Finland's Niskanen takes gold, Canada's Léveillé cracks top 30 in men's 15km classic
21-year-old from Sherbrooke, Que., sets a personal Olympic best, placing 29th
Olivier Léveillé led the three-person Canadian contingent in the men's 15k classic cross-country ski race on Friday, finishing 29th, cracking the top 30 at the Olympic Games for the first time in his career.
Ivo Niskanen of Finland skied to his fourth Olympic medal and third gold, with a time of 37:54.8, running away from the pack, with Russian Olympic Committee's Alexander Bolshunov crossing the line 23.2 seconds later to earn silver.
Canada's youngest skier in the event, Léveillé burst onto the world scene with a bronze medal at the FIS World Junior Championship in the 10k freestyle. The Sherbrooke, Que., native is making his Olympic debut at Beijing 2022, finishing 31st in the skiathlon and 54th in the sprint before Friday's Olympic-best performance.
Rémi Drolet of Rossland, B.C., crossed the 15km finish line at the Zhangjiakou Cross-Country Centre as the second-best Canadian, 3:19.9 back of the gold medal, posting an Olympic-best finish of 33rd place.
The final Canadian, Antoine Cyr of Gatineau, Que. finished 37th, 3:22.9 back of Niskanen's leading time, marking his best Olympic result after finishing the skiathon in 42nd. While the 23-year-old is making his Olympic debut at Beijing 2022, he previously cracked the top 30 in the 15km classic at the FIS men's U23 World Championships.
"I felt so good today, it was control all race," Niskanen said awaiting the victory ceremony. "This race means a lot to me, I was fourth in this Sochi, and it was a long eight years to wait for this victory, and I had been focusing on it all the time."
While the youthful Canadian trio fell short of breaking Pierre Harvey's 17th place record in the event set at Calgary 1988, they showed potential ahead of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympics, and potential Vancouver 2030 Games.
Before the future, however, cross country skiing continues at Beijing 2022 with the 4x10km relay on Sunday at 2:00 a.m. ET, streaming live on CBC Gem, the CBC Sports app and CBC Sports' Beijing 2022 website.
