Cross-country skiing at the 2010 Winter Olympics – Men's 4 × 10 kilometre relay
Men's 4 × 10 kilometre relay at the XXI Olympic Winter Games | |
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![]() Pictogram for cross country | |
Venue | Whistler Olympic Park |
Dates | 24 February |
Competitors | 56 (14 teams) from 14 nations |
Winning time | 1:45:05.4 |
Medalists | |
Cross-country skiing at the 2010 Winter Olympics | ||
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Distance | ||
10 km | women | |
15 km | men | women |
30 km | men | women |
50 km | men | |
4 × 5 km relay | women | |
4 × 10 km relay | men | |
Sprint | ||
Individual | men | women |
Team | men | women |
The men's 4 × 10 kilometre relay cross-country skiing competition at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada, was held on 24 February at Whistler Olympic Park at 11:15 PST.[1]
Italy was the defending Olympic champion with the team of Fulvio Valbusa, Giorgio Di Centa, Pietro Piller Cottrer and Cristian Zorzi.[2] Valbusa retired following the 2006 Winter Olympics. The defending world champions were the Norwegian team of Eldar Rønning, Odd-Bjørn Hjelmeset, Tore Ruud Hofstad and Petter Northug.[3] The last World Cup competition for this event prior to the 2010 Games took place 22 November 2009 in Beitostoelen, Norway, and was won by the Norwegian team of Rønning, Martin Johnsrud Sundby, Ronny Hafsås and Northug.[4]
Each team used four skiers, who competed over one 3.3 km circuit in classical and a second 3.3 km circuit in freestyle. The first two raced in the classical technique, and the final pair of skiers raced freestyle technique.
Results
Jauhojärvi of Finland (who finished fifth) had the fastest first leg with the second and third place teams being France (who would finish fourth) and Sweden. Bauer of the Czech Republic had the fastest run in the second leg and the classical style to propel his country from ninth in the first leg to second in the second leg. Sweden moved from third to first in the second leg while France fell from second to third. France's Manificat had the fastest third leg to move his team from third to second in the third leg. Sweden still led after the third run while the Czech Republic dropped from second to third. Defending world champion Norway, who was sixth after the third leg with Johnsrud Sundby replacing Rønning and biathlete Berger replacing both Hofstad and Hafsås, before anchor leg Northug had the fastest final run and in the freestyle technique to move his team to the silver medal, edging out the Czech Republic's Koukal. Defending Olympic champion Italy, with Checchi replacing Valbusa, finished a disappointing ninth.[5] Despite not having any of the fastest legs, Sweden won their first relay Olympic gold medal since 1988.[6]
References
- 2010 Winter Olympics cross-country skiing schedule. Archived 2010-08-31 at the Wayback Machine - accessed 2 November 2009.
- 2006 Winter Olympics men's 4 x 10 km relay results. Archived 2012-07-31 at archive.today - accessed 2 November 2009.
- FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2009 men's 4 x 10 km relay results. Archived 2009-05-02 at the Wayback Machine - accessed 2 November 2009.
- FIS Cross-Country Skiing World Beitostølen 22 November 2009 men's 4 x 10 km relay results. Archived 24 November 2009 at the Wayback Machine - accessed 22 November 2009.
- 2010 Winter Olympics 24 February 2010 Cross-country skiing men's 4 x 10 km relay results. Archived 1 April 2010 at the Wayback Machine - accessed 25 February 2010.
- Wallechinsky, David and Jaime Loucky (2009). "Cross-Country (Nordic) Skiing, Men: 4 x 10-Kilometer Relay". In The Complete Book of the Winter Olympics: 2010 Edition. London: Aurum Press Limited. p. 238.