Cross-country skiing: Hedegart, so close to the summit
For nine kilometres, the Olympic 10km freestyle resembled a Norwegian tug-of-war between Johannes Hoesflot Klæbo, the king of the circuit, and EinarHedegart, the daring novice. With one kilometre to go, 0.7 seconds still separated the two men. Gold was decided by the thickness of a ski.
But in the final, experience spoke for itself. Hedegart couldn’t go the distance. At the finish, the verdict was in: Klæbo in gold, Frenchman Mathis Desloges in silver, Hedegart in bronze, 14 seconds behind the winner and 9 seconds behind the runner-up.
The young Norwegian came very close to achieving the feat before coming up against his limits. Speaking to Eurosport, the Norwegian vacillated between pride and frustration: “Yes, there are two feelings. I’m happy with this Olympic bronze medal. I had the opportunity to beat Johannes. This is my Olympic debut at this level of competition. It’s not that easy to arrive and become Olympic champion. But I’m still very, very happy.
Above all, he described being totally exhausted: “I don’t think I’ve ever been so tired. I could hardly even see clearly over the last two kilometres. I was really fighting right to the end. When informed of his third place, he put things into perspective: “Since I was told that I was beaten and that I was still third on the podium, I wasn’t particularly disappointed.
And the key? Perhaps that final climb. “I think I was struggling with the technical aspect of the climb afterwards. You had to stay very, very strong technically because there were a lot of bumps. That’s perhaps where I had a bit more trouble today.
He tried right to the end. “I tried my best, but when it got really hard, when I was really tired, I couldn’t keep up. Before concluding with a smile: “It’s the first time he’s beaten me. We’ll make sure we have a party anyway.
For TV 2 consultant Petter Skinstad, the achievement remains immense: to arrive as the Olympic favourite with no experience of major championships and to stand on the podium at his first attempt is already an achievement. ” I salute his attempt to win,” he insists, praising his attacking mentality.
Einar Hedegart is already looking ahead to the rest of the programme. “I feel in a good position. I hope to be selected for at least one relay, and why not both [team sprint and relay].
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