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 strong field.
The 27-year-old Indian Army athlete clocked 28 minutes 26.7 seconds at the Tesero Cross-Country Skiing Stadium, finishing 104th among 111 competitors who completed the race. A total of 113 athletes had started the event. One did not finish while another was disqualified.
Lundup was 7 minutes 50.5 seconds behind gold medallist Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo of Norway, who clocked 20:36.2 to win his eighth Winter Olympics gold medal. France’s Mathis Desloges took silver in 20:41.1, while Norway’s Einar Hedegart secured bronze with a time of 20:50.2.
With three races still remaining in his programme, Klaebo equaled the all-time Winter Olympics record of eight gold medals. He joined fellow Norwegian greats Marit Bjoergen, Bjoern Daehlie and Ole Einar Bjoerndalen, who have all retired.
The 10km interval start freestyle is a time trial format in which skiers begin individually at fixed intervals and race against the clock over a 10 kilometre course that includes uphill, downhill and flat sections. The athlete with the fastest overall time from start to finish is declared the winner.
Lundup’s selection for the Games had been the subject of legal scrutiny. A single bench of the Delhi High Court observed in a recent order that another cross-country skier, Manjeet, was more meritorious and ranked two places above Lundup, and termed his exclusion manifestly arbitrary and unfair.
The IOA submitted to the court that Manjeet’s name was not part of the long list and that all participation timelines had expired. The Sports Ministry later cleared Lundup’s participation, stating that it would come at no cost to the government.
Lundup is the fifth cross-country skier to represent India at the Winter Olympics. Bahadur Gurung Gupta was the first, finishing 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 Arif Khan’s second Winter Olympics appearance after he featured in the slalom and giant slalom at Beijing 2022.
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