Which Swiss skier won the men’s 15 km + 15 km skiathlon at the 2018 Winter Olympics?

Swiss skier Dario Cologna won the men’s 15 km + 15 km skiathlon at the 2018 Winter Olympics.

The race was held at the Alpensia Cross-Country Skiing Centre in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Competitors began with 15 kilometres in the classical technique and then changed skis for 15 kilometres in freestyle technique. Cologna won in 1:16:28.9, finishing ahead of Norway’s Simen Hegstad Krüger and Finland’s Iivo Niskanen.

The victory gave Cologna his fourth consecutive Olympic gold medal in the skiathlon. He had already won the event at Vancouver in 2010 and Sochi in 2014, making him the first cross-country skier to win the same individual Olympic event at three successive Games. His 2018 victory extended that achievement.

The skiathlon is sometimes confused with a single-technique 30 km race. Its defining feature is the mid-race equipment change, which requires athletes to combine classical and freestyle skiing. Cologna also won the Olympic 15 km classical race at Pyeongchang, adding another gold to his career.