5 kilometres, B1, Men
| Date | 17 February 1988 |
|---|---|
| Status | Olympic (non-medal) |
| Location | Canmore Nordic Centre, Canmore |
| Participants | 20 from 8 countries |
The B1 event is for competitors who are “legally blind”, or formally have a visual acuity of LogMAR 2.60 or worse. Competitors are accompanied by sighted guides.
Scandinavian runners dominated this event, with Hans Anton Ålien of Norway taking first place. Ålien became a Paralympic legend, having won medals in three sports and both seasons. Competing in four Summer Paralympics (1976-1988) and three Winter Paralympics (1980-88), he entered in swimming, athletics (sprint, middle distance, long & high jump) and cross-country skiing. He won two medals in swimming (one silver, one bronze), one in athletics (one bronze) and nine in cross-country skiing (seven golds, a silver and a bronze). A notable guide in the competiton was Kjetil Ulvang, brother of Olympic champion Vegard Ulvang. In 1993 Kjetil would tragically die while skiing in a blizzard.
| Pos | Competitors | NOC | Time | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Norway |  NOR | 18:51.2 | ||||||
| Hans Anton Ålien • Arne Homb | |||||||||
| 2 | Sweden |  SWE | 19:29.7 | ||||||
| Åke Pettersson • Råland Stridh | |||||||||
| 3 | Norway | NOR | 19:48.6 | ||||||
| Åsmund Tveit • Kjetil Ulvang | |||||||||
| 4 | Great Britain |  GBR | 19:49.3 | ||||||
| Peter Young • J. Knutsen | |||||||||
| 5 | Finland |  FIN | 19:56.3 | ||||||
| Mauno Sulisalo • E. Ukkonen | |||||||||
| 6 | United States |  USA | 20:45.5 | ||||||
| John Novotny • Craig Ward | |||||||||
| 7 | France |  FRA | 21:43.0 | ||||||
| Guy Gerard • S. Bret | |||||||||
| 8 | Italy |  ITA | 22:10.6 | ||||||
| Erich Walch • P. Seebacher | |||||||||
| 9 | Sweden | SWE | 22:44.1 | ||||||
| Eskil Höglund • Kenny Thor | |||||||||
| 10 | Soviet Union |  URS | 24:02.7 | ||||||
| Viktor Zhukov • V. Menshikov | |||||||||