Sports > Olympics > Salt Lake City: 2002 Winter Olympics > Medal Sports

Cross Country Skiing

There are two techniques in cross country: classical (parallel skis) and freestyle (skating style). The Sprint features a qualification round with the fastest 16 skiers moving on to elimination heats. Top two finishers in each heat advance until there is a four-skier final. The Combined Pursuit is held on one day and consists of a classical race (10-km for men, 5-km for women) followed by a freestyle race (10-km for men, 5-km for women). The starting order in the freestyle portion of the Combined Pursuit is determined by the classical leg finish.

Medal breakdown (12 events): 10 medals—Norway (3-4-3); Seven—Russia (3-3-1); Five—Italy (2-2-1); Four—Germany (1-2-1); Three—Estonia (1-1-1); Two—Spain (2-0-0) and Austria (0-1-1); One—Canada (0-0-1), Czech Republic (0-0-1) and Switzerland (0-0-1).

Men

1.5–km Sprint

		Time
1	Tor Arne Hetland, NOR	2:56.9
2	Peter Schlickenrieder, GER	2:57.0
3	Cristian Zorzi, ITA	2:57.2

Best USA: No American skier qualified for the elimination heats.

15–km Classical

		Time
1	Andrus Veerpalu, EST	37:07.4
2	Frode Estil, NOR	37:43.4
3	Jaak Mae, EST	37:50.8

Best USA: 12th, John Bauer (38:55.7); 16th, Patrick Weaver (39:24.4).

Combined Pursuit

		Time
1	Johann Muehlegg, SPA	49:20.4
2	Frode Estil, NOR	49:48.9
2	Thomas Alsgaard, NOR	49:48.9

Best USA: 15th, Kris Freeman (50:32.0).

30–km Freestyle

		Time
1	Johann Muehlegg, SPA	1:09:28.9
2	Christian Hoffmann, AUT	1:11:31.0
3	Mikhail Botvinov, AUT	1:11:32.3

Best USA: 22nd, Andrew Johnson (1:14:26.9).

50–km Classical

		Time
1	Mikhail Ivanov, RUS*	2:06:20.8
2	Andrus Veerpalu, EST	2:06:44.5
3	Odd-Bjoern Hjelmeset, NOR	2:08.41.5

*Ivanov finished second to Spain's Johann Muehlegg, who was stripped of his gold medal after test results revealed he failed a pre-race drug test. Muehlegg tested positive for darbepoetin, a drug that can enhance performance in endurance sports by increasing oxygen capacity through greater red blood cell production. He was ordered to leave the Games but allowed to keep the two gold medals he won earlier.

Best USA: 34th, John Bauer (2:19:35.7).

4 x 10–km Mixed Relay

		Time
1	Norway	1:32:45.5
2	Italy	1:32:45.8
3	Germany	1:33:34.5

NOR—Anders Aukland, Frode Estil, Kristen Skjeldal, Thomas Alsgaard; ITA—Fabio Maj, Giorgio di Centa, Pietro Piller Cottrer, Cristian Zorzi; GER—Jens Filbrich, Andreas Schluetter, Tobias Angerer, Rene Sommerfeldt.

USA entry: 5th; John Bauer, Kris Freeman, Justin Wadsworth, Carl Swenson (1:34:05.5).

Women

1.5–km Sprint

		Time
1	Julija Tchepalova, RUS	3:10.6
2	Evi Sachenbacher, GER	3:12.2
3	Anita Moen, NOR	3:12.7

Best USA: No American skier qualified for the elimination heats.

10–km Classical

		Time
1	Bente Skari, NOR	28:05.6
2	Olga Danilova, RUS	28:08.1
3	Julija Tchepalova, RUS	28:09.9

Best USA: 38th, Wendy Wagner (30:50.7); 40th, Nina Kemppel (30:51.9).

Combined Pursuit

		Time
1	Olga Danilova, RUS	24:52.1
2	Larissa Lazutina, RUS	24:59.0
3	Beckie Scott, CAN	25:09.9

Best USA: 32nd, Nina Kemppel (26:27.8).

15–km Freestyle

		Time
1	Stefania Belmondo, ITA	39:54.4
2	Larissa Lazutina, RUS	39:56.2
3	Katerina Neumannova, CZR	40:01.3

Best USA: 30th, Nina Kemppel (42:53.1).

30–km Classical

		Time
1	Gabriella Paruzzi, ITA*	1:30:57.1
2	Stefania Belmondo, ITA	1:31:01.6
3	Bente Skari, NOR	1:31:36.3

*Paruzzi finished second to Russia's Larissa Lazutina, who was stripped of her gold medal and ordered to leave the Games after failing a subsequent drug test. Lazutina tested positive for darbepoetin, a drug that can enhance performance in endurance sports by increasing oxygen capacity through greater red blood cell production. She was allowed to keep the two silver medals she won earlier but was barred from participating in the 20-km team relay.

Note: Russia's Olga Danilova, who finished eighth in this race, also tested positive for darbepoetin and was ordered to leave the Games. She was allowed to keep the gold and silver medals she won earlier.

Best USA: 15th, Nina Kemppel (1:37:08.7).

4 x 5–km Mixed Relay

		Time
1	Germany	49:30.6
2	Norway	49:31.9
3	Switzerland	50:03.6

GER—Manuela Henkel, Viola Bauer, Claudia Kuenzel, Evi Sachenbacher; NOR—Marit Bjoergen, Bente Skari, Hilde G. Pedersen, Anita Moen; SWI—Andrea Huber, Laurence Rochat, Brigitte Albrecht Loretan, Natascia Leonardi Cortesi.

USA entry: 13th; Wendy Wagner, Nina Kemppel, Barbara Jones, Aelin Peterson (53:23.4).

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