India’s Jagdish Singh finished 103rd out of 119 athletes who took part in the men’s 15 km freestyle cross-country skiing race at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, on Friday. This was the 26-year-old Indian’s first Winter Olympics campaign.
Singh crossed the finish line with a time of 43 minutes and 0.3 seconds, which was nine minutes and 16.4 seconds slower than Switzerland’s Dario Cologna, who took his third straight Olympic gold with a time of 33:43.9. The 31-year-old Cologna, who is known as “Super Dario” on the circuit, broke into tears after it was more or less confirmed that he would be winning gold.
Norway’s Simen Krueger, who was leading the field until Cologna crossed the finish line, won the silver. His overall time was 18.3 seconds slower than the Swiss. Denis Spitsov, an Olympic Athlete from Russia, took home the bronze after finishing 4.7 seconds slower than Krueger.
Out of the 119 athletes that started the race, only three did not finish. The pack included a 43-year-old from Mexico, German Madrazo, who finished last with a timing of 59:35.4, but that hardly mattered. Madrazo had taken up skiing only two years ago and was thrilled when he crossed the finish line with a Mexican flag in his hand.
Tonga’s now infamous athlete Pita Taufatofua, who made headlines by attending the Pyeongchang opening ceremony topless – like he had done at the Rio Summer Olympics in 2016 – was also one of the finishers, in 114th place. This time, Taufatofua did decide to cover his body while skiing. Pakistan’s Syed Human, also an army man like his Indian counterpart, finished 108th.
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