Daijiworld Media Network – Milano
Milano, Feb 14: India’s Stanzin Lundup finished 104th in the men’s 10km freestyle cross-country skiing event at the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics on Friday, ending near the bottom of the standings in a competitive field.
The 27-year-old Indian Army athlete clocked 28 minutes 26.7 seconds at the Tesero Cross-Country Skiing Stadium, placing 104th among 111 competitors who completed the race. A total of 113 athletes had started the event, with one failing to finish and another disqualified.
Norway’s Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo won gold with a time of 20:36.2, securing his eighth Winter Olympics gold medal. France’s Mathis Desloges claimed silver in 20:41.1, while Norway’s Einar Hedegart took bronze with 20:50.2. Lundup finished 7 minutes 50.5 seconds behind Klaebo.
With three races still remaining, Klaebo equalled the all-time Winter Olympics record of eight gold medals, joining Norwegian legends Marit Bjoergen, Bjoern Daehlie and Ole Einar Bjoerndalen.
The 10km interval start freestyle is a time-trial format where skiers begin individually at fixed intervals and race against the clock over a 10km course featuring uphill, downhill and flat sections. The fastest overall time determines the winner.
Lundup’s selection for the Games had drawn legal scrutiny. A single bench of the Delhi High Court observed that another skier, Manjeet, was more meritorious and ranked two places above Lundup, terming his exclusion manifestly arbitrary and unfair. The Indian Olympic Association informed the court that Manjeet’s name was not part of the long list and that participation timelines had expired. The Sports Ministry later cleared Lundup’s participation, stating that it would not involve any cost to the government.
Lundup is the fifth cross-country skier to represent India at the Winter Olympics. Bahadur Gurung Gupta finished 78th in the men’s sprint event in 2006. Tashi Lundup placed 83rd in the 15km event in 2010, while Nadeem Iqbal and Jagdish Singh finished 85th and 99th in 2014 and 2018 respectively.
India’s campaign at the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics will conclude on Monday with Mohammad Arif Khan competing in the men’s slalom alpine skiing event. It will be his second Winter Olympics appearance after featuring in the slalom and giant slalom at Beijing 2022.