OLYMPICS, CROSS-COUNTRY SKIING. Dario Cologna of Switzerland won with outstanding performance 15 km Free. He dominated the race and deleted the rest of the start field. Pietro Piller Cottrer (ITA) took silver medal with a time gap of 24.6 sec. Tough fight between Bauer (CZE) and Hellner (SWE) took place for bronze. Hellner started very fast and was leading in first kilometers. He could not keep the pace till finish. Thus Lukas Bauer (CZE) with his consistent pace captured bronze. He lost on Cologna 35.7 sec. Marcus Hellner finished 4th.

Switzerland's Dario Cologna, gold, is flanked by Italy's Pietro Piller Cottrer, left, silver, and Czech Republic's Lukas Bauer, bronze during the flower ceremony of the Men's 15k Cross Country race at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada, Monday, Feb. 15, 2010.(AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

Switzerland's Dario Cologna skis during the Men's 15k Cross Country race at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada, Monday, Feb. 15, 2010. Cologna won gold. (AP Photo/Dmitry Lovetsky)

With this gold medal, the 23-year old Dario Cologna makes history. It is the first ever gold medal for Switzerland at the Olympics. "I can still not believe. It was a great race, I had good material and could have an controll on the race." As for Kalla, it was also the first ever victory in the first ever Olympic race.

Also Pietro Piller Cottrer where smiling all over the face in the finish of the 15 km:" "Obviously I'm really happy about my Silver. All my season wasn't that excellent. My goal was to get a medal. The greatest satisfaction is to have a goal and reach it."

"During the race I had a big problem," commented bronze medalist Bauer. "I said, 'Ah, today is a bad day and I have no chance for a medal. When I saw Marcus is losing time, I said, 'I have this chance and I must fight for a medal'. It was a little bit sucks for him."

All in all it was a great Cross-Country day at Whistler Olympic Park with six different nations on the podium.

FIScrosscountry.com
Monday 15 February 2010

Switzerland's Dario Cologna, left, and Italy's Giorgio Di Centa ski on the finish straight during the Men's 15k Cross Country race at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada, Monday, Feb. 15, 2010. Cologna won the gold. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

Italy's Pietro Piller Cottrer starts the Men's 15k Cross Country race at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada, Monday, Feb. 15, 2010. Piller Cottrer won silver.(AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

Czech Republic's Lukas Bauer starts the Men's 15k Cross Country race at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada, Monday, Feb. 15, 2010.(AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

Italy's Pietro Piller Cottrer crosses the finish line to winning the silver medal during the Men's 15k Cross Country race at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada, Monday, Feb. 15, 2010.(AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

Ethiopia's Robel Zemichael Teklemariam, left, and Nepal's Dachhiri Sherpa, right, joke with Portugal's Danny Silva after the Men's 15k Cross Country race at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada, Monday, Feb. 15, 2010.(AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

RESULTS

Rank Bib FIS Code Name NOC Code 4.9 km Time Rank 7.5 km Time Rank 12.4 km Time Rank Finish Time Behind FIS Points
1 33 3510023 COLOGNA Dario SUI 11:02.1 2 16:49.5 2 27:53.3 1 33:36.3 0.0 0.00
2 25 1139459 PILLER COTTRER Pietro ITA 11:05.5 3 16:54.5 3 28:07.7 2 34:00.9 +24.6 9.76
3 34 1217350 BAUER Lukas CZE 11:06.0 4 17:02.5 4 28:16.7 4 34:12.0 +35.7 14.16
4 35 3500139 HELLNER Marcus SWE 10:55.2 1 16:46.5 1 28:10.4 3 34:13.5 +37.2 14.76
5 26 1100077 VITTOZ Vincent FRA 11:08.1 5 17:03.4 7 28:25.3 6 34:16.2 +39.9 15.83
6 13 3190111 MANIFICAT Maurice FRA 11:09.1 7 17:03.3 6 28:25.8 7 34:27.4 +51.1 20.27
7 18 1178162 ANGERER Tobias GER 11:12.3 =10 17:03.0 5 28:28.3 8 34:28.5 +52.2 20.71
8 20 3100190 BABIKOV Ivan CAN 11:20.0 14 17:18.7 13 28:40.2 11 34:30.0 +53.7 21.31
9 24 3480013 VYLEGZHANIN Maxim RUS 11:22.0 22 17:20.9 16 28:38.7 9 34:31.6 +55.3 21.94
10 31 1067291 DI CENTA Giorgio ITA 11:12.1 =8 17:13.5 12 28:40.0 10 34:36.2 +59.9 23.77
...
41 36 3420239 NORTHUG Petter NOR 11:20.6 =16 17:21.5 18 29:34.9 42 35:39.5 +2:03.2 48.88
...
50 62 3090024 TZINZOV Veselin BUL 11:44.9 54 17:54.4 51 29:49.9 51 36:11.7 +2:35.4 61.66
...
95 95 3590000 SILVA Danny POR 16:15.8 95 24:32.0 95 41:19.7 95 49:31.4 +15:55.1 378.95