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Cross-country skiing at the 2006 Winter Olympics – Men's 50 kilometre freestyle

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Men's 50 kilometre freestyle
at the XX Olympic Winter Games
VenuePragelato
DatesFebruary 26
Competitors82 from 32 nations
Winning time2:06:11.8
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Giorgio Di Centa
 Italy
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Yevgeny Dementyev
 Russia
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Mikhail Botvinov
 Austria
← 2002
2010 →

The Men's 50 kilometre freestyle cross-country skiing competition at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, was held on 26 February, at Pragelato. This was the final day of the Games, and the top three finishers were presented their medals as part of the Closing Ceremony.[1]

This is the first time in Olympic history that the 50 kilometre race is run as a mass start, where all skiers start at the same time, and the winner of the race is the first to cross the finish line. This is unlike the individual start, where skiers start one by one at 30-second intervals, and the winner is the skier whoever runs the distance the fastest.

The 50 kilometre had previously been skied only once as a mass start event at the World Championships, in 2005, with Frode Estil of Norway winning. However, that was in the classical style. The last 50 kilometre freestyle race at a World Championship was in 2003, and Martin Koukal of the Czech Republic won that event. Mikhail Ivanov of Russia was defending Olympic champion on 50 kilometre, but that event was held in classical technique with individual start. The last Olympic mass start race in 2002, won by Christian Hoffmann of Austria, was a shorter 30 kilometre event.

With a pack of 10–15 skiers coming together towards the finish, Giorgio Di Centa won Italy's second gold medal in cross-country skiing. This was the closest Olympic 50 km ever (0.8 seconds), eclipsing the 4.9 seconds that separated Thomas Wassberg from Gunde Svan (both from Sweden) at the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo.

A photograph of Di Centa in action during this event would be used as the pictogram for the cross-country skiing events at the following Olympics.

Results

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The race was a 'mass start', with all 79 skiers starting at the same time. 13 skiers failed to finish the race, while 3 were originally entered, but did not start.[2]

Rank Name Country Time
Giorgio Di Centa  Italy 2:06:11.8
Yevgeny Dementyev  Russia 2:06:12.6
Mikhail Botwinov  Austria 2:06:12.7
4 Emmanuel Jonnier  France 2:06:13.5
5 Pietro Piller Cottrer  Italy 2:06:14.0
6 Anders Södergren  Sweden 2:06:14.1
7 Martin Koukal  Czech Republic 2:06:14.9
8 Jiří Magál  Czech Republic 2:06:15.1
9 Vincent Vittoz  France 2:06:16.4
10 Mathias Fredriksson  Sweden 2:06:17.1
11 Jean-Marc Gaillard  France 2:06:19.9
12 Sergei Dolidovich  Belarus 2:06:22.4
13 Maxim Odnodvortsev  Kazakhstan 2:06:23.4
14 Martin Bajčičák  Slovakia 2:06:24.9
15 Tord Asle Gjerdalen  Norway 2:06:26.2
16 Lukáš Bauer  Czech Republic 2:06:29.0
17 Jens Filbrich  Germany 2:06:31.1
18 Nikolai Pankratov  Russia 2:06:33.9
19 Fabio Santus  Italy 2:06:38.2
20 Alexander Legkov  Russia 2:06:39.7
21 Remo Fischer  Switzerland 2:06:40.9
22 Juan Jesus Guiterrez  Spain 2:06:43.3
23 Diego Ruiz  Spain 2:06:51.6
24 Tobias Angerer  Germany 2:07:00.3
25 Johan Olsson  Sweden 2:07:00.9
26 Alexandre Rousselet  France 2:07:01.5
27 Milan Šperl  Czech Republic 2:07:01.9
28 Frode Estil  Norway 2:07:06.1
29 Andrey Golovko  Kazakhstan 2:07:19.6
30 Fulvio Valbusa  Italy 2:07:22.5
31 Nejc Brodar  Slovenia 2:07:24.5
32 Toni Livers  Switzerland 2:07:25.4
33 Tor Arne Hetland  Norway 2:07:36.2
34 Andrew Johnson  United States 2:07:56.3
35 Aivar Rehemaa  Estonia 2:08:00.8
36 René Sommerfeldt  Germany 2:08:03.0
37 Denis Krivushkin  Kazakhstan 2:08:05.3
38 Ivan Babikov  Russia 2:08:07.9
39 Markus Hasler  Liechtenstein 2:08:29.0
40 Alexander Lasutkin  Belarus 2:08:40.4
41 Jan Egil Andresen  Norway 2:08:43.7
42 Vicente Vilarrubla  Spain 2:09:03.1
43 Teemu Kattilakoski  Finland 2:09:26.2
44 George Grey  Canada 2:09:38.4
45 Michal Malak  Slovakia 2:09:38.7
46 Zsolt Antal  Romania 2:10:06.7
47 Ivan Bátory  Slovakia 2:10:32.2
48 Li Geilang  China 2:10:36.9
49 Katsuhito Ebisawa  Japan 2:10:39.6
50 Christian Stebler  Switzerland 2:11:13.0
51 Jörgen Brink  Sweden 2:11:19.2
52 Olli Ohtonen  Finland 2:11:54.7
53 Qiung Zhang  China 2:12:13.0
54 Andrey Kondroschev  Kazakhstan 2:13:24.2
55 Joze Mehle  Slovenia 2:13:37.1
56 Mikhail Gumenyak  Ukraine 2:13:44.6
57 Dan Roycroft  Canada 2:13:47.5
58 Chris Jeffries  Canada 2:13:49.5
59 Shunsuke Komamura  Japan 2:14:08.8
60 Oļegs Maļuhins  Latvia 2:15:10.6
61 Kris Freeman  United States 2:15:32.6
62 Vladimir Olschanski  Ukraine 2:16:14.7
63 Ren Long  China 2:16:15.0
Carl Swenson  United States DNF
Ville Nousiainen  Finland DNF
Nobu Naruse  Japan DNF
James Southam  United States DNF
Olexandr Putsko  Ukraine DNF
Xia Wan  China DNF
Aleksej Novoselkij  Lithuania DNF
Jung Eui Myung  South Korea DNF
Sabahattin Oglago  Turkey DNF
Francesc Soulie  Andorra DNF
Valts Eiduks  Latvia DNF
Intars Spalvins  Latvia DNF
Aleksandar Milenkovic  Serbia and Montenegro DNF
Olegs Andrejevs  Latvia DNF
Oliver Kraas  South Africa DNF
Noureddine Bentoumi  Algeria DNF
Mihai Galiceanu  Romania DNS
Edmond Khachatryan  Armenia DNS
Hovhannes Sargsyan  Armenia DNS

References

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  1. ^ "Cross Country Skiing at the 2006 Torino Winter Games: Men's 50 kilometres". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
  2. ^ "Torino 2006 Official Report - Cross Country Skiing" (PDF). Torino Organizing Committee. LA84 Foundation. March 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-06-12. Retrieved Jun 8, 2009.