Norwegian skier Johannes Klebo retired from mass strat at the Beijing Olympics.

Klebo withdrew on the third lap of the marathon, which was shortened from 50 to 28.4 km due to bad weather. Now the athletes are running the last lap, the Russians Alexander Bolshunov, Ivan Yakimushkin, Artem Maltsev and Denis Spitsov are in the leading group.

The head of the Russian Ski Racing Federation, Elena Vyalbe, said on Match TV that the Norwegian Johannes Klebo did not plan to run the ski mass start at the Beijing Olympics, but after the appearance of information about reducing the distance, he decided to take part in the race.

The coach of the Russians considereduction in the ski mass start a help for Klebo Olympics 2022 Vyalbe noted that Russian skiers, as well as other athletes, except Norwegian ones, were unhappy with the reduction in distance. “The situation is complicated, in some places it’s not just blowing out, there are fallen trees on the highway, maybe people will be placed near them,” said the head of the federation.

According to her, the marathon had to be moved to the morning of February 20 and held before the women's mass start. “We often run two marathons a day, this happens at the Russian Championships,” she said.

The organizers announced the postponement and reduction of the men's ski marathon on the morning of February 19. The reason was bad weather. The Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) reported that in Beijing there is a severe frost and gusty winds. The race was supposed to start at 9:00 Moscow time, but it was postponed for an hour. In addition, the organizers have reduced the distance from 50 to 28.4 km. That is, the men's marathon will be shorter than the women's by 30 km (will be held on February 20).

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