| | Event type
50 kilometres Mass Start, Freestyle, Men
| Date | 26 February 2006 — 10:00 |
|---|---|
| Status | Olympic |
| Location | Stadio del Trampolino, Pragelato Plan |
| Participants | 79 from 31 countries |
| Venue details | Course Length: 50,000 m Height Differential: 76 m Intermediate 1: 10.0 km Intermediate 2: 26.6 km Intermediate 3: 40.0 km Maximum Climb: 54 m Total Climbing: 1,810 m |
This event was run in freestyle and was a mass start for the first time in Olympic history. Conditions were perfect with a sunny day, and a temperature of 3° C. (37° F.). There was no clear favorite. The race was extremely close. At the final checkpoint, at 40.0 km, less than eight seconds separated the top 21 skiiers, and that 21st skier was Yevgeny Dementyev, who had earlier won the pursuit gold medal in Torino. Dementyev moved to the lead over the last 10 km, but he was caught at the line by Italian Giorgio Di Centa, who won the marathon by 0.8 seconds, the closest finish in the event at the Winter Olympics. The previous closest finish had been 8.1 seconds in 1998 when Bjørn Dæhlie defeated Niklas Jonsson. Di Centa was the younger brother of Manuela Di Centa, Italian cross-country skier who won seven Olympic medals. This was Giorgio Di Centa’s only major win in the men’s longest distance race.
| Pos | Nr | Skier | NOC | Time | Int 1 (Pos) | Int 2 (Pos) | Int 3 (Pos) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10 | Giorgio Di Centa |  ITA | 2-06:11.8 | 24:02.3 (1) | 1-05:28.0 (5) | 1-40:53.9 (4) | Gold | ||
| 2 | 18 | Yevgeny Dementyev |  RUS | 2-06:12.6 | 24:35.3 (55) | 1-05:37.6 (48) | 1-41:00.0 (21) | Silver | ||
| 3 | 17 | Mikhail Botvinov |  AUT | 2-06:12.7 | 24:16.1 (29) | 1-05:26.5 (2) | 1-40:55.3 (9) | Bronze | ||
| 4 | 12 | Emmanuel Jonnier |  FRA | 2-06:13.5 | 24:05.7 (8) | 1-05:34.0 (28) | 1-40:57.1 (15) | |||
| 5 | 3 | Pietro Piller Cottrer | ITA | 2-06:14.0 | 24:08.9 (15) | 1-05:30.7 (10) | 1-40:53.4 (3) | |||
| 6 | 8 | Anders Södergren |  SWE | 2-06:14.1 | 24:03.3 (3) | 1-05:33.3 (22) | 1-40:52.9 (2) | |||
| 7 | 27 | Martin Koukal |  CZE | 2-06:14.9 | 24:23.4 (38) | 1-05:35.2 (=34) | 1-40:55.7 (10) | |||
| 8 | 14 | Jiří Magál | CZE | 2-06:15.1 | 24:19.5 (34) | 1-05:28.9 (7) | 1-40:56.8 (=13) | |||
| 9 | 2 | Vincent Vittoz | FRA | 2-06:16.4 | 24:02.9 (2) | 1-05:32.2 (15) | 1-40:54.3 (5) | |||
| 10 | 6 | Mathias Fredriksson | SWE | 2-06:17.1 | 24:06.7 (10) | 1-05:33.9 (=26) | 1-40:57.4 (16) | |||
| 11 | 30 | Jean-Marc Gaillard | FRA | 2-06:19.9 | 24:04.2 (5) | 1-05:33.6 (25) | 1-40:54.6 (6) | |||
| 12 | 21 | Sergey Dolidovich |  BLR | 2-06:22.4 | 24:15.4 (28) | 1-05:33.0 (=19) | 1-40:52.4 (1) | |||
| 13 | 37 | Maksim Odnodvortsev |  KAZ | 2-06:23.4 | 24:20.7 (36) | 1-05:34.5 (32) | 1-40:56.8 (=13) | |||
| 14 | 16 | Martin Bajčičák |  SVK | 2-06:24.9 | 24:04.7 (6) | 1-05:32.7 (17) | 1-40:57.9 (17) | |||
| 15 | 23 | Tord Asle Gjerdalen |  NOR | 2-06:26.2 | 24:34.2 (53) | 1-05:29.6 (8) | 1-41:07.3 (28) | |||
| 16 | 7 | Lukáš Bauer | CZE | 2-06:29.0 | 24:13.5 (24) | 1-05:31.2 (11) | 1-40:56.0 (11) | |||
| 17 | 9 | Jens Filbrich |  GER | 2-06:31.1 | 24:07.0 (11) | 1-05:27.4 (4) | 1-40:54.8 (7) | |||
| 18 | 25 | Nikolay Pankratov | RUS | 2-06:33.9 | 24:36.5 (57) | 1-05:37.3 (46) | 1-41:14.5 (36) | |||
| 19 | 15 | Fabio Santus | ITA | 2-06:38.2 | 24:20.0 (35) | 1-05:33.0 (=19) | 1-40:58.9 (19) | |||
| 20 | 33 | Aleksandr Legkov | RUS | 2-06:39.7 | 24:09.6 (17) | 1-05:33.5 (=23) | 1-40:59.5 (20) | |||
| 21 | 38 | Remo Fischer |  SUI | 2-06:40.9 | 24:11.4 (21) | 1-05:33.5 (=23) | 1-41:05.7 (26) | |||
| 22 | 49 | Juan Jesús Gutiérrez |  ESP | 2-06:43.3 | 24:06.2 (9) | 1-05:34.3 (29) | 1-40:58.6 (18) | |||
| 23 | 39 | Diego Ruiz | ESP | 2-06:51.6 | 24:23.8 (39) | 1-05:36.5 (42) | 1-41:12.7 (33) | |||
| 24 | 1 | Tobias Angerer | GER | 2-07:00.3 | 24:08.4 (14) | 1-05:32.6 (16) | 1-41:00.7 (22) | |||
| 25 | 24 | Johan Olsson | SWE | 2-07:00.9 | 24:25.2 (41) | 1-05:32.8 (18) | 1-40:56.4 (12) | |||
| 26 | 13 | Alexandre Rousselet | FRA | 2-07:01.5 | 24:09.4 (16) | 1-05:36.3 (41) | 1-41:12.4 (31) | |||
| 27 | 34 | Milan Šperl | CZE | 2-07:01.9 | 24:14.6 (27) | 1-05:31.7 (12) | 1-41:03.6 (23) | |||
| 28 | 4 | Frode Estil | NOR | 2-07:06.1 | 24:05.3 (7) | 1-05:36.9 (44) | 1-41:14.0 (35) | |||
| 29 | 51 | Andrey Golovko | KAZ | 2-07:19.6 | 24:14.2 (26) | 1-05:37.5 (47) | 1-41:06.7 (27) | |||
| 30 | 20 | Fulvio Valbusa | ITA | 2-07:22.5 | 24:08.0 (13) | 1-05:27.0 (3) | 1-41:04.4 (24) | |||
| 31 | 55 | Nejc Brodar |  SLO | 2-07:24.5 | 24:32.2 (50) | 1-05:34.4 (=30) | 1-41:12.5 (32) | |||
| 32 | 32 | Toni Livers | SUI | 2-07:25.4 | 24:14.1 (25) | 1-05:35.5 (36) | 1-41:24.1 (40) | |||
| 33 | 11 | Tor-Arne Hetland | NOR | 2-07:36.2 | 24:10.5 (19) | 1-05:30.1 (9) | 1-41:11.9 (30) | |||
| 34 | 46 | Andrew Johnson |  USA | 2-07:56.3 | 24:16.8 (30) | 1-05:35.7 (37) | 1-41:15.7 (37) | |||
| 35 | 52 | Aivar Rehemaa |  EST | 2-08:00.8 | 24:19.0 (33) | 1-05:33.1 (21) | 1-41:05.4 (25) | |||
| 36 | 5 | René Sommerfeldt | GER | 2-08:03.0 | 24:03.7 (4) | 1-05:28.6 (6) | 1-40:55.0 (8) | |||
| 37 | 82 | Denis Krivushkin | KAZ | 2-08:05.3 | 24:31.9 (49) | 1-05:39.2 (53) | 1-41:34.5 (42) | |||
| 38 | 22 | Ivan Babikov | RUS | 2-08:07.9 | 24:10.0 (18) | 1-05:36.7 (43) | 1-41:29.5 (41) | |||
| 39 | 19 | Markus Hasler |  LIE | 2-08:29.0 | 24:25.7 (42) | 1-05:35.2 (=34) | 1-41:11.6 (29) | |||
| 40 | 53 | Aleksandr Lazutkin | BLR | 2-08:40.4 | 24:18.0 (32) | 1-05:38.5 (51) | 1-41:36.0 (45) | |||
| 41 | 29 | Jan Egil Andresen | NOR | 2-08:43.7 | 24:11.0 (20) | 1-05:32.0 (13) | 1-41:23.6 (39) | |||
| 42 | 48 | Vicenç Vilarrubla | ESP | 2-09:03.1 | 24:34.8 (54) | 1-05:33.9 (=26) | 1-41:36.5 (46) | |||
| 43 | 28 | Teemu Kattilakoski |  FIN | 2-09:26.2 | 24:27.1 (45) | 1-05:34.4 (=30) | 1-41:13.5 (34) | |||
| 44 | 45 | George Grey |  CAN | 2-09:38.4 | 24:07.4 (12) | 1-05:35.8 (38) | 1-41:49.3 (48) | |||
| 45 | 59 | Michal Malák | SVK | 2-09:38.7 | 24:37.5 (59) | 1-05:38.2 (50) | 1-41:50.6 (50) | |||
| 46 | 62 | Zsolt Antal |  ROU | 2-10:06.7 | 24:17.3 (31) | 1-05:04.1 (1) | 1-41:50.0 (49) | |||
| 47 | 40 | Ivan Bátory | SVK | 2-10:32.2 | 24:13.0 (23) | 1-05:32.1 (14) | 1-41:35.0 (43) | |||
| 48 | 60 | Li Geliang |  CHN | 2-10:36.9 | 24:38.1 (60) | 1-05:38.7 (52) | 1-41:48.4 (47) | |||
| 49 | 31 | Katsuhito Ebisawa |  JPN | 2-10:39.6 | 24:26.6 (44) | 1-05:36.2 (40) | 1-41:35.4 (44) | |||
| 50 | 43 | Christian Stebler | SUI | 2-11:13.0 | 24:11.9 (22) | 1-05:37.9 (49) | 1-41:17.2 (38) | |||
| 51 | 35 | Jörgen Brink | SWE | 2-11:19.2 | 24:41.6 (64) | 1-06:57.0 (59) | 1-43:52.6 (54) | |||
| 52 | 44 | Olli Ohtonen | FIN | 2-11:54.7 | 24:27.5 (46) | 1-05:36.0 (39) | 1-42:16.2 (52) | |||
| 53 | 66 | Zhang Qing | CHN | 2-12:13.0 | 24:40.4 (62) | 1-05:37.0 (45) | 1-42:11.8 (51) | |||
| 54 | 65 | Andrey Kondryshev | KAZ | 2-13:24.2 | 24:33.6 (52) | 1-06:57.5 (60) | 1-44:10.4 (55) | |||
| 55 | 58 | Jože Mehle | SLO | 2-13:37.1 | 24:26.1 (43) | 1-06:20.8 (55) | 1-44:56.0 (58) | |||
| 56 | 56 | Mykhailo Humeniak |  UKR | 2-13:44.6 | 24:37.1 (58) | 1-06:58.6 (62) | 1-44:56.6 (59) | |||
| 57 | 47 | Dan Roycroft | CAN | 2-13:47.5 | 24:30.4 (47) | 1-06:56.6 (58) | 1-44:55.4 (57) | |||
| 58 | 57 | Chris Jeffries | CAN | 2-13:49.5 | 24:38.5 (61) | 1-06:00.6 (54) | 1-44:46.4 (56) | |||
| 59 | 36 | Shunsuke Komamura | JPN | 2-14:08.8 | 24:32.7 (51) | 1-05:34.9 (33) | 1-42:34.2 (53) | |||
| 60 | 68 | Oļegs Maļuhins |  LAT | 2-15:10.6 | 24:36.0 (56) | 1-06:58.0 (61) | 1-44:57.2 (60) | |||
| 61 | 26 | Kris Freeman | USA | 2-15:32.6 | 24:24.6 (40) | 1-06:24.7 (57) | 1-45:19.0 (61) | |||
| 62 | 67 | Volodymyr Olshanskiy | UKR | 2-16:14.7 | 24:56.4 (65) | 1-07:57.7 (63) | 1-46:50.9 (62) | |||
| 63 | 69 | Ren Long | CHN | 2-16:15.0 | 24:41.0 (63) | 1-07:58.6 (65) | 1-46:51.5 (63) | |||
| AC | 41 | Carl Swenson | USA | – | 24:30.8 (48) | 1-06:24.2 (56) | 1-47:19.9 (64) | |||
| AC | 50 | Nobu Naruse | JPN | – | 25:00.4 (66) | 1-07:58.0 (64) | 1-47:40.8 (65) | |||
| AC | 76 | Aleksandar Milenković |  SCG | – | 25:22.5 (69) | 1-10:15.4 (70) | 1-50:19.6 (66) | |||
| AC | 74 | Valts Eiduks | LAT | – | 25:30.6 (71) | 1-10:14.2 (68) | 1-50:20.6 (67) | |||
| AC | 73 | Francesc Soulié |  AND | – | 25:22.0 (68) | 1-10:14.8 (69) | 1-50:39.2 (68) | |||
| AC | 61 | Oleksandr Putsko | UKR | – | 25:21.4 (67) | 1-10:13.7 (67) | 1-51:51.5 (69) | |||
| AC | 54 | James Southam | USA | – | 24:22.6 (37) | 1-07:59.5 (66) | – (–) | |||
| AC | 71 | Sabahattin Oğlago |  TUR | – | 25:30.0 (70) | 1-10:37.5 (71) | – (–) | |||
| AC | 75 | Intars Spalviņš | LAT | – | 26:09.5 (73) | 1-12:16.6 (72) | – (–) | |||
| AC | 64 | Aleksejus Novoselskis |  LTU | – | 26:15.0 (74) | 1-13:45.4 (73) | – (–) | |||
| AC | 79 | Oliver Kraas |  RSA | – | 26:57.9 (75) | 1-14:48.0 (74) | – (–) | |||
| AC | 63 | Xia Wan | CHN | – | 26:08.8 (72) | – (–) | – (–) | |||
| AC | 70 | Jeong Ui-Myeong |  KOR | – | 27:30.9 (76) | – (–) | – (–) | |||
| AC | 77 | Oļegs Andrejevs | LAT | – | 27:44.5 (77) | – (–) | – (–) | |||
| AC | 80 | Noureddine Bentoumi |  ALG | – | 29:23.6 (78) | – (–) | – (–) | |||
| AC | 42 | Ville Nousiainen | FIN | – | – (–) | – (–) | – (–) | |||
| DNS | 78 | Edmond Khachatryan |  ARM | – | – (–) | – (–) | – (–) | |||
| DNS | 81 | Hovhannes Sargsyan | ARM | – | – (–) | – (–) | – (–) | |||
| DNS | 72 | Mihai Galiceanu | ROU | – | – (–) | – (–) | – (–) |