Norway’s Simen Hegstad Krüger celebrates after winning gold in the men’s 30 k skiathlon on Sunday at the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. (Photo: FlyingPointRoad)
It was an improbable move: Norway’s Simen Hegsted Krüger attacked a few kilometers from the finish of the men’s 30 k skiathlon, and the rest of the field let him go. Krüger didn’t let up and at one point had a lead of 25 seconds with just about two kilometers to go, all the more impressive because he had crashed just meters into the race and broken a pole, having to then make up 35 to 40 seconds to get back to the lead pack.
Norwegian teammates Martin Johnsrud Sundby and Hans Christer Holund tried to close the gap to Krüger in the final kilometer, but the 24 year old hung on for a 8-second win. Sundby was second and Holund was third (+9.0) to give Norway a medal sweep.
Denis Spitsov of the Olympic Athletes of Russia, also in his first Olympics, finished fourth, 12.7 seconds back. Maurice Manificat of France was fifth (+14.2), Dario Cologna of Switzerland sixth (+25.1), Andrew Musgrave of Great Britain seventh (+25.7), and Alex Harvey of Canada edged Martin Jaks of the Czech Republic for eighth (+33.4 and +33.8, respectively). Johannes Høsflot Klæbo of Norway, one of the pre-race favorites, finished 10th (+43.4).
For the U.S., Scott Patterson led the way in 18th (+1:07.5). Erik Bjornsen finished 42th (+4:34.7), Paddy Caldwell 51st (+6:58.1), and Noah Hoffman 54th (+7:08.7).
After Harvey’s top-10 finish, the next Canadian across the line was Devon Kershaw in 36th (+3:35.3). GraemeKillick finished 45th (+5:19.6), and Knute Johnsgaard was lapped and did not finish.
University of Utah alum Snorri Einarsson finished 56th (+7:13.9) in Iceland’s best result in Olympic cross-country skiing since 1994.
Arnd Peiffer on his way to winning the 10 k sprint at Alpensia Biathlon Center today. The German was one of just four men to shoot clean in windy conditions. (Photo: FlyingPointRoad)
With the race favorites each picking up a bevy of penalties, Germany’s Arnd Peiffer skated to a gold medal in the men’s 10 k sprint on Sunday. Both he and silver medalist Michal Krčmář of the Czech Republic shot clean, and were two of only four men in the field to do so. With that performance, Peiffer — whose lone senior Championship-level individual medal came when he won the World Championships sprint back in 2011 — made Germany two-for-two in biathlon races so far after Laura Dahlmeier’s win in the women’s sprint on Saturday.
The top of the results sheet was tight, with Krčmář finishing just 4.4 seconds slower than Peiffer. Krčmář only has one World Cup podium to his name, coming last season. Dominik Windisch of Italy finished with the bronze medal (+7.7) despite one missed shot, and edged out Austria’s Julian Eberhard (+8.4) seconds, who also had one penalty.
Erlend Bjøntegaard of Norway was fifth (+17.4) with two penalties, and Benedikt Doll (+17.6) and Simon Schempp (+21.4) gave Germany an impressive three spots in the top seven.
Those pre-race favorites? Martin Fourcade of France missed three shots in prone and despite cleaning standing, couldn’t make up enough time on the final loop for a top result. He finished eighth, +22.1. Johannes Thingnes Bø of Norway missed three shots in prone and then another in standing, finishing 31st, +1:12.7.
For the U.S., Lowell Bailey cleaned prone and then collected one penalty in standing to end the day 33rd (+1:15.6). Tim Burke had four penalties to land 47th (+1:47.5), and Leif Nordgren will join them in Monday’s pursuit after finishing 58th (+2:10.2) with two missed shots. Sean Doherty missed four of his five prone targets and was unable to come back from that blow, finishing 65th (+2:16.4).
The Canadians also suffered shooting woes. with Nathan Smith able to limit the losses to one penalty and finish 44th (+1:43.5). He is the only team member to make the pursuit. Brothers Scott and Christian Gow missed four and three shots, respectively, to earn the unlucky honor of being the first two men outside the pursuit cutoff in 61st (+2:14.0) and 62nd (+2:14.7). Brendan Green cleaned prone but then missed three shots in standing to finish 82nd (+3:09.2).
The women’s 10 pursuit and men’s 12.5 k pursuit are set for Monday at 5:10 a.m. and 7 a.m. Eastern Standard Time.
