Boerre Naess (NOR) was victorious on his 26th birthday, leading a contingent of Norweigans to the podium. It was all Norway right from the start, with 5 men in the top 6 qualifying spots. By the end it was only a question of which Norweigan would end up on top of the podium.
Following Naess were Ola Vigen Hattestad, Eldar Roenning, Anders Gloersen, and Tor Arne Hetland. Russian Nikita Kriukov made a valiant stand, finishing sixth. Kiriukov was in the hunt for the podium as the group approached the hard 180 degree turn toward the finish stretch. The crowd seemed to be rooting for a crash, and for a moment they were disappointed as it appeared that all six skiers were thorugh. But Kiriukov suddenly went down, and the race to the finish was a sea of red suits.
All six men in the A final raced on skate equipment, double poling the entire course. Naess remarked on the challenges of cresting the biggest climb, and saving enough for the long finish stretch. Roenning raced the qualifying round and quarterfinals on kick wax in order “to save some strength for later,” a luxury that most cannot afford to take.
The Americans qualified three – Torin Koos led the way with a strong 7th place, followed by Andy Newell in 16th, and Chris Cook in 30th. Newell looked sluggish from the start. After the race he confirmed this, commenting that he hoped that he could garner some more energy for the heats. But he remained flat and never appeared in the running to advance despite battling to the end. In hindsight, Newell felt that it might have been better to go the double poling route, a thought seconded by several USST personnel. He went on to say that his neck and back were tight during warmups, a fact that influenced the decision to go with kick wax.
Koos on the other hand looked extremely strong in his qualifying round and out of the start in the quarterfinal. Heading into the first tight corner at the top of the stadium climb, however, he broke a pole. Head Coach Pete Vordenberg was right there with a replacement, but Torin couldn't get the broken shaft undone and a potentially great day was suddenly over.
The most positive US race of the day belonged to Chris Cook, who looked strong while being eliminated in the quarterfinal. Cook was battling in third heading into the 180 degree turn for the homestretch, before falling back. Cook ended up with an excellent 20th place. Koos was 26th and Newell 17th.
