Alexander Bolshunov wins Olympic gold in 30K skiathlon

Alexander Bolshunov pulled away from the pack early and won the first men's cross-country skiing gold medal at the Beijing Olympics on Sunday in the 30-kilometer skiathlon. Bolshunov, the World Cup leader in distance races, grabbed a Russian Olympic Committee flag in the final stretch and waved it in the air as he crossed the finish line in 1 hour, 16 minutes, 9.8 seconds. "My emotions cannot be expressed," he said after the race.

"I still have not realized that I am truly an Olympic champion." Bolshunov and Iivo Niskanen of Finland led the race through the first four classic ski laps, but Russian athlete Denis Spitsov passed Niskanen on the freestyle legs. Spitsov stayed out front and secured the silver, 1:11 behind Bolshunov. Niskanen held on for the bronze, 2:00 behind.

Bolshunov said that once he and Niskanen moved into the lead, he knew it was his chance. "I just started to work together with him and then on the freeskate portion I understood that the most important thing was to get to the finish line without being overwhelmed by any personal emotions and to take my gold medal," Bolshunov said. Niskanen said his plan was to push on the classic legs, but the skate half was tougher.

"The pace was high after the first lap all the time and I couldn't hang with the Russians," he said. "They were so strong that it was a long race to push alone. To get the bronze, I'm happy about it." Spitsov said he was pleased with how his skis worked in the classic section.

"But on the freeskate, in the last three laps, I was just enduring the pain and dreaming for this race to end faster because it was very hard," he said. The first Norwegian to cross the line was Hans Christer Holund in fourth. He won the bronze medal at the 2018