Olivier Léveillé overcame many obstacles, but he nevertheless concluded his first Olympic experience on a high note when he finished 27th in the 30 kilometer freestyle on Saturday.
The originally scheduled race distance was 50 kilometers, but officials decided to lower it due to minus 17 degrees and strong winds blowing over the Zhangjiakou National Cross-Country Center.
In addition to the difficult weather conditions, the Sherbrooke resident had to cover one kilometer of the race on a single ski, as he explained to his national federation.
“I’m really proud of my first Olympics, but it’s a bit bittersweet today (Saturday) because I felt really good. I was well placed in the peloton and I was preparing to move up into the top-30, top-20 and unfortunately on the first lap someone caught me and I broke a ski. Fortunately, technician Félix-Antoine Vézina had one, but I lost at least a minute on the peloton,” the 20-year-old Quebecer explained to Nordiq Canada.
Léveillé was in 33rd place with one lap to go and he was finally able to get six places in the last 7 kilometers, including one last in the final sprint to conclude the race 4 minutes 21.6 seconds behind the winner, Alexander Bolshunov of the Russian Olympic Committee. The winner ends his Games with five medals, three of which are gold.
“A Mental Battle”
This is Léveillé’s best result in Beijing. The other Canadian entered, British Columbian Rémi Drolet, finished in 35and up (+4 minutes 54.4 seconds).
“I’m proud to have made it to the finish. It was a mental battle today: against myself and against the wind. I am proud to have pushed until the end to obtain my second top-30 at these Games,” concluded Léveillé.
Browne 16and in women
On the women’s side, Saturday night, Cendrine Browne took the 16and position.
The representative of the maple leaf completed the 30 km in 1 h 31 min 21.6 s, trailing the winner of the event, Norwegian Therese Johaug, by 6 min 27.6 s.
The latter won the gold in a time of 1 h 24 min 54 s. She beat her closest pursuer, American Jessica Diggins, by 1 min 43.3 s and Finland’s Kerttu Niskanen, by 2 min 33.3 s.
Canadians Katherine Stewart-Jones (+7 min 39.3 s), Dahria Beatty (+11 min 14.2 s) and Laura Leclair (+15 min 20.5 s) respectively took the 30and39and and 51and ranks.
