ZHANGJIAKOU, China – Just like in the women’s cross-country ski race, the Russian team opened a lead on the first leg of the men’s relay on Sunday and then held on for the Olympic gold medal.
Sergey Ustiugov maintained more than a minute lead on the last lap over the two-man chasing group of Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo of Norway and Maurice Manificat of France.
Ustiugov grabbed a flag on his way to the finish line and won the 10-kilometer relay 1 hour, 54 minutes, 50.7 seconds. Klaebo pulled away from Manificat for the silver, 1:07.2 back. France took third, 1:16.4 behind the Russians.
Snowy conditions made the ski tracks slow, especially on the first two classic ski legs. Leaf-blowers were used to clear the snow out of the ski tracks. By contrast, the winning time in the four-man relay at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics was more than 20 minutes quicker.
Alexey Chervotkin led off for the Russians, with Alexander Bolshunov skiing the second classic leg. Denis Spitsov and Ustiugov took the two freestyle legs.
All four are in the top 12 of the overall World Cup standings, AP reported.
Norway lead off with Emil Iversen, who has not yet raced at the Beijing Olympics and is ranked 42nd in the World Cup standings. Missing from their lineup was Erik Valnes, who is ranked third in the World Cup and finished 15th in the 15-kilometer classic race last week.
Norway´s second skier was Paal Golberg, who was 11th in the 15-kilometer classic race. Hans Chister Holund, who was fourth in that race, skied the third leg ahead of Klaebo.
The same four skiers won gold for Norway in the relay at the 2021 world championships in Germany.
The four-man relay began as a mass-start with 15 racers. Each athlete skied three laps on a 3.3-kilometer (2-mile) course.
