Two Canadian men cracked the top 20 in the men’s 50-km freestyle on the final day of the 2014 Winter Olympics, but as has been the case for the cross-country team in Sochi, the results were less than satisfactory.
Alex Harvey and Ivan Babikov had fast skis and looked in great shape as they stuck with the lead pack for the entire grueling race, which included 10 heart-stopping climbs, downhill speeds that cracked 76 kilometres an hour and 8 C temperatures.
Through the first 10 km, it was evident the Canadians had fantastic skis, as Harvey and Babikow flew up the standings on the descents.
In a race that included very few breakaways, the Russians used their intimate knowledge of the course to attack at precisely the right moment. Finland’s Matti Heikkinen took a commanding 20 second lead at the 30-km marker after the rest of the field changed skis and took their time reeling him in. Russian monster Alex Leghov made a tremendous push on the final climb, bringing teammates Maxim Vylegzanin and Illa Chernousov with him. Number one ranked Martin Sundby was the only other skier who was able to respond to the move.
Further back, Harvey was still in attacking distance, but at the 48-km marker, he tripped and crashed on a broken pole, which caused him to lose speed right before the final climb. Babikov also began to fade and didn’t have the legs to move up in the final 5 km. Leghov took the gold as the Russians swept the podium.
“I felt pretty badly and pretty much had to go through the pain for the last 25 km,” Babikov said. “I stuck in there, and hung on.”
“I had no podium in the legs, but I was confident for the top 10,” Harvey said.
Graeme Killick had a career-best day, where he finished in 28th spot. Killick was one of the lone athletes who didn’t change his skis at the 30-km mark, which allowed him to move up as high as 12th place at one point. He showed strong form in the final 10 km, maintaining contact with the lead pack and impressed his coaches with the result. Cockney, who traditionally leans toward shorter distances, soaked up his race experience, waving to the crowd and camera in his last 100 metres to the line to finish in 53rd.
The top 20 results are respectable, but a far cry from the two medals the team had targeted heading into Sochi. Between wax issues and illness, the team struggled from beginning to end. Devon Kershaw, who missed a gold medal in the 50 km in 2010 by 1.6 seconds, pulled out of the Sochi 50 km due to illness.
“I don’t think we can say we’re happy. For the whole team it’s been a tough couple of weeks,” Babikov said. “Today, I had a broken pole early on, Alex crashed. You can’t do much about it now. We gave our 100 per cent.”
“This is not the end of the world. It’s just sport, but there is not a day where we can be satisfied with the result. I have no regrets, because we prepared as best we could. Yes, I have disappointments and I do not know what we could change,” Harvey said.
