Cross-country_skiing_at_the_2006_Winter_Olympics_–_Men's_sprint
| Men's sprint at the XX Olympic Winter Games | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Venue | Pragelato | ||||||||||||
| Dates | 22 February | ||||||||||||
| Competitors | 80 from 34 nations | ||||||||||||
| Medalists | |||||||||||||
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The men's sprint cross-country skiing competition at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, was held on 22 February at Pragelato.[1]
Vasily Rochev was the defending world champion at this event, but he won in the classical style. The last free style sprint at the World Championships was won by Thobias Fredriksson in 2003,[2] while Tor Arne Hetland was defending Olympic champion. Swede Björn Lind won the two most recent World Cup events, and also won the Olympic race, beating Frenchman Roddy Darragon to the line. Darragon won France's first cross-country skiing medal in the history of the Olympics, while Sweden took the bronze through Thobias Fredriksson.
Qualifying
Eighty skiers completed the 1.3 kilometre course in the qualifying portion of the event, with the top thirty advancing to the quarterfinals.[3]
Quarterfinals
There were five quarterfinal races, each with six skiers. The top two in each heat advanced to the semifinals.[3]
- Quarterfinal 1
| Rank | Seed | Athlete | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 |  Björn Lind (SWE) | 2:21.5 | Q |
| 2 | 10 |  Roddy Darragon (FRA) | 2:21.9 | Q |
| 3 | 20 |  Martin Koukal (CZE) | 2:23.5 | |
| 4 | 11 |  Renato Pasini (ITA) | 2:23.7 | |
| 5 | 21 | Dušan Kožíšek (CZE) | 2:24.5 | |
| 6 | 30 |  Christoph Eigenmann (SUI) | 2:25.6 |
- Quarterfinal 2
| Rank | Seed | Athlete | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 17 | Freddy Schwienbacher (ITA) | 2:20.4 | Q |
| 2 | 14 |  Anti Saarepuu (EST) | 2:20.7 | Q |
| 3 | 4 |  Vasily Rochev (RUS) | 2:22.0 | |
| 4 | 7 |  Trond Iversen (NOR) | 2:22.5 | |
| 5 | 24 |  Harald Wurm (AUT) | 2:23.4 | |
| 6 | 27 | Ivan Alypov (RUS) | 2:24.7 |
- Quarterfinal 3
| Rank | Seed | Athlete | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Cristian Zorzi (ITA) | 2:25.9 | Q |
| 2 | 15 | Tor Arne Hetland (NOR) | 2:26.1 | Q |
| 3 | 6 | Mikael Östberg (SWE) | 2:26.7 | |
| 4 | 25 | Martin Stockinger (AUT) | 2:27.1 | |
| 5 | 16 |  Chris Cook (USA) | 2:27.9 | |
| 6 | 26 |  Lauri Pyykönen (FIN) | 2:28.1 |
- Quarterfinal 4
| Rank | Seed | Athlete | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12 | Ola Vigen Hattestad (NOR) | 2:23.1 | Q |
| 2 | 19 | Thobias Fredriksson (SWE) | 2:23.2 | Q |
| 3 | 9 | Peter Larsson (SWE) | 2:23.3 | |
| 4 | 2 | Andrew Newell (USA) | 2:24.3 | |
| 5 | 22 | Keijo Kurttila (FIN) | 2:25.1 | |
| 6 | 29 |  Lefteris Fafalis (GRE) | 2:26.7 |
- Quarterfinal 5
| Rank | Seed | Athlete | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Johan Kjølstad (NOR) | 2:20.2 | Q |
| 2 | 8 | Loris Frasnelli (ITA) | 2:20.4 | Q |
| 3 | 18 |  Yevgeniy Koschevoy (KAZ) | 2:20.7 | |
| 4 | 23 |  Janusz Krężelok (POL) | 2:21.6 | |
| 5 | 28 | Sergei Novikov (RUS) | 2:21.9 | |
| 6 | 13 |  Yuichi Onda (JPN) | 2:22.3 |
Semifinals
There were two semifinal races, each with five skiers. The top two in each semifinal advanced to the A Final, to compete for the top four places, while the third and fourth placed finishers advanced to the B Final, for places five through eight.[3]
- Semifinal 1
| Rank | Seed | Athlete | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Björn Lind (SWE) | 2:19.6 | Q |
| 2 | 10 | Roddy Darragon (FRA) | 2:19.9 | Q |
| 3 | 17 | Freddy Schwienbacher (ITA) | 2:22.8 | |
| 4 | 14 | Anti Saarepuu (EST) | 2:34.8 | |
| 5 | 15 | Tor Arne Hetland (NOR) | 2:43.2 |
- Semifinal 2
| Rank | Seed | Athlete | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 19 | Thobias Fredriksson (SWE) | 2:25.9 | Q |
| 2 | 5 | Cristian Zorzi (ITA) | 2:26.1 | Q |
| 3 | 8 | Loris Frasnelli (ITA) | 2:26.8 | |
| 4 | 3 | Johan Kjølstad (NOR) | 2:27.1 | |
| 5 | 12 | Ola Vigen Hattestad (NOR) | 2:29.0 |
Finals
Björn Lind finished 0.6 seconds ahead of Roddy Darragon to win the Olympic gold medal in the cross-country sprint.[3]
- Final A
| Rank | Seed | Athlete | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
 | 1 | Björn Lind (SWE) | 2:26.5 |
 | 10 | Roddy Darragon (FRA) | 2:27.1 |
 | 19 | Thobias Fredriksson (SWE) | 2:27.8 |
| 4 | 5 | Cristian Zorzi (ITA) | 2:31.7 |
- Final B
| Rank | Seed | Athlete | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 17 | Freddy Schwienbacher (ITA) | 2:23.9 |
| 6 | 8 | Loris Frasnelli (ITA) | 2:25.2 |
| 7 | 3 | Johan Kjølstad (NOR) | 2:25.6 |
| 8 | 14 | Anti Saarepuu (EST) | 2:27.9 |
- "Cross Country Skiing at the 2006 Torino Winter Games: Men's Sprint". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
- "Results". International Ski Federation. Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 18 March 2007.
- "Torino 2006 Official Report - Cross Country Skiing" (PDF). Torino Organizing Committee. LA84 Foundation. March 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 June 2012. Retrieved 12 June 2009.