15 kilometres (Classical), Men

Nobody had really dominated short-distance cross-country events since the retirement of Bjørn Dæhlie, and this event was considered wide-open. The leader at the first checkpoint was Anders Aukland but by the 7.2 km time check, Estonian Andrus Veerpalu had taken the lead. He held that to the end, posting the fastest intermediate splits at all the final checkpoints, and winning a very easy gold medal, 36 seconds ahead of Norway’s Frode Estil. Veerpalu and Estil had also been 1-2 at the 2001 World Championships over 30 km. In this event, Veerpalu had been runner-up at the 1999 Worlds. Veerpalu’s teammate, Jaak Mae, started slowly but had moved to third by 11.5 km checkpoint. His bronze would give Estonia two medals in this event, and Veerpalu was the first Estonian to win a Winter Olympic gold medal. He would return in 2006 to defend his gold medal. Estil would win the 15 km World Championship in 2005.