Canada was oh-so-close to an Olympic bronze medal in men's cross-country skiing three days ago and oh-so-far from one Wednesday.
Hopes for the country's first medal for men on skinny skis in the 4x10-kilometre relay evaporated early when Devon Kershaw of Sudbury, Ont., and Alex Harvey of St-Ferreol-les-Neiges, Que., appeared spent from Monday's fourth-place finish in the team sprint. Kershaw and Harvey skied the opening two legs of the relay in the "classic" technique with third-leg Ivan Babikov of Canmore, Alta., and anchor George Grey of Rossland skiing the freestyle or skate technique.
Grey was able to keep Canada ahead of Russia and Italy with a strong finish, but the Canadians ended up in seventh place, almost two minutes behind the winning time of Sweden, which took its sixth gold medal of the 2010 Winter Olympics and third in cross-country skiing.
Anchor leg Marcus Hellner brought the Swedes home for their first gold in the marquee event of cross-country since the 1988 Olympics in Calgary. The winning time of one hour, 45 minutes, 5.4 seconds brought Hellner his second gold of the 2010 Games.
Norway, 37.5 seconds behind the Swedes and in fourth place going into the final leg, got an inspired skate from Petter Northug, who reeled in skiers from France and the Czech Republic to give the Norwegians the silver medal.
The Czechs ended up third, depriving France, which was either first or second for most of the race, its first relay medal.
The silver gives Northug a complete set of medals -- gold, silver and bronze -- going into the final men's cross-country event of the 2010 Olympics, the 50-kilometre on Sunday.
"He's ridiculous," Kershaw said of Northug. "But then, he's the best in the world. What he did today was a testament to his will and his talent. That's the reason why he has the Golden Bib for being the best overall skier. That's why he's a triple gold medallist at the world championships. He's the benchmark. He's the guy we all hope to be."
Kershaw was less effusiveness about his own performance.
The two-time Olympian had Canada in second place in Monday's team sprint when he tagged Harvey for the final leg. Canada ended up fourth, seconds behind the bronze medal-winning Russians, in the best result for the Canadian men's team in Olympic history.
Wednesday's result is the sixth time a Canadian male team or individual skier has finished in the top 10 at the 2010 Games. But it brought no solace for Kershaw or his teammates, who had dreamt of a medal.
"My race was horrendous," he admitted. "I struggled with the conditions, and I must have been tired from my team sprint two days ago, where I felt like a superhero. It's funny how quickly things change in sport. Seventh is absolutely not what we wanted."
The result is an improvement from four years ago in Turin, when Canada was 11th in the men's relay.
Kershaw pointed out that superpowers like Norway and Sweden are able to hold back skiers from earlier races, then throw fresh bodies into the mix for the relays. Canada, lacking the same depth, must squeeze as much as it can from its top four racers. The result was evident on the ski tracks at Whistler Olympic Park on Wednesday.
"It was pretty obvious that Alex and I were a bit flat after Monday," Kershaw admitted. "We lost all the time. When I pressed down on the accelerator, it was if the cable from the gas pedal to the engine snapped. I put my foot to the floor and nothing responded."
"I tried to come back to the leaders, but I blew up midway through my race," Harvey said. "I closed 18 seconds in the first three kilometres, then the pace just got too fast for me. It's too bad, because Ivan and George were skiing fast enough to get a podium."
While the cross-country schedule hasn't worked in Canada's favour, Harvey and Babikov will have almost four days of rest before Sunday's 50K, Canada's final attempt to get that elusive Olympic men's medal.
"Looking at the schedule, I told Devon the day we would probably be the most tired was the 24th (Wednesday)," Harvey said. "But now we have some time to chill out. Four days is enough time to recover."
BY MIKE BEAMISH, CANWEST OLYMPIC NEWS
Grey was able to keep Canada ahead of Russia and Italy with a strong finish, but the Canadians ended up in seventh place, almost two minutes behind the winning time of Sweden, which took its sixth gold medal of the 2010 Winter Olympics and third in cross-country skiing.
Anchor leg Marcus Hellner brought the Swedes home for their first gold in the marquee event of cross-country since the 1988 Olympics in Calgary. The winning time of one hour, 45 minutes, 5.4 seconds brought Hellner his second gold of the 2010 Games.
Norway, 37.5 seconds behind the Swedes and in fourth place going into the final leg, got an inspired skate from Petter Northug, who reeled in skiers from France and the Czech Republic to give the Norwegians the silver medal.
The Czechs ended up third, depriving France, which was either first or second for most of the race, its first relay medal.
The silver gives Northug a complete set of medals -- gold, silver and bronze -- going into the final men's cross-country event of the 2010 Olympics, the 50-kilometre on Sunday.
"He's ridiculous," Kershaw said of Northug. "But then, he's the best in the world. What he did today was a testament to his will and his talent. That's the reason why he has the Golden Bib for being the best overall skier. That's why he's a triple gold medallist at the world championships. He's the benchmark. He's the guy we all hope to be."
Kershaw was less effusiveness about his own performance.
The two-time Olympian had Canada in second place in Monday's team sprint when he tagged Harvey for the final leg. Canada ended up fourth, seconds behind the bronze medal-winning Russians, in the best result for the Canadian men's team in Olympic history.
Wednesday's result is the sixth time a Canadian male team or individual skier has finished in the top 10 at the 2010 Games. But it brought no solace for Kershaw or his teammates, who had dreamt of a medal.
"My race was horrendous," he admitted. "I struggled with the conditions, and I must have been tired from my team sprint two days ago, where I felt like a superhero. It's funny how quickly things change in sport. Seventh is absolutely not what we wanted."
The result is an improvement from four years ago in Turin, when Canada was 11th in the men's relay.
Kershaw pointed out that superpowers like Norway and Sweden are able to hold back skiers from earlier races, then throw fresh bodies into the mix for the relays. Canada, lacking the same depth, must squeeze as much as it can from its top four racers. The result was evident on the ski tracks at Whistler Olympic Park on Wednesday.
"It was pretty obvious that Alex and I were a bit flat after Monday," Kershaw admitted. "We lost all the time. When I pressed down on the accelerator, it was if the cable from the gas pedal to the engine snapped. I put my foot to the floor and nothing responded."
"I tried to come back to the leaders, but I blew up midway through my race," Harvey said. "I closed 18 seconds in the first three kilometres, then the pace just got too fast for me. It's too bad, because Ivan and George were skiing fast enough to get a podium."
While the cross-country schedule hasn't worked in Canada's favour, Harvey and Babikov will have almost four days of rest before Sunday's 50K, Canada's final attempt to get that elusive Olympic men's medal.
"Looking at the schedule, I told Devon the day we would probably be the most tired was the 24th (Wednesday)," Harvey said. "But now we have some time to chill out. Four days is enough time to recover."
BY MIKE BEAMISH, CANWEST OLYMPIC NEWS
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