50 kilometres (Mass Start, Classical), Men

The race was held in a warm rain, with melting snow that made conditions very sticky and slow. It also served to keep the pack together and contributed to the closest mass finish ever in Olympic marathon racing. At various points throughout the race, Martin Johnsrud Sundby (NOR), Daniel Richardsson (SWE) and Aleksandr Legkov (RUS) tried to make breaks, but they were short-lived. With 5 kilometres to go there were still around 18 skiers in the leading group. With a kilometre to go, at least 15 skiers were together. Coming into the stadium, Germany’s Axel Teichmann took the lead going up the final hill. He led on the final turn in the stadium, 100 metres remaining, but barely over Norway’s Petter Northug and Switzerland’s Dario Cologna. Cologna tragically fell in the sprint, and would finish 10th. Northug caught Teichmann in the sprint and pulled away to win the gold medal. The top five places were separated only by 1.6 seconds. Northug’s victory was not unexpected, as he was the 2009 World Champion, although in freestyle, and was leading the 2009-10 World Cup competition. This gave him his second gold medal and fourth medal of the 2010 Winter Olympics. The true meaning of the Olympic spirit was evident when Francesc Soulie (AND) defeated Jonas Thor Olsen (DEN) by 0.1 second – they were actually racing for 47th and 48th places, the last two skiers to complete the course!