Andrew Musgrave described his performance as “pretty shocking” after trailing in a distant 28th position in the men’s 15km freestyle cross-country race in Pyeongchang.
Musgrave had hoped to build on his superb performance in the skiathlon when he challenged for a medal before finishing seventh, but he admitted he struggled to make an impression in an event he generally prefers.
Musgrave was trailing by over half a minute at the midway point and eventually finished two minutes and seven seconds down on gold medallist Dario Cologna of Switzerland, while Norway’s Simon Krueger and Russia’s Denis Spitsov made up the medals.
I don't know what happened. Today was the most important race I've ever done. It was a struggle from start to finish. I was nowhere near the level I thought I'd be at, or ought to be at. Pretty gutted right now.
— Andrew Musgrave (@musgraveandrew) February 16, 2018
Musgrave said: “That was pretty shocking. I started off conservatively but I felt heavy the whole way round and never got going.
“I’m just gutted, that was the race that I’ve been targeting. I knew on a good day I could be here fighting for a medal but I never thought I’d go as slow as that.”
Musgrave, whose previous seventh-placed finish was easily the best by a British cross-country athlete in Olympic history, joked he would take a radical approach to preparations for his next individual event, the men’s 50km on the last day of the Games.
Musgrave said: “I need to think about something else for a couple of days. I don’t know what I’m going to do – play air hockey, eat cake, have a doughnut – anything to stop thinking about skiing. I need to take my mind off this.”
Musgrave’s compatriot Andrew Young finished 57th in his last race of these Olympics, while Callum Smith finished 75th.
Meanwhile Tongan Pita Taufatofua came in just under 23 minutes behind the winner but at least avoided the indignity of finishing last, with Sebastian Uprimny of Colombia and Mexico’s German Madrazo trailing in behind him.
Taufatofua said: “The 15km never worked so well for me – I’m always gassed out by about the second kilometre. So today it was about maintaining and following that pace.
“I didn’t fall. I was coming into the last lap thinking, ‘Please God, not in front of everyone, don’t give me my first fall, let me finish strong.”
Taufatofua, who caused a social media storm by carrying the Tongan flag half-naked in freezing temperatures last Friday, vowed he would return to the Olympics in a third sport after representing his nation in taekwondo in Rio.
He added: “That’s one of my goals – three Olympics, three different sports. Something to do with water. Right now, staying warm would be my next sport.”
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