February 24, 2018 (PyeongChang, South Korea) – Canada’s Alex Harvey took home his best Olympic result finishing 4th in the men’s epic 50km CL but it was bitter-sweet for the valiant Canuck who hoped to secure a historic medal at his last Winter Olympic Games.

American Scott Patterson delivered a stellar result for the USA claiming 11th, the best-ever finish for Team USA in the men’s 50km as the APU skier finally eclipsed legendary Bill Koch’s 13th place at the 1976 Games at Innsbruck, Austria where Kochie also won the USA’s first Olympic medal winning silver in the men’s 30km CL.

The day belonged to Iivo Niskanen who delivered Finland’s first gold at the the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games in any sport as he took charge setting a challenging pace with an early breakaway that proved to be the winning move.

Russia’s Alexander Bolshunov (OAR)  bridged up to Niskanen who was being chased by Kazakhstan’s Alexey Poltoranin. Bolshunov passed Poltoranin and and took over the lead from Niskanen but in the end settled for the silver as Niskanen regained the lead on a long downhill. Bolshunov’s teammate Andrey Larkov escaped from the chasing group that included Harvey and Norway’s Martin Johnsrud Sundby to claim the bronze. Harvey out-sprinted Sundby for 4th.

“It was a great race and a tough one for sure but I felt good and we had great support so no regrets but that’s a hard position to end up in for sure. I felt good but tired, but everyone was tired… you try to keep your technique and start to have cramps in the legs and your arms. I think I skied well but was just beaten by three guys today,” said Harvey.

For Patterson it was affirmation of his goal to achieve another top 20 after placing 18th in the Skiathlon. “The course was quite good and my skis were also good throughout the race,” said Patterson. ” I skied with a group for most of the race and switched twice during the race after the second and fourth laps. Each time I was very glad to be able to change my skis which helped me move up.

“On the last two laps I was getting information. I have been racing well here, so I knew it was possible for a top 20, but I also didn’t want to take anything for granted in a tough 50k classic at the Olympics. I am happy with my race and result, but also feel that in another kilometer or two, maybe I could have broken into the top 10,” added the rising US star.

We caught up with legendary Marty Hall, former US head coach who led the team at the 1976 Games when Koch won silver. “”A stellar result for Patterson – he’s the future of the sport – but it takes more than one good result to build a program with consistency and we’re starting to see this now with good results at the Junior/U23 and Senior Worlds over past 2-3 years,” said Hall.

Canada’s Devon Kershaw broke a pole early on but recovered to finish 26th in the points and was followed by teammate Graeme Killick in 27th. American Noah Hoffman was 33rd, Tyler Kornfield (USA) was 48th and Canadian Russell Kennedy finished 49th.

Harvey’s 4th set a new Olympic record for the Canadians as Kershaw was 5th in the 50km at Vancouver 2010, a mere six seconds from the podium.

Only Kazakhstan’s Alexey Poltoranin could match Niskanen, the current World Champion in the 15km classic, but he too faded as Niskanen was on a mission it seemed. Bolshunov looked strong when he caught Niskanen but a missed ski change seem to be his undoing as the Finn had faster skis and passed him on a downhill and never looked back.

“It was a big dream. I won team sprint with Sami Jauhojarvi at the Sochi 2014,” said Niskanen. “I did not know how the skis were working and I did not know how many kilometers [Alexander] Bolshunov had used his pair. I tried to catch him and in the long downhill my fresh skis were much faster. Then I only needed to save energy at the end.”

US Head Coach Chris Grover was ecstatic with Patterson’s result. “We couldn’t be more excited for Scott’s race. He’s had a very strong Olympics and the 50km was his best performance yet. Scott stayed patient throughout the race and was ready to start passing athlete after athlete as they tired in front of him.

“This was Scott’s race plan. We knew the race would be a real grind and that many athletes would try to stay with the early leaders and pay the price. Scott executed his plan perfectly. We also had great skis once again with strong kick and great glide,” commented Grover.

Results here.