So it’s Petter Northug with the gold, Axel Teichmann with the silver, and Johan Olsson with the bronze. A tight finish included 5 skiers within 2 seconds of the win and a pack of about 15 skiers spreading out in the final stretch.

Northug came across the line first, less than a half second ahead of Axel Teichmann, who finishes 2nd. Northug charged up from the lane to Teichmann’s right and, given his tempo, strength, and killer instinct inevitable overtook the German, who had held the lead until the final few meters.

Johan Olsson of Sweden, Germany’s Tobias Angerer, and Canada’s Devon Kershaw came across the line close together as well, finishing 3-5 in that order.

Andrus Veerpalu (EST), Daniel Richardson (SWE), Maxim Vylegzhanin (RUS) Anders Sodergren (SWE) and Dario Cologna (SUI) rounded out the top 10.

With Freeman out James Southam is the only U.S. skier to finish–28th place, 4:32 off the lead pace. George Grey was the 2nd Canadian skier across in 18th. Alex Harvey and Ivan Babikov finished together in 32nd and 33rd.

Marit Bjoergen seemed unconcerned with rival Justyna Kowalczyk’s comments regarding her asthma medication.  Several media sources reported that Kowalczyk called Bjoergen a “cheater” for using an asthma inhaler.

At the post-race press conference following the women’s 30km mass start, Bjoergen was asked about the issue.

“I was a little bit disappointed when I heard it, but now I forget it,”  Bjoergen said.  ”I am finished with what she said, and I heard it from the media, so I don’t actually know what she said.  I am finished with that and I look forward.”

She continued,  ”Kowalczyk has been very good at cross-country for a long time, and I am happy she won the gold.”

On her part, Kowalczyk clarified that she was not attacking Bjoergen, but the issue of the illness, and the prevalence of treatment.

“This was not an attack on Marit…Iwas trying to talk about the problem.  We have a problem in cross-country that we have a lot of athletes sick with asthma.”

She also apologized, saying “I’m sorry.  This is not a good time to talk about this question or my opinion.”

Interestingly, she also said that “I was told that this was not a good time for this comment.”  This sounds like she may have been reprimanded for bringing up the issue at this time, though one must be careful in reading too much into such statements, given the language barriers.

Some of Kowalczyk’s original comments as well as a Norwegian response can be found in a Vancouver Sun article on the topic.

Just in case you need some extra fodder in an argument about the quality of elite cross-country athletes…

Casey Kelly, one of the top prospects in the Boston Red Sox minor league system, and cousin of Kikkan Randall, is rooting for her at the Olympics and thinks she is the better athlete.

Excerpted from the the Red Sox Notes section of the Boston Globe:

The women’s 30km classic race got started in challenging conditions with 55 starters in the field.  It has rained all night in Whistler so the new FIS rule change to allow three ski changes during the course of longer races might come into play.

It hard to think that Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) will not be there at the end with the way that she has been classic skiing through the season and especially during these Olympics.  Obviously, Marit Bjorgen (NOR) is another pick to take home the gold medal, but I sense that it is the Poles day.  I’m making the early pick that Kristin Stormer Steira (NOR) will finally get a chance to take home a an individual medal today – most likely the bronze behind the favored two up front.

Sara Renner (CAN) and Kikkan Randall (NOR) are the top North American skiers in the race and a top ten result would be an excellent result for either of them.

As the skiers come into the stadium after 5km several women took advantage of the option to switch to another pair of skis, including nearly the entire Finnish team.

As they come into the stadium after 10km many of the favorites in the lead pack decided that it was time to switch skis, including Justyna Kowalczyk (POL), Marianna Longa (ITA) and Aino-Kaisa Saarinen (FIN).

Kristin Stormer Steira (NOR) led the pack throughout much of the early kilometers of the race and continued to do so as they left the stadium after 10km of racing.  She eventually found some comfort sliding back and allowing Charlotte Kalla (SWE) and Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) to do the pace setting.  That is the way it stands now at the 12.3km mark.

Now at the 17.1km mark not much has changed as a dozen women are still left in the lead pack with Kowalczyk leading the way and Saarinen (FIN) making her way back up to the second position after changing skis at 10km.

Morgan Arritola (USA) has called it a day and dropped out of the race.

The pace and tempo seems to be lifting as they come through the time check at 19.2km.

Stormer Steira (NOR) had made her way back up into second place after switching skis at the 15km mark and sat in second as they came into the stadium at 20km when the leader, Kowalczyk (POL), decided to switch skis again.  Stormer Steira (NOR) looked to her right to see that this was a good time to lift the pace and make Kowalczyk’s decision to switch skis a costly one.  Bjorgen (NOR) also decided to switch skis while in the stadium at the 20km mark and at this point it seems like this was a great decision, as she lifted the pace leaving the stadium until she past her country women and took over the lead.  She is no longer holding anything back and is going to attempt to win the gold medal right now.

Kowalczyk (POL) too is has pushed hard over the last couple of kilometers and now sits in second place, but her skis do not look as dialed in as the Norwegian skiers’ skis do.  She, however, is hungry for her gold of these Winter Olympics and the two up front are now together as the leave the stadium for the final time with just 5km to go.

The race for bronze will be as equally exciting as Stormer Steira (NOR) has finished fourth in the Olympics four times throughout her career and desperately wants an individual medal of her own.  She skied in the fourth position right behind Saarinen (FIN) until Saarinen chose to switch skis at the 25km mark and Stormer Steira again attempts to lift her pace.

The battle up front seemed as if it is going to come down to a sprint for the line as both Kowalczyk and Bjorgen looked strong.  Kowalczyk put a hard move in on the final climb before they dropped into the stadium.  Bjorgen battled to pull up next to Kowalczyk in the finish lanes and it looked as if she would out doublepole the Pole down the finish lanes, but the Norwegian’s skis seemed to drag over the final meters and Kowalczyk was able to capture her much desired Olympic gold.  Saarinen (FIN) proved that her role of the dice, switching skis with just 5km to go, was a good one as she will climb onto the remaining position on the podium.

Evi Sachenbacher-Stehle (GER) was able to move her way up to fourth position, while Japan’s Masako Ishida took home fifth.  Kristin Stormer Steira, who skied such an inspired race, crossed the line in 8th place.

Sara Renner (CAN) concluded her Olympic career with a 16th place finish, while Madeleine Williams (CAN) finished in 46th place.

Kikkan Randall (USA) with a solid classic distance race, ending the day in 24th place.  Holly Brooks (USA) showed her determination finishing in 36th place.

Complete Results.

With four athletes with a chance, albeit small, to medal in Sunday’s 50 k classic event at the Olympics, Canada’s Head Coach Inge Braten is planning on leaving Brian McKeever off the start list, instead choosing Alex Harvey, Devon Kershaw, George Grey, and Ivan Babikov.

McKeever was shooting to become the first athlete to compete in the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, as he is legally blind.

For more, see this article  by the Canadian Press.

The Men’s Biathlon 4×7.5km was an exciting race for the gold medal until the fourth leg skiers came into the range for the first time to shoot in the prone position. Then, however, in just a few seconds the drama was gone for the gold. Austrian’s Christoph Sumann dropped down into position to take aim right next to the Norwegian veteran Ole Einar Bjorndalen, but within a moment the Austrian with multiple misses went from having dreams of anchoring for a gold to having no other hope then to battle for the silver.

At that point the two teams had built a 22 second lead over the Russians, but Bjorndalen only required two extra rounds to drop the five targets in front of him. Sumann on the other hand ran out of extra rounds with one target still unblemished and was forced to ski a penalty lap. This dropped the Austrian back to a battle for the silver medal with Russia’s Evgeny Ustyugov, who had just cleaned the same prone targets and took a lead over the Austrian out on to the trails.

All that Sumann and Ustyugov could do at that point was hope that Bjorndalen would make uncharacteristic mistakes. That was not to be, as the Norwegian swiftly dropped all five targets without a miss in the standing position. Ustyugov would not be so lucky as he required three extra rounds to finish of the targets in front of him, misses that would ultimately be costly. The Austrian, however, was at least partially able to make up for his early mistakes and prove why he had been selected to ski the anchor leg for his team as he cleaned his final targets.

By the end, Bjorndalen came to the line with nearly a 40 second advantage over the silver and bronze medal pair, giving him plenty of time to grab a flag from a Norwegian supporter and celebrate through the stadium and down the finish lanes. The battle for silver continued right to the line as Sumann was able to out toe Ustyugov at the line.

The Canadian team ended the day in 10th place, while the American squad finished 13th.

Complete Results.

We have received a number of questions about the classic wax for the men’s 4×10km relay and the women’s 4×5km event.

The men’s race was the more challenging of the two, with some rain early turning to very heavy wet snow.

From what we were able to determine, most teams raced on hairies.  Tor Arne Hetland, the German sprint coach, told us that the Germans were on klister.  Lukas Bauer (CZE) was on hairies and said he believed that 90% of skiers raced on hairies.  He did say that he thought Johan Olsson of Sweden raced on hard wax.

The Canadian team had zeros on course as backup skis, and Andy Newell skied hairies on a pair of Kikkan Randall’s skis.

The women’s race featured a little bit of snow, but the track was fairly transformed.  The US raced on klister, and given the wet, predominantly corned nature of the snow, most teams were likely on something similar.

Bill Demong, the Vermontville, NY native, outdid the United States amazing run of two silver medals in this 2010 Winter Olympic Games when he captured the gold medal in today’s large hill and 10km cross-country race.  Demong’s American teammate Johnny Spillane continued his stellar Olympics by following Demong to the line, winning the silver.  Bernhard Gruber (AUT) took home the bronze medal.

Johnny Spillane (USA), Billy Demong (USA) and Bernhard Gruber (AUT) pose for their fans after racing to their 2nd, 1st and 3rd place finishes today.

Demong’s 115.5 point jump put him 6th off the line, 46 seconds behind the eventual bronze medal winner Bernhard Gruber of Austria.  Spillane, who started second, was still left with a sizable 34 seconds margin.

It was to be Demong’s day, his ski time of 24:46 was bested by only Austrian Felix Gottwald, who finished the day 17th overall.   By the end, Demong had moved passed all those who started in front of him and came to the line with a four second victory over teammate Spillane and a ten second gap over the bronze medal winner, Gruber.

The weather, which seems to continually take the leading role throughout these Winter Olympics, did not disappoint today.  Many of the top Nordic Combined athletes were forced to jump in driving snow and with a tail wind that pushed them prematurely to the ground, so their jumps were far shorter then one might normally expect.  However, that is just how it goes some days in Nordic Combined competition, one gust of wind at the right or wrong moment can heavily impact your performance.

The American squad that has built such a strong bond throughout recent years and even more so during these Olympics was once again working together on this final day of Nordic Combined competition.  Demong caught teammate Spillane early on and together they erased the margin to Gruber.  However, the teamwork did not stop there.  Todd Lodwick, who finished the day in 13th place, moved to the front of the chase pack once he saw that his teammates had caught the leader.  From there, Lodwick was able to slow the pace of the chase pack and ensure that Demong and Spillane would have their best shot at the podium.

American Taylor Fletcher finished the day in 45th position, one place behind the top and only Canadian in the field, Jason Myslicki.

Check back soon for more.

Complete Results.

Lightning. Bears. Concrete walls.

Those are a few things that might be able to stop Norway’s Marit Bjoergen right now. Mere mortals from Italy, Finland, and Germany? Fat chance.

Taking the tag from Kristin Stormer Steira with Italy hot on her heels, Bjoergen laid down a blazingly fast final leg—dropping Sabina Valbusa on the first climb and skiing away, uncontested, to her third gold medal of these Games, and Norway’s first in the women’s relay in 26 years.

The real battle unfolded behind, as the chase pack of Finland, Sweden, and Germany quickly swallowed up Valbusa. Without a single medal for her country from the 2010 Games thus far, Aino-Kaisa Saarinen (FIN) was out for blood, driving the pace hard for her two laps of the 2.5 kilometer course. Only Germany’s Claudia Nystad could hang on, passing the Finn on the final climb to take silver, while Saarinen held on for the bronze.

How it Unfolded

With Bjoergen anchoring, Norway may have been the favorite, but their coaches couldn’t take anything for granted until Vibeke Skofterud made it through the first leg unscathed.

Italy and Germany led things out up the first big climb, with the pack still together. Kikkan Randall sat in the second row, just next to Skofterud.

Skiing aggressively, Randall still sat in the lead group on her second lap, then used a fast pair of skis to gap the rest of the field on the course’s biggest downhill. Anna Olsson (SWE), Skofterud, and Katrin Zeller (GER) made up the ground on the climb before the stadium, but Randall still came into the stadium with the leaders, tagging off to Holly Brooks in fourth place—just ten seconds back.

Brooks didn’t have the legs today, though, and she quickly fell off the back. She said afterwards that she’s worried her health problems from the summer (see may have resurfaced, and she spoke to the team doctor about doing some testing to figure out what’s wrong.

“It was really fun having Kikkan come in in such a strong position,” Brooks said. “There was a little pressure going into that, but I just know that can ski a lot faster than I’m skiing right now, and it’s pretty frustrating.”

At the front, Norway, Italy, and Germany were still together, while Sweden’s Magdalena Pajala was gapped going up the big climb on her first lap.

As the three leaders duked it out up ahead, Poland’s Justyna Kowalczyk was working her way back from the 18-second deficit she’d inherited from her teammate, Kornelia Marek. Echoing yesterday’s spectacular second leg by Lukas Bauer (CZE), Kowalczyk made up all the ground Marek had lost, then just kept on going.

No one could respond when she came by—Marianna Longa (ITA), Therese Johaug (NOR), and Evi Sachenbacher-Stehle (GER) couldn’t hold on, and the lead group shattered. Kowalczyk’s leg ended up being nearly thirty seconds faster than anyone else’s, and she tagged off to Paulina Maciuszek with a ten-second lead.

Which promptly evaporated. Maciuszek was no match for the power of Norway’s Kristin Stormer Steira and Italy’s Silvia Rupil, as that pair caught her and dropped her almost in the same breath.

Meanwhile, after a miserable first leg, Finland’s Riitta-Liisa Roponen had worked her way back to a chase group, which included Sweden, Germany, and France. Led by Charlotte Kalla (SWE)—who turned in the fastest split of the leg—that group stayed within striking distance of Steira and Rupil, coming through the exchange just fifteen seconds behind.

But with Bjoergen anchoring Norway, the most any of those teams could hope for was silver or bronze. While Italy and Norway came into the exchange together, Bjoergen was gone before Valbusa could say “arrivederci.” Bjoergen gapped the Italian going up the first climb out of the stadium, and was off to her third gold of the Games. Despite coming to a full stop before the finish to pick up a Norwegian flag, and skiing the last hundred meters with no poles, she still had the fastest time of her leg.

After being dropped by Bjoergen, Valbusa was fading hard. The chase group behind her was gaining, led by a ferocious Saarinen. As the Finn V2-ed her way up the course’s big climbs, it didn’t seem like there was any way that Germany’s Claudia Nystad or Sweden’s Ida Ingemarsdotter could hold on, and indeed, Ingemarsdotter came off on the last lap—just as the trio caught and passed Valbusa. But Nystad hung tough, and somehow found the energy to go by Saarinen on the final climb and ski in for silver.

Anchored by Caitlin Compton, the U.S. finished 12th on the day. Like Brooks, Compton said that she wasn’t at her best today, and also may have had trouble with her skis, according to Zach Caldwell, one of the members of the U.S. service staff. Canada was 14^th.

Full report to come!

The Scramble

The women’s relay got started in much the same way that the men’s did – two tracks full of skiers right from the start and pace that almost every nation’s scramble leg skier could manage.

Now at the 2.5km mark France’s Aurore Cuinet has made a move to slide into second position with the United States’ Kikkan Randall right on her tails.

As they come down into the stadium Anna Olsson takes the lead for Sweden, with Norway and Germany right behind.  Kikkan Randall of the United states tags APU teammate 10.4 second back.  With Italy right behind her.

The Second Classic Leg

In the second leg it is all Justyna Kowalczyk of Poland as she pulls a Northug like move coming from 10th position and nearly 40 seconds down to tag off with a 2.4 second advantage.  Italy and Norway follow close behind.

[sorry the internet went down during this section]

The First Skate Leg

As the third leg, first skate, gets underway Italy quickly asserts themselves at the front of the race with Norway’s Kristin Stormer Steira holding strong.  Poland is doing all they can do to maintain contact.

Midway through the first lap Steira decides to take over the pace setting and moves to the front with some hard V1s on one of the course’s steeper sections.

Germany, France and Japan lead the chase pack 24 seconds down, with the favored Finnish team 37 second off the pace set by Norway.  Charlotte Kalla of Sweden it making up ground on the leaders, but the nearly one minute defect seems too large at this point.

Kalla continues to tear through the course and has now lifted the Swedes into a pack with France, Finland and Germany.  A pack that is about to go right past Poland.  At this point it looks like Germany, Finland and Sweden will battle it out for the bronze medal and may have an outside chance of catching the Italian team if they are not able to match the pace set by the Norwegians.

As the third leg skiers climb the final hill before dropping into the stadium it is still Norway leading with Italy right behind.  Kalla led the chase pack down the hill into the stadium before Finland and Germany said thanks for the ride passing just before tagging their teammates.

The Anchor Leg

On the anchor leg, Norway’s Marit Bjorgen has gone out with a blistering tempo and now the Italian team does look vulnerable to the chasing three of Germany, Finland and Sweden.  The chase pack’s tempo is incredibly high as they hammer through the course.  At 1km into the final leg Norway holds an 11 second lead over the Italian team with the big three closing fast another 10 seconds back.

They come through the stadium, heading out on the bell lap.  Finland’s Aino-Kaisa Saarinen leads the chase pack which is sure to soon pounce on the suffering Italian.  At the top of the long first climb leaving the stadium contact has been made by both the German and Finnish teams as the Swedes now have fallen off the pace.  Saarinen seems hungry for more as she charges now after Bjorgen, with German Claudia Nystad smartly tucked in right behind.

As they climb the hill at 4.2km Nystad decides that the time for a move is now and charges ahead on her own.  For a moment Italy’s Sabina Valbusa tries to hold strong, but soon is dropped and passed by Saarinen.

As they come into the stadium Bjorgen has plenty of time to grab a flag to celebrate down the finish lanes.  Germany’s Nystad skiing a smart final leg too motions to the crowd as she glides down through the finish lanes and Finland’s Saarinen is excited to be taking the last step on the Olympic podium.

Caitlin Compton of the United States picks off one place to finish in 12th, while the Canadian squad ending the day 16th, the final team across the line.

Complete Results.