Over the Top - Beijing 2022
The second Winter Olympic sport the bears a resemblance to cycling is cross country skiing. Going so far as the announcers refering to the main group of skiiers as the 'peleton' and those off the front as the 'breakaway.' The high winds of the final days of these Games meant that the men's mass start "ski marathon was shorten from 50k to 28k. The bitter cold and fear of exposure had to have factored into the decision as well. Simen Hegsted Kreuger (Norway) used a climb with just 10k lrft to ski to try an get away from the Russian duo of Artem Maltsev and Ivan Yakimushkin and Clement Parisse (France). The American Scott Patterson hid in the peloton most of the day finishing in 8th place (two placings higher than his proclaimed goal). Kreuger was caught by the Russian duo in the final kilometers with Maltsev winning Gold and his countryman Yakimushkin taking Silver. Kreuger held on to take the final medal of the day bringing Norway's medal count to 38, a record for the Winter Olympics.