Sochi 2014 skiing results: Dario Cologna wins a second gold
Dario Cologna of Switzerland won his second gold medal of the games in the men’s cross-country 15km classic.
Stanko Gruden/Agence Zoom
Cross-country skiing is traditionally a Scandinavian stronghold of an event, but Dario Cologna has put his Helvetic Confederation on top of the podium twice now.
The Swiss champion of the cross-country skiathalon (15km free and 15km classic) also took gold in Friday’s 15km classic event. His 38:29.7 time was 28.5 seconds faster than silver medalist Johan Olsson of Sweden’s 38:58.2. Daniel Richardsson -- also of Sweden -- just barely nosed out Finn Iivo Niskanen for the bronze by finishing two hundredths of a second ahead, at 39:08.05. In a 15 kilometer race where athletes are usually separated by seven or eight seconds, it was an almost-impossibly close call.
Cologna has dominated the classic style of cross-country skiing despite bowing out of the quarterfinals of the freestyle sprint competition. He has given Switzerland two medals in the discipline, but of the 18 medals given to athletes, seven have gone to Norway (including three golds) and seven to Sweden. Both Poland and Slovenia have one a medal apiece.
The highest-finishing American in the 15km classic was Noah Hoffman, who finished at 41:02.7. This was good for 31st, at 2:33 off the pace.
The full finishers can be found here.
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