For the third time in a row, Dario Cologna of Switzerland was an Olympic champion in cross country skiing at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics Friday. The 31 year old finished the men’s 15km freestyle beating Norway’s Simen Hegstag Krueger who took the silver. Denis Spitzsov representing the Olympic Athletes from Russia earned the bronze in a very good finish for the three at the Alpensia Cross Country Centre.
2014 bronze medalist Daniel Rickardsson of Sweden and the defending gold medalist were the only ones returning to return for a shot at consecutive podium finishes. The 35-year-old started 50th who would have the advantage of going in the middle with a time being set by some of the best to go before him. The Olympic champion also had the advantage of starting 68th with many lacking the skill he brought for a third time. The competition consisted of two 7.5-kilometer-long circuits to complete the race with the best time going home with a medal.
After one completed lap, the best time put up came from Roman Furger of Switzerland who had more than a 24 second lead than the 19 competitors who began in front of him. Calle Halfvarsson of Sweden put a time of 13:41.2 that got lower minimally as the competitors came across the halfway point. Cologna took over posting a time of 13:23.2 that was the one to beat. Rickardsson wasn’t putting up great times as he lost time after six kilometers that took him out of the running.
Furger came to the finish line way ahead of sixth starter Ales Razym of the Czech Republic setting the time at 34:56.3 having 62 seconds of a margin between himself and Razym. Seven competitors came in between the two athletes but none would hold as Halfvarsson took the lead by 11.8 over Furger. Spitzsov lowered the top time significantly by more than 37 seconds as he crossed the finish line.
A new leader emerged with Norway getting back to their coveted spot where Krueger beat the Russian by 4.7 seconds. Cologna was still out there and kept below the split times that the leading Norwegian put up. With a few hundred meters to go, the Swiss master had 33 seconds coming into the home stretch where he finished with a time of 33:43.9 bettering Krueger by 18 seconds. As the remaining competitors came in way behind the main leaders, it became clear for Cologna that he had guaranteed his career a long history in the Winter Olympics.
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