ROC take gold and silver in men's skiathlon

Alexander Bolshunov of Team ROC celebrates crossing the finish line to win the gold medal during the Men's Cross-Country Skiing 15km + 15km Skiathlon on Day 2 of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games at The National Cross-Country Skiing Centre on February 06, 2022 in Zhangjiakou, China. (Photo by Matthias Hangst/Getty Images)

The ROC gambled beautifully to go 1-2 at the Beijing Winter Olympics Sunday. Alexander Bolshunov and Denis Spitsov worked hard to get out front to win the gold and silver respectively in the men’s 30km skiathlon at the Zhangjiakou National Cross Country Skiing Centre. Finnish cross country skier Livo Niskanen held off all the rest to take bronze in what became a secure victory before the race even finished. 

Norway attempted to repeat taking the podium as a whole like they did in Pyeongchang. Holund, who took the bronze in that sweep was the only athlete to return for a second medal but had two new teammates running with him on the brand new course. After scoring two golds and a bronze at the world championships, the 32-year-old stood out as the leader, who could take charge if his adaptation to the altitude and course came together. 

At the mass start, Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo, who won three gold medals four years ago got out front with Bolshunov. The Russian also made his debut in the event, making it a serious race between the two multiple medalists from 2018. They remained in the top 12 by the second lap but didn’t choose to lead. Before the completion of lap two, Bolshunov decided to go out with Niskanen to try and widen the gap between himself and the rest of the chase group to 10.5 seconds. 

At the 10km mark, the gap was 13 seconds but the chase group maintained their view of the Russian and Finn. Klaebo struggled sitting 40 seconds back but stayed with the main pack. Holund ran in fourth as he finished the third lap sitting 18 seconds back with two others that broke ahead of the group. Bolshunov and Niskanen saw their actions pay dividends but still had five laps to complete. 

As they came to the transition zone, it was five athletes split apart with Niskanen and Bolshunov still ahead of 3^rd to 5^th by 22 seconds. Klaebo fell more than a minute back as the altitude became a major problem for the “Justin Bieber” of Norway. Niskanen was first to take off in the new set of skis with Bolshunov right behind him in under a second. Spitsov was behind his ROC teammate by almost a half-minute when he completed the transition. 

Going up the first hill, Bolshunov took off, gaining a 12 second lead on Niskanen, who had another problem behind him. Spitsov found another gear, putting the Finn in his sights, determined to overtake him for second. Spitsov pushed heavy before the 17.5km mark to get in front of Niskanen, who showed signs of struggle and fatigue. Norway was nowhere to be seen as they were unlikely to medal with three laps to go. 

With 7.5kms left, first, second, and third were all comfortably separated by more than 40 seconds with the Finn, not in any danger. With a time of 1:16.09.8, Bolshunov came across the line, with Spitsov crossing in for the silver 1 minute and 11 seconds later. Niskanen was thrilled to see the finish line as he locked up the silver two minutes later.