Beijing Winter Olympics: Klaebo-Bolshunov, who will be the king of kings in the 50km cross-country ski run?

Ready for the snow “marathon”, the 50 km free technique, won in 2006 in Pragelato by Giorgio Di Centa. The race that in 2018 was tamed by the Finnish Niskanen, fresh from the triumph in the 15 km and absent precisely because he is more specialist in the alternating pace. Those who have no technical problems are the two great rivals of the moment: the Russian Bolshunov, king of the 30 km combined (now called skiathlon) and the Norwegian Johannes Klaebo, who goes for the sixth gold in his career, and a little disappointed of having missed the 8 Olympic titles of the legend Bjoern Daehlie, the compatriot who twice won the 50 km in Albertville ’92 and Nagano ’98 and the only one to have made an encore after the Swede Jernberg. The 50 km was of the myths Smirnov (Soviet) and of Wassberg and Gunde Svan, the last Swede to have tamed it, in 1988 in Calgary. Klaebo won gold in the individual and pairs sprint, but missed the 15 km and especially the first 30 km. Bolshunov got off to a flying start and then celebrated in the relay as well. Who will be the richest? Of course, Klaebo wants to prove to the Viking people that he is no less than Petter Northug, the bad boy who triumphed in 2010 in Vancouver. Klaebo is now the man of the Norge’s dreams.

Outsider

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But beware of the outsiders (from the Norwegians Krueger and Roethe, to the Swedish Halfvarsson and Johansson, to the French Manificat, gassed by the medal in the relay) those who are covered for perhaps 45 kilometers (starting with the Swiss Italian Dario Cologna, at the pass goodbye) and then come out fresher after an hour and a half of the race, which will become more extreme given the harsh weather conditions that make the snow slower and heavier. For Italy there will be Giandomenico Salvadori and Paolo Ventura, while Francesco De Fabiani gave up, who revealed himself in the 50 km of Sochi 2014, but still without Olympic medals. The only one out satisfied so far is Federico Pellegrino, confirmed silver in the Sprint skating behind Klaebo, who in 2026 in Italy could try to end his career in the 50 km. Klaebo-Bolshunov, one will be disappointed in the meantime.