Cross-country skiing at the 2010 Winter Olympics – Women's 30 kilometre classical


The women's 30 kilometre classical cross-country skiing competition at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada was held on 27 February at Whistler Olympic Park in Whistler, British Columbia at 11:45 PST.

Summary

The 30 kilometre has been skated as a mass start event at the World Championships since 2005 and since the 2006 Winter Olympics. Kateřina Neumannová of the Czech Republic was the defending Olympic champion though that event was held in the freestyle technique. She retired after the 2006-07 season and later chaired the organizing committee for the 2009 world championships. Poland's Justyna Kowalczyk, the defending Olympic bronze medalist, was the reigning world champion though that was also in the freestyle technique. The last World Cup event in the 30 km classical took place in Trondheim, Norway on 14 March 2009 and was won by Petra Majdič of Slovenia.
The race was a mass start event where all of the skiers start at the same time.

Results

Majdič, the bronze medalist in the sprint event at these games who also won the last event in this format prior to this race, did not participate in the wake of crashing down a bank, into an unprotected deep gorge and landing on ice and rocks, resulting in five broken ribs and a pneumothorax prior to the start of qualifying for the sprint event ten days earlier. This race also matched up the last four world champions in this event.
At the 7.1 km mark, the top three leaders were Størmer Steira, Jatskaja, and Kalla. Kowalczyk, the defending world champion, led at the halfway mark, followed by Saarinen and Longa. Bjørgen, the 2005 world champion in this event, held the lead at the 22.1 km mark, followed by Kowalczyk and Saarinen, who changed skis at the 25 km mark. Kowalczyk's finish over Bjørgen was the closest in Olympic history, edging out Neumannová's 1.4-second win over Russia's Yuliya Chepalova at the previous Olympics in Turin.
Kowalczyk is the first woman from Poland to win a gold medal at the Winter Olympics and only the second overall, after Wojciech Fortuna's victory in the ski jumping individual large hill event at the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo. Saarinen earned her first and only individual Winter Olympic medal. 2003 World champion Zavylova finished 23rd while 2007 World champion Kuitunen finished 14th.
RankBibNameCountryTimeDeficit
1Justyna Kowalczyk1:30:33.7
5Marit Bjørgen1:30:34.0+0.3
2Aino-Kaisa Saarinen1:31:38.7+1:05.0
10Evi Sachenbacher-Stehle1:31:52.9+1:19.2
24Masako Ishida1:31:56.5+1:22.8
3Charlotte Kalla1:31:57.6+1:23.9
20Therese Johaug1:32:01.3+1:27.6
4Kristin Størmer Steira1:32:04.4+1:30.7
23Anna Olsson1:33:00.3+2:26.6
1022Karine Laurent Philippot1:33:11.4+2:37.7
116Marianna Longa1:33:19.9+2:46.2
1217Riikka Sarasoja1:33:33.2+2:59.5
138Virpi Kuitunen1:33:36.7+3:03.0
1435Aurore Cuinet1:33:58.3+3:24.6
1525Sara Renner1:34:04.2+3:30.5
1627Antonella Confortola1:34:07.7+3:34.0
1726Stefanie Böhler1:34:08.7+3:35.0
1836Oxana Jatskaja1:34:11.0+3:37.3
1916Katrin Zeller1:34:18.1+3:44.4
2015Marthe Kristoffersen1:34:31.1+3:57.8
2138Tatjana Zavalij1:34:32.3+3:58.6
229Olga Zavyalova1:34:46.3+4:12.6
2333Kikkan Randall1:34:59.0+4:25.3
2441Sylwia Jaśkowiec1:34:59.1+4:25.4
2530Krista Lähteenmäki1:35:08.4+4:34.7
2642Kateryna Grygorenko1:35:11.4+4:37.7
2711Kristina Šmigun-Vähi1:35:27.2+4:53.5
2854Paulina Maciuszek1:36:31.7+5:58.0
2912Olga Rocheva1:37:15.5+6:41.8
3055Madoka Natsumi1:37:35.4+7:01.7
3132Li Hongxue1:37:50.4+7:16.7
3228Kateřina Smutná1:37:51.3+7:17.6
3319Elena Kolomina1:37:53.0+7:19.3
3448Marina Matrossova1:38:00.6+7:26.9
3546Holly Brooks1:38:14.5+7:40.8
3634Laura Orgué1:38:18.3+7:44.6
3714Olga Schuchkina1:38:30.3+7:56.6
3829Alena Sannikova1:38:31.3+7:57.6
3937Eva Nývltová1:38:40.1+8:06.4
4031Ivana Janečková1:40:13.6+9:39.9
4143Tatjana Mannima1:40:51.3
4213Svetlana Malahova-Shishkina1:41:01.6
4351Lada Nesterenko1:41:40.1
4445Nastassia Dubarezava1:42:28.1
4549Madeleine Williams1:42:33.7
4650Monika Gyorgy1:44:03.5
4753Eva Skalníková1:44:47.8
47Kornelia Marek
7Valentina Shevchenko
44Ida Ingemarsdotter
39Cécile Storti
40Morgan Arritola
52Laurence Rochat
18Sabina Valbusa
21Kamila Rajdlová