The men's sprint
cross-country skiing
Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing whereby skiers traverse snow-covered terrain without use of ski lifts or other assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreational activity; however, some still use it as a m ...
competition at the
2006 Winter Olympics
The 2006 Winter Olympics (), officially the XX Olympic Winter Games () and also known as Torino 2006, were a winter multi-sport event held from 10 to 26 February in Turin, Italy. This marked the second time Italy had hosted the Winter O ...
in
Turin
Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...
,
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
, was held on 22 February at
Pragelato
Pragelato (also ''Pragelà''; Vivaro-Alpine dialect, Vivaro-Alpine: ''Prajalats'', French: Prajalats) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Turin in the Italy, Italian region Piedmont, located about west of Turin, in the uppe ...
.
was the defending world champion at this event, but he won in the classical style. The last free style sprint at the World Championships was won by
Thobias Fredriksson in 2003,
while
Tor Arne Hetland was defending Olympic champion. Swede
Björn Lind won the two most recent World Cup events, and also won the Olympic race, beating Frenchman Roddy Darragon to the line. Darragon won France's first cross-country skiing medal in the history of the Olympics, while Sweden took the bronze through
Thobias Fredriksson.
Results
Qualifying
Eighty skiers completed the 1.3 kilometre course in the qualifying portion of the event, with the top thirty advancing to the quarterfinals.
Quarterfinals
There were five quarterfinal races, each with six skiers. The top two in each heat advanced to the semifinals.
[
;Quarterfinal 1
;Quarterfinal 2
;Quarterfinal 3
;Quarterfinal 4
;Quarterfinal 5
]
Semifinals
There were two semifinal races, each with five skiers. The top two in each semifinal advanced to the A Final, to compete for the top four places, while the third and fourth placed finishers advanced to the B Final, for places five through eight.[
;Semifinal 1
;Semifinal 2
]
Finals
Björn Lind finished 0.6 seconds ahead of Roddy Darragon to win the Olympic gold medal in the cross-country sprint.[
;Final A
;Final B
]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cross-country skiing at the 2006 Winter Olympics - Men's sprint
Men's cross-country skiing at the 2006 Winter Olympics
Men's individual sprint cross-country skiing at the Winter Olympics