The men's 30 kilometre skiathlon competition in

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 ...

at the

2022 Winter Olympics The 2022 Winter Olympics (2022年冬季奥林匹克运动会), officially called the XXIV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Beijing 2022 (2022), was an international winter multi-sport event held from 4 to 20 February 2022 in Beij ...

was held on 6 February, at the

Kuyangshu Nordic Center and Biathlon Center The 2022 Winter Olympics (2022年冬季奥林匹克运动会), officially called the XXIV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Beijing 2022 (2022), was an international winter multi-sport event held from 4 to 20 February 2022 in Beij ...

Zhangjiakou Zhangjiakou (; ; ) also known as Kalgan and by several other names, is a prefecture-level city in northwestern Hebei province in Northern China, bordering Beijing to the southeast, Inner Mongolia to the north and west, and Shanxi to the southw ...

. The event, with half distance classic skiing and half distance

skate 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 ...

, was won by

Alexander Bolshunov Alexander Alexandrovich Bolshunov (russian: Александр Александрович Большунов, also '' tr.'' Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Bolshunov; born 31 December 1996) is a Russian cross-country skier and two-time winner of the ...

, for whom this is the first Olympic gold medal.

Denis Spitsov Denis Sergeyevich Spitsov (russian: Денис Сергеевич Спицов; born 16 August 1996) is a Russian cross-country skier who competes internationally. Spitsov debuted in the World Cup in Davos, Switzerland, on 9 December 2017. He p ...

finished second and

Iivo Niskanen Iivo Henrik Niskanen (born 12 January 1992) is a Finnish cross-country skier who has competed in the FIS Cross-Country World Cup since 2011. He is a three-time Olympic champion. Career Iivo Niskanen made his individual World Cup debut on 12 Marc ...

third.

Summary

The 2018 champion is

Simen Hegstad Krüger Simen Hegstad Krüger (born 13 March 1993) is a Norwegian cross-country skier who competes in the FIS Cross-Country World Cup. He represents the club Lyn. He won the gold medal in the 2018 Olympics Skiathlon event, leading a medal sweep by th ...

who qualified for the Olympics but tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

just before the games. Even though he had no symptoms, he was not allowed to fly to China with the rest of the team and did not get a chance to defend the title. The silver medalist

Martin Johnsrud Sundby Martin Johnsrud Sundby (born 26 September 1984) is a former Norwegian cross-country skier who competed between 2003 and 2021. He is a two time Olympic champion at the 2018 Winter Olympics in the team sprint and relay and was also a silver and bro ...

and the bronze medalist

Hans Christer Holund Hans Christer Holund (born 25 February 1989) is a Norwegian cross-country skier who represents Lyn. Holund won the 10 km classical at Junior World Championships in 2008, and debuted in the FIS Cross-Country World Cup in Lahti on 8 March 2 ...

qualified as well, but Sundby was not selected for the skiathlon. The overall leader of the

2021–22 FIS Cross-Country World Cup The 2021–22 FIS Cross-Country World Cup was the 41st official FIS Cross-Country World Cup, World Cup season in cross-country skiing (sport), cross-country skiing for men and women. The season began on 26 November 2021 in Rukatunturi, Ruka, Finl ...

before the Olympics was

Johannes Høsflot Klæbo Johannes Høsflot Klæbo (born 22 October 1996) is a Norwegian cross-country skier who represents Byåsen IL. He holds multiple records, most notably for being the youngest male in history to win the FIS Cross-Country World Cup, the Tour de Ski, ...

, and the distance leader was

. The season was dominated by Norwegians and Russians, who together took 20 podium places in distance events out of 24, and three more podium places were taken by

. Bolshunov is the 2021 World Champion in 30 kilometre skiathlon, with Krüger and Holund being the silver and the bronze medalist, respectively. Before the pit stop, Bolshunov and Niskanen ran away, followed by Spitsov, Holund and

Pål Golberg Pål Golberg (born 16 July 1990) is a Norwegian cross-country skier. His biggest World Cup success so far is the victory in FIS Ski Tour 2020, stage event placed in Sweden and Norway. He represents the club Gol IL. Cross-country skiing result ...

. After the pit stop, Bolshunov ran away from Niskanen, who was caught up by Spitsov, and at 18 km Spitsov and Niskanen were already 30 seconds behind. Then Spitsov ran away from Niskanen. At 25 km, Spitsov was already almost a minute behind Bolshunov, and Niskanen almost a minute behind Spitsov, with Holund further 40 seconds behind Niskanen and visibly out of medal contention.

Qualification

Results

The race was started at 15:00.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cross-country skiing at the 2022 Winter Olympics - Men's 30 kilometre skiathlon Men's cross-country skiing at the 2022 Winter Olympics