9 (42) | |||
| 44 | 65 | Vladislavas Zybaila | LTU | 30:09.9 | 5:01.8 (29) | 18:41.4 (40) | |||
| 45 | 25 | Lukáš Bauer | CZE | 30:11.1 | 5:07.4 (44) | 19:11.3 (47) | |||
| 46 | 7 | Michael Binzer |  DEN | 30:14.2 | 5:26.9 (78) | 18:52.3 (44) | |||
| 47 | 1 | Justin Wadsworth | USA | 30:26.3 | 5:20.6 (70) | 19:43.9 (60) | |||
| 48 | 50 | Robin McKeever |  CAN | 30:32.2 | 5:05.6 (=39) | 19:14.5 (48) | |||
| 49 | 14 | Jeremias Wigger | SUI | 30:33.4 | 5:21.1 (=72) | 19:27.9 (=51) | |||
| 50 | 68 | Pavel Ryabinin | KAZ | 30:37.0 | 5:11.2 (52) | 19:32.7 (55) | |||
| 51 | 70 | Chris Blanchard | CAN | 30:37.1 | 5:16.9 (60) | 18:57.5 (45) | |||
| 52 | 32 | Luboš Buchta | CZE | 30:38.4 | 5:23.5 (75) | 19:28.7 (53) | |||
| 53 | 13 | Park Byung-Chul |  KOR | 30:42.1 | 5:20.2 (66) | 19:36.9 (56) | |||
| 54 | 58 | Jordi Ribó | ESP | 30:45.0 | 4:58.9 (15) | 19:41.5 (58) | |||
| 55 | 87 | Mykola Popovych |  UKR | 30:51.2 | 5:20.4 (=67) | 19:26.4 (50) | |||
| 56 | 34 | Henrik Forsberg | SWE | 30:55.7 | 5:20.4 (=67) | 19:51.7 (=62) | |||
| 57 | 12 | Stephan Kunz | LIE | 30:56.8 | 5:21.1 (=72) | 19:57.8 (65) | |||
| 58 | 9 | Elmo Kassin | EST | 30:57.8 | 5:17.7 (61) | 19:27.9 (=51) | |||
| 59 | 83 | Philippe Sanchez | FRA | 31:03.5 | 5:13.0 (55) | 19:32.2 (54) | |||
| =60 | 22 | Hennadiy Nikon | UKR | 31:07.6 | 5:14.6 (57) | 19:50.1 (61) | |||
| =60 | 48 | Ivan Bátory |  SVK | 31:07.6 | 5:12.8 (54) | 19:38.8 (57) | |||
| 62 | 17 | Vladimir Legotin | RUS | 31:10.3 | 5:18.1 (62) | 19:58.9 (67) | |||
| 63 | 3 | Wilhelm Aschwanden | SUI | 31:10.5 | 5:23.3 (74) | 20:14.0 (73) | |||
| 64 | 8 | Stanislav Ježík | SVK | 31:11.2 | 5:18.8 (64) | 19:51.7 (=62) | |||
| 65 | 51 | Jānis Hermanis |  LAT | 31:12.1 | 4:59.6 (18) | 19:17.6 (49) | |||
| 66 | 4 | Anthony Evans |  AUS | 31:12.7 | 5:19.3 (65) | 19:43.2 (59) | |||
| 67 | 60 | Martin Bajčičák | SVK | 31:29.0 | 5:15.1 (58) | 19:57.3 (64) | |||
| 68 | 10 | Andrey Nevzorov | KAZ | 31:30.4 | 5:20.7 (71) | 19:58.6 (66) | |||
| 69 | 16 | Zsolt Antal |  ROU | 31:41.0 | 5:36.3 (86) | 20:32.0 (78) | |||
| 70 | 19 | Aliaksei Trehurou | BLR | 31:43.9 | 5:11.0 (51) | 20:15.7 (74) | |||
| 71 | 18 | Guido Visser | CAN | 31:50.8 | 5:30.4 (=81) | 20:17.9 (75) | |||
| 72 | 29 | Mykhailo Artiukhov | UKR | 31:52.8 | 5:16.5 (59) | 20:24.5 (76) | |||
| 73 | 89 | Mikalai Semeniako | BLR | 31:54.5 | 5:07.5 (45) | 20:07.9 (71) | |||
| 74 | 63 | Ahn Jin-Soo | KOR | 31:55.5 | 5:18.7 (63) | 20:02.3 (68) | |||
| 75 | 75 | Yves Bilodeau | CAN | 31:56.9 | 5:24.9 (76) | 20:04.0 (69) | |||
| 76 | 62 | Janusz Krężelok |  POL | 32:02.8 | 5:27.4 (79) | 20:10.5 (72) | |||
| 77 | 90 | Juris Ģērmanis | LAT | 32:05.8 | 5:08.1 (46) | 20:05.5 (70) | |||
| 78 | 2 | Marcus Nash | USA | 32:11.9 | 5:32.9 (84) | 20:50.0 (81) | |||
| 79 | 88 | Park Byeong-Ju | KOR | 32:46.1 | 5:20.5 (69) | 20:45.2 (80) | |||
| 80 | 91 | Vitaly Lilichenko | KAZ | 32:54.5 | 5:08.8 (48) | 20:28.1 (77) | |||
| 81 | 52 | Wu Jintao |  CHN | 32:57.7 | 5:55.3 (89) | 21:20.0 (84) | |||
| 82 | 79 | Álvaro Gijón | ESP | 33:02.7 | 5:30.4 (=81) | 20:37.3 (79) | |||
| 83 | 26 | Roberts Raimo | LAT | 33:09.9 | 5:41.3 (88) | 21:13.3 (83) | |||
| 84 | 5 | Slavcho Batinkov |  BUL | 33:23.2 | 5:30.5 (83) | 21:24.0 (85) | |||
| 85 | 86 | Ivan Hudač | SVK | 33:41.9 | 5:09.3 (49) | 21:04.0 (82) | |||
| 86 | 95 | Lefteris Fafalis |  GRE | 34:13.7 | 5:25.1 (77) | 21:28.6 (86) | |||
| 87 | 21 | Diego Ruiz | ESP | 34:17.3 | 5:35.1 (85) | 22:03.6 (88) | |||
| 88 | 80 | Paul Gray | AUS | 34:45.1 | 5:38.0 (87) | 21:34.0 (87) | |||
| 89 | 96 | Balázs Latrompette Yann |  HUN | 35:30.9 | 5:28.4 (80) | 22:35.4 (89) | |||
| 90 | 98 | Dashzevegiin Ochirsükh |  MGL | 39:38.6 | 6:46.5 (91) | 25:15.4 (90) | |||
| 91 | 94 | Gjoko Dineski |  MKD | 39:39.3 | 6:13.2 (90) | 25:18.0 (91) | |||
| 92 | 97 | Philip Boit |  KEN | 47:25.5 | 6:50.5 (92) | 29:19.4 (92) | |||
| AC | 6 | Antonio Rački |  CRO | – | – (–) | – (–) | |||
| AC | 23 | Qu Donghai | CHN | – | – (–) | – (–) | |||
| AC | 27 | Siarhei Dalidovich | BLR | – | – (–) | – (–) | |||
| AC | 72 | Oleksandr Zarovnyi | UKR | – | – (–) | – (–) | |||
| AC | 84 | Patrick Mächler | SUI | – | – (–) | – (–) | |||
| DNS | 42 | Torgny Mogren | SWE | – | – (–) | – (–) |