Imanol Rojo, 39th in the 15-kilometer classic style test

After achieving a historic result by being 21st in the 30-kilometre skiathlon, Imanol Rojo has returned to competition in the 15-kilometre classic style test.

The man from Tolosa has arrived in high spirits after achieving his best position in an individual event in his three Olympic appearances, to face a career that is not among your favorites. However, she has put in a very good performance. to finish 39th and surpass, at the state level, the 45th place obtained by Josep Giró in 1984 at the Games held in Sarajevo.

Imanol Rojo has started very strong, and his references have been very good in the times of the first partials. As he passed through kilometer three, he was 19.1 seconds behind the leader at that time, a distance that was reduced to 18.2 as he passed through kilometer 7.5.

However, to from kilometer 10 it has been giving way and their brands with respect to competitors have been getting worse little by little. Imanol finished in 39th place, with a final time of 41:24.2, 3:29.4 behind the winner of the race, the Finn Livo Niskanen.

“I am satisfied with what has been done. Good feelings until kilometer 10 where my energies have run out. I started faster than I thought, that has burned me out a bit, but the best thing is that I am physically well and I am much better over long distances. You have to keep in mind that it’s not my favorite distance, but it’s my best result in spite of everything” declared the Tolosa native to the Spanish Olympic Committee at the end of the test.

Face to his last test in these Games, the 50 kilometers style skater the two results achieved to date, the 21st place in the skiathlon and the 39th place today in the 15 kilometers classic style, reinforce Imanol to think that the best is yet to come.

“He encourages me for the 50 kilometres, which is really the main goal in these Games. I hope to do well seeing how I felt today. The goal for the next race is to do well, stay put and then move up the rankings as the race progresses. My goal is to beat 17th place, but mainly to improve the result achieved in the 30 kilometres. We’ll see how I recover and if I’m physically fit, like I’ve been up to now,” added Rojo.

Manex Salsamendi, in position 90

The Navarrese Manex Salsamendi Silva, competing with Brazil, also he has tried to do his best.

The 19-year-old skier, who is competing in his first Olympic Games, finished in 90th place, reaching the finish line 12:40.3 behind the champion, with a total time of 50:35.1. His partial at kilometer 6.3 was 21:08.7 (+5:24.4), 32:10.9 (+8:29.5) at kilometer 9.3 and 36:29.3 (+9.31.9) at kilometer 10.5.

The fight for the metals

Regarding the head of the race, the Frenchman Richard Jouve was the reference time during the first part of it, seconded by the Swedish William Poromaa, the Austrian Mika Vermeulen and the Finnish Perttu Hyvarinen.

But nevertheless, the real fight has begun when the big favorites have taken to the track. One of the stars of cross-country skiing, the Norwegian Johannes Klaebo, gave up 26 seconds in the first post and it seemed that he was going to have a difficult day, as happened in the skiathlon, although afterwards he has been fixing his performance to set a time of 38.32.3 which has earned him the bronze medal.

gold and silver

The struggle for silver and gold has ended up being a Russo-Finnish duel. One of the fittest men, the Finn Livo Niscanen, has started the season super strong, reaping several victories in the World Cups and today it has shone again. Niskanen has destroyed the clock with a 37:54.8 to improve the reference time set by Klaebo by 37 seconds and achieve his second gold in one Games. Livo has thus ended the hegemony of the Swiss Dario Cologna in this distance, owner of gold in Vancouver 2010, Sochi 2014 and Pyeongchang 2018.

the russian Alexander Bolshunov, gold in the skiathlon event, took the start with the aim of chasing down Niskanen but was unable to keep up with the great times set by the Finn. He has finally lost 23 seconds with respect to Niskanen and stopping the clock in 38: 18.0 he has hung the silver medal.