10/15 kilometres Pursuit, Men

This was the second Olympic pursuit event. The defending champion was Bjørn Dæhlie of Norway, who had won the 1993 World Championships, and had already won the 10 km classical, meaning he started first off in the freestyle pursuit section of this race. There was little doubt who would win, as Dæhlie was considered stronger in freestyle than classical. His biggest competition was expected to come from Kazakhstan’s Vladimir Smirnov. At the 1993 World Championships, they had been 1-2 in a photo finish, which at first looked like Smirnov had won. His torso was first across the line, but on review, Dæhlie’s boot crossed the line first, which is the determining factor. Smirnov had been second in the 10 km classical in Lillehammer, so he would start only 18 seconds behind Dæhlie. But it might as well have been 18 minutes. Dæhlie was never caught, posted the freestyle leg, and won the pursuit by 29.2 seconds over Smirnov. Smirnov’s time was second in freestyle only to Dæhlie, and he was over a minute ahead of the bronze medalist, Italy’s Silvio Fauner.

This was Fauner’s first individual Olympic medal. He would win three in the relay, including a gold in Lillehammer, and add another individual medal in the 30 km in 1998. Smirnov and Dæhlie were fighting out the World Cup race for the fourth consecutive season. Smirnov had won it in 1990-91, with Dæhlie winning in 1991-92 and 1992-93, with Smirnov second in 1993 and third in 1992. In 1993-94 Smirnov would edge out the Norwegian for the seasonal title.