“It was really a difficult race,” said Kriukov through an interpreter. “I was fourth in the qualifier and Alexander was first. There were three Norwegians in the final we really needed to get around. I saw Alexander speed up, so I did too. The Norwegian guys didn’t really support us. We didn’t have a discussion before. We knew where we needed to be at the finish – I fought to the
Kriukov was asked how he trained to be so fast at the end of the race. “I don’t know what I do – I just train.” He added that he knew “…someone had fallen, but I didn’t see who fell. I just tried to catch up with Alex.”
Panzhinskiy said that he and Kriukov will “..take this victory to our country, to our club in Moscow and to our coach. It’s a little bit of a sweet taste. I lost first in the last metre.” He was referring to how close the Russians were to one another as they crossed the line. Immediately afterwards they landed in a heap on top of one another. He said he “felt very energetic on my skis. I knew Petter and the other Norwegians were very good at the end, so I go from the start.”
Northug, who qualified 6th commented, “I didn’t see myself as a favorite,” despite what the media was writing about him in the days prior to the Olympics. “I knew there was no gold in Torino. I always feel pressure racing for Norway, but for me it’s good to have the pressure – for me it’s good.”
Northug tried to explain where the race went wrong for the Norwegians. “I got fifth position up the hill and the Russians put up the high speed. Then I had a good feeling, but there were two guys falling and I tried to get away from them. The Russians got the message that two guys were falling and they kept going. But I feel good about the upcoming races.” Northug mentioned that the weather at Whistler Olympic Park can “change drastically” but “we know the conditions can change. My best skis in Europe for this kind of weather are the best skis for here.”
The fastest North American was Canada’s Stefan Kuhn, who made it to the quarter-finals and was third in his heat against the eventual silver medalist Panzhinskiy and Sami Jauhojaervi of Finland who were first and second. Kuhn placed 15th overall and was only one second off the pace that would have put him into the semi-finals. “I could have had a little more strategy. The track slowed down because of the sun. But I felt really good and had good support. I’m happy with this. Any time you can ski at the Olympics is a good thing. Maybe one second would have got me in. It seems easy to find one second out there. But that’s sprinting. I love it. It’s entertaining for the fans – you just have to accept it.”
Team mate Devon Kershaw was the next fastest North American but was also eliminated in the quarter-finals when he went up against gold medalist Kriukov, Pettersen, who also made it into the final, Bjoern Lind of Sweden, Cyril Miranda of France and Maciej Kreczmer of Poland in his heat. Kershaw placed 23rd overall. “The race did not go as I had wanted,” said the Sudbury native. “I was just lacking a little bit of the punch that I thought I had. I approached the race pretty relaxed. This was going to be a tune-up for me. I am not the best classic sprinter. You have to start at some point, you have to get a tune-up before the big races start which for me are the next three events” he said, referring to the pursuit, the skate team sprint and the 4×10 relay.
American Simeon Hamilton also made it to the quarter-finals where he met Emil Joensson of Sweden, Peeter Kummel of Estonia, Kalle Lassila of Finalnd, Penato Pasini of Italy and Qinghai Sun of China. He placed 29th overall. “It’s always tough to end your day, but hey, I’ll ski and race another day” said Hamilton after being eliminated in the quarter-finals. “I have to keep reminding myself that I’m with the cream of the crop out here. It was fun. I think I heard the crowd for all 1.6 kilometres out there.”
American Torin Koos placed 36th in the qualifications while Canadians Drew Goldsack and Brent McMurtry were 40th and 41st and did not advance.
Full Results here.
A Final
1. Nikita Kriukov (RUS) 3:36.
2. Alexander Panzhinskity (RUS) +0.)
3. Petter Northug (NOR) +9.2
4. Ola Vigen Hattestad (NOR) +13.7
5. Alexey Poltaranin (KAZ) +18.1
6. Oeystein Pettersen (NOR) +1:19.9
15. Stefan Kuhn (CAN)
23. Devon Kershaw (CAN)
29. Simeon Hamilton (USA)
36. Torin Koos (USA)
40. Drew Goldsack (CAN)
41. Brent McMurtry (CAN)
45. Andrew Newell (USA)
47. Garrott Kuzzy (USA)