The men's sprint

cross-country skiing Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing where skiers rely on their own locomotion to move across snow-covered terrain, rather than using ski lifts or other forms of assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreation ...

competition at the

2006 Winter Olympics The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially the XX Olympic Winter Games ( it, XX Giochi olimpici invernali) and also known as Torino 2006, were a winter multi-sport event held from 10 to 26 February 2006 in Turin, Italy. This marked the second t ...

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) 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 ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, was held on 22 February at

Pragelato Pragelato (also ''Pragelà''; Vivaro-Alpine: ''Prajalats'', French: Prajalats) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Turin in the Italian region Piedmont, located about west of Turin, in the upper Val Chisone. The name ''Prag ...

. Vasily Rochev 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 Thobias Fredriksson (born 4 April 1975 in Dals Rostock, Dalsland) is a Swedish former cross-country skier who competed since 2000. He won two medals at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin with a gold in the team sprint and a bronze in the individ ...

in 2003, while

Tor Arne Hetland Tor Arne Hetland (born 12 January 1974) is a Norwegian cross-country skiing coach and a former professional cross-country skier. Hetland was born in Stavanger. He now lives in Trondheim. While active he represented Byåsen IL ski club. He was co ...

was defending Olympic champion. Swede

Björn Lind Björn Johan Lind (born March 22, 1978, in Ljusterö, Uppland) is a Swedish former cross-country skier who competed since 2000. Competing in three Winter Olympics, he won gold medals in both the Individual and Team sprint events at Turin in 20 ...

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

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

finished 0.6 seconds ahead of

Roddy Darragon Roddy Darragon (born August 31, 1983 in Le Grand-Bornand) is a French cross-country skier and non-commissioned officer

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