Wearing shirt but not medal, Tongan finishes 114th of 116
The “shirtless” Tongan, all covered up to keep warm this time, had only one thought as he maneuvered around the final downhill turn and headed toward the finish line of the 15-kilometer freestyle race.
“Please, God,” the Olympic cross-country skier said to himself, “not in front of everyone. Don’t give me my first fall.”
Pita Taufatofua made it to the finish line, all right, and he did it before they closed the course for the night — his other fear heading into the event.
The man who has marched shirtless and oiled up in the last two Olympics wasn’t even last in Friday’s race. Taufatofua was 114th of 116 finishers, about 33 minutes behind gold medalist Dario Cologna.
“I would rather finish toward the end of the pack with all of my friends than somewhere in the middle by myself,” said Taufatofua. “We fought together, we finish together.”
Cologna, of Switzerland, became the first cross-country skier to win three Olympic golds in the same event. He also won in Vancouver (2010) and Sochi (2014).
“It takes a lot of effort to just to win one gold medal,” Cologna said. “To write a little bit of history feels pretty good.”
Esmee Visser skated the race of her life to win the 5,000 meters and give the overpowering Dutch a sixth gold medal in seven speedskating events.
She beat two-time defending champion Martina Sablikova of the Czech Republic by more than a second. Further back in eighth place was three-time Olympic 5,000-meter champion Claudia Pechstein, the German who’s almost 46 — more than double Visser’s age of 22.
Pechstein was seeking to become the oldest woman to win a Winter Olympic title. The German great may not be through. She’ll be looking for another shot at Olympic gold at the 2022 Beijing Games.
“Why not?” said Pechstein. “I don’t think about my age.”
Hanna Huskova survived swirling winds to give Belarus its second straight gold in women’s aerials.
She edged Zhang Xin of China in an event that turned into a battle of survival after four of the six skiers in the final round either sat down on their landings or wiped out completely.
American Madison Olsen was sixth.
An IOC member expelled from the Pyeongchang Olympics over a run-in with a security guard is also Pita Taufatofua of Tonga finishes the 15-kilometer cross-country freestyle race. Switzerland’s Dario Cologna won the gold. one of its only members openly critical of President Thomas Bach’s move to allow Russian athletes to compete.
Adam Pengilly apologized and acknowledged running through the security checkpoint at his hotel and using coarse language. He denied pushing the guard.
Pengilly, who is British, opposed allowing Russians to compete in Pyeongchang in the wake of a massive doping scandal.