Oslo 2011 Day Four: Men's 30K Pursuit

Petter Northug of Norway topped the podium today, taking his "golden revenge" against the Swedes who beat him to gold the last few races. It was no walk in the park, though. Northug sat back for entire classic leg, staying within the lead pack, comfortable in the 'teens. The 80 other competitors put up quite the fight in the skating section, especially those feisty Canadians. Alex Harvey was the name buzzing on the radios as we listened in from the woods surrounding Holmenkollen. Harvey made a gutsy breakaway 18K into the 30K race, not long after the leaders had transitioned into their skating gear. I was pretty sure that he was going to hold on to the lead until the end- he seemed strong and the time ahead of the pack was steady (this was partially thanks to his teammates, especially Ivan Babikov who slowed the pace to allow Harvey some wiggle room). He maintained the gap until the last loop (less than 4K to go), a pretty impressive position to hold in a field of the world's fastest skiers. But the pack caught up, with Northug and teammate Tord Asle Gjerdalen chasing Harvey down. It came down to the athletes who still had some fuel to sprint. Among those were Marcus Hellner of Sweden (Day One sprint champion), Northug, and two Russians, Maxim Vylegzhanin and Ilia Chernousov. The last 500 meters put the crowd on the edge of their seats, and Northug pulled through for the win. Vylegzhanin and Chernousov brought home silver and bronze, respectively.

Kris Freeman was the top finisher from the US in 29th place. Noah Hoffman finished in 37th place.  Lars Flora was 53rd and Tad Elliott finished close behind in 55th place.

It was a great day today- the morning started out sunny but the clouds moved in not long after. The crowds on the trail near Frognerseteren were even bigger than yesterday! The action continues, so don't put your cow bell away quite yet! Tomorrow is the Women's 10K Classic. Stay tuned!

Additional Links:
Full Results
Recap of the Women's Pursuit yesterday
FasterSkier's full report of the race