The 2 × 5 kilometre pursuit cross-country skiing competition at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, United States, was held on 15 February at Soldier Hollow.
This competition consisted of two races. The first race was a 5 kilometre classical race and the second was a 5 km freestyle pursuit where the competitors started based on their times from the classical race. The winner was the first competitor to cross the finish line in the second race.
Background At the previous Olympics, the gold Larisa Lazutina, silver, Olga Danilova, and bronze, Kateřina Neumannová, medalists all qualified for the event. Neumannová was the overall leader in the World Cup standings prior to the Olympics. Virpi Kuitunen was the 2001 world champion.
The race This event was changed in 2002 as the short-distance classical event no longer was used as the first section of the event. Rather the event was skied in two sections on the same day, with classical skied first, followed by the freestyle pursuit, both sections now over 5 km. The morning classical leg was won by Olga Danilova with her teammate Larisa Lazutina in second. They had a lead of over seven seconds on Slovenian Petra Majdič. The Russians were not as strong in the freestyle, but still won the gold and silver medals easily, Danilova seven seconds ahead of Lazutina, who was 10 seconds ahead of Beckie Scott. The battle for the bronze was very close. Canadian Scott had been sixth in the classical section, with Czech skier Kateřina Neumannová in eighth, trailing Scott by 10.1 seconds. But Neumannová closed on Scott by the last kilometer but could never pass her, Scott holding on to make the podium.
In October 2003 it was confirmed that Danilova had tested positive for darbepoetin, an erythropoietin analogue, and was disqualified. Later Lazutina was also found to have tested positive for darbepoetin, and was disqualified. At the end of 2003, Beckie Scott was awarded the gold medal. Neumannová being moved up to silver, and the bronze medal going to German Viola Bauer. This was the first ever gold medal for Canada in Nordic skiing.
Results The 5 km classical race was started at 09:00 and 5 km freestyle pursuit at 11:30.Final results
Rank Bib Name Country 5 km classic Rank Start 5 km free Rank Finish time Deficit 67 Beckie Scott 13:17.5 6 0:18 11:52.9 8 25:09.9 56 Kateřina Neumannová 13:27.6 8 0:28 11:43.0 3 25:10.0 53 Viola Bauer 13:15.3 5 0:16 11:56.1 10 25:11.1 58 Yuliya Chepalova 13:30.0 9 0:31 11:41.3 2 25:11.3 Nina Gavrylyuk 13:26.8 7 0:28 11:47.5 6 25:13.5 60 Bente Skari 13:11.7 4 0:13 12:03.2 18 25:14.2 Petra Majdič 13:06.1 3 0:07 12:10.5 21 25:16.5 68 Gabriella Paruzzi 13:33.9 10 0:35 11:45.6 5 25:18.6 55 Sabina Valbusa 13:41.9 12 0:43 11:41.1 1 25:22.1 10 32 Iryna Terelya 13:43.7 14 0:45 11:50.6 7 25:33.6 11 61 Stefania Belmondo 13:50.4 19 0:51 11:45.3 4 25:35.3 12 70 Kaisa Varis 13:37.9 11 0:39 11:59.0 13 25:36.0 13 65 Kristina Šmigun 13:51.5 21 0:52 11:57.6 12 25:48.6 14 59 Hilde Gjermundshaug Pedersen 13:44.7 15 0:46 12:22.0 34 26:06.0 15 37 Oxana Yatskaya 13:48.3 16 0:49 12:21.0 32 26:09.0 16 66 Kati Sundqvist 13:54.4 23 0:55 12:16.1 27 26:10.1 +1:00.2 17 31 Sara Renner 13:57.3 26 0:58 12:13.3 23 26:10.3 +1:00.4 18 54 Evi Sachenbacher 14:05.4 31 1:06 12:06.0 19 26:11.0 +1:01.1 19 30 Karine Philippot 14:12.9 37 1:14 11:59.0 13 26:11.0 +1:01.1 20 48 Manuela Henkel 13:49.8 18 0:51 12:22.4 35 26:11.4 +1:01.5 21 64 Valentyna Shevchenko 13:48.7 17 0:50 12:23.4 36 26:11.4 +1:01.5 22 46 Laurence Rochat 13:57.1 25 0:58 12:14.8 25 26:11.8 +1:01.9 23 29 Nataša Lačen 14:14.7 38 1:16 12:00.1 15 26:14.1 +1:04.2 24 34 Svetlana Shishkina 14:00.6 28 1:01 12:15.0 26 26:15.0 +1:05.1 25 35 Elin Ek 14:01.6 30 1:02 12:17.3 30 26:18.3 +1:08.4 26 Tina Bay 13:53.7 22 0:55 12:29.7 37 26:22.7 +1:12.8 27 40 Sumiko Yokoyama 14:22.4 46 1:23 12:01.3 17 26:23.3 +1:13.4 28 62 Vibeke Skofterud 14:12.3 36 1:13 12:14.7 24 26:26.7 +1:16.8 29 23 Brigitte Albrecht-Loretan 14:30.0 50 1:31 11:57.3 11 26:27.3 +1:17.4 30 39 Nina Kemppel 13:58.1 27 0:59 12:29.8 38 26:27.8 +1:17.9 31 26 Aurelie Storti 14:06.0 32 1:07 12:21.9 33 26:27.9 +1:18.0 32 47 Vera Zyatikova 14:15.2 39 1:16 12:13.0 22 26:28.0 +1:18.1 33 19 Milaine Thériault 13:57.0 24 0:58 12:32.1 40 26:29.1 +1:19.2 34 44 Nataliya Zyatikova 14:23.5 47 1:24 12:06.4 20 26:29.4 +1:19.5 35 16 Jenny Olsson 14:00.7 29 1:02 12:29.8 38 26:29.8 +1:19.9 36 28 Satu Salonen 13:43.4 13 0:44 12:49.5 45 26:32.5 +1:22.6 37 10 Annick Pierrel 14:18.6 42 1:19 12:16.1 27 26:34.1 +1:24.2 38 45 Kanoko Goto 14:16.1 40 1:17 12:19.6 31 26:35.6 +1:25.7 39 63 Lina Andersson 13:50.6 20 0:51 12:45.7 43 26:35.7 +1:25.8 40 Elina Pienimäki-Hietamäki 14:21.3 45 1:22 12:16.7 29 26:37.7 +1:27.8 41 21 Teja Gregorin 14:20.7 44 1:22 12:43.6 42 27:03.6 +1:53.7 42 5 Helena Balatková 14:20.6 43 1:21 12:45.8 44 27:05.8 +1:55.9 43 11 Svetlana Deshevykh 14:16.2 41 1:17 12:51.7 46 27:07.7 +1:57.8 44 25 Yuxia Hou 14:26.3 48 1:27 12:43.3 41 27:09.3 +1:59.4 45 42 Kamila Rajdlová 14:11.1 35 1:12 12:58.6 48 27:09.6 +1:59.7 46 4 Anna-Carin Olofsson 14:28.3 49 1:29 12:52.7 47 27:20.7 +2:10.8 47 24 Elena Antonova 14:06.6 33 1:07 13:15.8 50 27:21.8 +2:11.9 48 33 Wendy Kay Wagner 14:11.1 34 1:12 13:14.1 49 27:25.1 +2:15.2 2 Amanda Fortier 14:30.5 12 Nobuko Fukuda 14:31.6 15 Aelin Peterson 14:33.7 6 Yelena Kalugina 14:34.6 27 Cristina Paluselli 14:36.5 41 Piret Niglas 14:36.9 43 Claudia Künzel 14:37.0 20 Olena Rodina 14:37.8 8 Maryna Pestryakova 14:41.0 38 Jaroslava Bukvajová 14:42.9 22 Madoka Natumi 14:51.4 3 Kikkan Randall 14:53.0 17 Nataliya Sviridova-Kalinovskaya 14:53.6 14 Kateřina Hanušová 14:55.0 36 Irina Terentjeva 15:13.5 9 Maja Kezele 15:40.1 1 Luan Zhengrong 15:40.6 18 Lee Chun-ja 16:13.1 71 Kelime Çetinkaya 17:10.8 72 Davaa Enkhee 17:20.3 7 Margarit Nikolyan 17:23.6 13 Zsófia Gottschall 17:36.6 73 Katerina Balkaba 18:48.9 57 Olga Danilova 12:58.7 1 0:00 11:54.1 9 24:52.1 69 Larisa Lazutina 12:58.9 2 0:00 12:01.0 16 24:59.0
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