Gobsmacked!

It was a great ski day today!  Or at least it should have been.  The final day of the Cross-Country World Championships with the men’s 50k race. 57 men started. It was a battle for the entire 50 km (2:10 of racing), with 6 skiers leading in the final couple of kilometres.

Then these two skiers - big rivals - had a collision in the few metres before the finish line as each aimed for the same lane. Klaebo on the left (Norway) crossed the line first and was declared the winner. Bolshunov on the right (Russia) broke a pole over his own leg in the collision (you can see it in the picture), and fell behind the skier behind him (Iversen, Norway), and so came in 3rd, in bronze medal position.

What happened next is completely unbelievable!  The Russian team filed a protest, and after spending almost an hour reviewing the playbacks, the jury disqualified Klaebo. Totally gobsmacked, as were the two British commentators, even after they watched the playbacks from several camera angles. I’ve watched it several times in slow motion this evening and it seems clear to me that Bolshunov should have been charged with obstruction. The Norwegian team made a protest on the decision of the qualification which was not accepted. They can still file an appeal over the next day or two, which I understand they will.

So the ‘official’ result is Iversen - Gold, Bolshunov - Silver, and Krueger (Norway) - Bronze. Klaebo - Disqualified. The podium ceremony was embarrassing to watch. Iversen was interviewed and hardly knew what to say. In another interview he said he did not support the jury's decision and that Klaebo was the moral winner. Bolshunov was NOT happy with silver and couldn’t wait to get off the podium.
A short video of race highlights here.

Article here.

I hope this isn’t the last word on this race.