Men's 50 kilometre freestyle at the XX Olympic Winter Games | ||||||||||
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Venue | Pragelato | |||||||||
Dates | February 26, 2006 | |||||||||
Competitors | 82 from 32 nations | |||||||||
Winning time | 2:06:11.8 | |||||||||
Medalists | ||||||||||
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Cross-country skiing at the 2006 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 50 kilometre freestyle cross-country skiing competition at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, was held on 26 February, at Pragelato. This was the final day of the Games, and the top three finishers were presented their medals as part of the Closing Ceremony. [1]
This is the first time in Olympic history that the 50 kilometre race is run as a mass start, where all skiers start at the same time, and the winner of the race is the first to cross the finish line. This is unlike the individual start, where skiers start one by one at 30-second intervals, and the winner is the skier whoever runs the distance the fastest.
The 50 kilometre had previously been skied only once as a mass start event at the World Championships, in 2005, with Frode Estil of Norway winning. However, that was in the classical style. The last 50 kilometre freestyle race at a World Championship was in 2003, and Martin Koukal of the Czech Republic won that event. Mikhail Ivanov of Russia was defending Olympic champion on 50 kilometre, but that event was held in classical technique with individual start. The last Olympic mass start race in 2002, won by Christian Hoffmann of Austria, was a shorter 30 kilometre event.
With a pack of 10–15 skiers coming together towards the finish, Giorgio Di Centa won Italy's second gold medal in cross-country skiing. This was the closest Olympic 50 km ever (0.8 seconds), eclipsing the 4.9 seconds that separated Thomas Wassberg from Gunde Svan (both from Sweden) at the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo.
A photograph of Di Centa in action during this event would be used as the pictogram for the cross-country skiing events at the following Olympics.
The race was a 'mass start', with all 79 skiers starting at the same time. 13 skiers failed to finish the race, while 3 were originally entered, but did not start. [2]
Lars Thomas Wassberg is a Swedish former cross-country skier. A fast skating style – push for every leg – is still called "Wassberg" after him in several countries. Wassberg's skiing idols when growing up were Sixten Jernberg and Oddvar Brå. He has described his mental strength and physical fitness as his greatest abilities as a skier, with his main weakness being a lack of sprinting ability.
Frode Estil is a retired Norwegian cross-country skier. He lives in Meråker Municipality with his wife Grete whom he married in the summer of 2001. They have two sons, Bernhard, born in August 2002, and Konrad. Estil was classical specialist and also a specialist at succeeding in World Championships and Olympics. While Estil only won four World Cup races, he won one individual Olympic Gold and one individual World Championship gold. In addition, he won three team events in the World Championships and another team gold in the Olympics.
Andorra sent a delegation to compete at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, from 10–26 February 2006. The Andorran delegation consisted of three competitors, two in alpine skiing and one in cross-country skiing. Roger Vidosa provided Andorra's best performance at these Games, with a 27th-place finish in the men's slalom alpine skiing event. As of these Games, Andorra has never won an Olympic medal.
Algeria sent a delegation to compete at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy from 10 to 26 February 2006. The nation had participated in the Winter Olympics only once previously, in 1992. The delegation consisted of two athletes, Christelle Laura Douibi in alpine skiing and Noureddine Maurice Bentoumi in cross-country skiing. Douibi's 40th-place finish in the women's downhill was Algeria's best finish in these Olympics.
Manuela Di Centa is an Italian former cross-country skier and Olympic athlete. She is the sister of former cross-country skier Giorgio Di Centa and cousin of former track and field athlete Venanzio Ortis.
Giorgio Di Centa is an Italian former cross-country skier who won two gold medals at the 2006 Winter Olympics, including the individual 50 km freestyle race. He is the younger brother of Olympic gold medalist, cross-country skier Manuela Di Centa.
Yevgeny Alexandrovich Dementyev is a Russian cross-country skier. He attended Children and Youth Sports School of Sovetsky District, Khanty–Mansi Autonomous Okrug, where his first trainer was Valery Ukhov. Dementyev's first international success was in 2001 at the Junior World Championship. He won two medals at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, with a gold in the men's 15 km + 15 km pursuit event and a silver in the men's 50 km freestyle mass start.
The men's 15 kilometre classical cross-country skiing competition at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, was held on 17 February at Pragelato.
The Men's 30 kilometre pursuit cross-country skiing competition at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, was held on 12 February at Pragelato.
The men's 4 × 10 kilometre relay cross-country skiing competition at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, was held on 19 February at Pragelato.
The Women's 30 kilometre freestyle cross-country skiing competition at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, was held on 24 February, at Pragelato.
The Women's 10 kilometre classical cross-country skiing competition at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy was held on 16 February, at Pragelato.
The men's 15 kilometre freestyle cross-country skiing competition at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada, was held on 15 February at Whistler Olympic Park in Whistler, British Columbia, at 12:30 PST.
The men's 50 kilometre classical cross-country skiing competition at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada was held on 28 February at Whistler Olympic Park in Whistler, British Columbia at 09:30 PST. on the final day of the Games.
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.
The women's 30 kilometre classical cross-country skiing competition at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada was held on 27 February at Whistler Olympic Park in Whistler, British Columbia at 11:45 PST.
Alex Harvey is a retired Canadian cross-country skier who competed between 2005 and 2019. Harvey is also a member of the Quebec Provincial Cycling Team.
Alexey Yurevich Poltoranin is a Kazakh cross-country skier who has competed at the international senior level since 2004. He has three World Cup wins, one in 2010 and two in 2013. In the 2013 World Championship in Val di Fiemme he won two bronze medals. Most of his best results are in the classic technique.
The women's 4 × 5 kilometre relay cross-country skiing competition at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, was held on 16 February at Snow Harp.
The women's 10 kilometre freestyle pursuit cross-country skiing competition at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, was held on 17 February at Birkebeineren Ski Stadium in Lillehammer. The Italian Stefania Belmondo was the 1993 World champion and Russian Lyubov Yegorova was the defending champion from the 1992 Olympics in Albertville, France.