Cross-country skiing : “For us in Great Britain, it’s great to finish so close to the Olympic podium”, says James Clugnet
On the track in Tesero (Italy), the venue for the cross-country skiing events at the Milan/Cortina 2026Olympic Games, the British duo of Andrew Musgrave and James Clugnet made history on Wednesday in the team sprint skate. Fifth place in the event was the best Olympic result ever achieved by Great Britain in this discipline, ahead of Andrew Musgrave ‘s sixth place a few days earlier in the individual skate.
“It’s incredible to finish in the top 5. He [James Clugnet] almost caught the guys who were fighting for the medals. He was so fast, so strong”, Andrew Musgrave enthused toEurosport.
And with good reason, James Clugnet was out for revenge. Disappointed not to have obtained a quota for the relay, the 29-year-old cross-country skier put in a great performance. “I wanted to keep my energy up in the first few laps. Yesterday at dinner, one of the guys in the team said: “Oh, it’s a shame, we’ve no chance of a medal at these Games. I replied: “No, don’t worry, we’ll show them. We finished a little behind, but so close to a medal. For us in Great Britain, it’s a great feeling to finish so close to the Olympic podium .
“We had very good skis. The team did a great job. We’re a small team, with just two technicians, but they did an incredible job,” James Clugnet told Eurosport.
For the British, Andrew Musgrave will be the outsider in the 50km classic on Saturday.
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