Alex Harvey misses out on x-country skiing medal by less than 1 second
Canadian places 4th as part of close finish in 15km pursuit free at World Cup in Finland
Alex Harvey wrapped up his weekend at the cross-country skiing World Cup in Ruka, Finland, with a fourth place finish in the 15-kilometre pursuit free race on Sunday.
The Saint-Ferréol-les-Neiges, Que., native ended up just 1.6 seconds behind winner Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo of Norway, who posted a time of 36 minutes, 23.2 seconds.
Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo 👑🇳🇴 rules in <a href="https://twitter.com/RukaNordic?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RukaNordic</a>. Watch him wrap up the 3-day tour.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FIScrosscountry?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FIScrosscountry</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RukaNordic?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#RukaNordic</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/SkiNorge?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SkiNorge</a> <a href="https://t.co/QJSCjFhwJf">pic.twitter.com/QJSCjFhwJf</a>
—@FISCrossCountryNorwegian Martin Johnsrud Sundby followed his teammate with a time of 36:23.6, while Alexander Bolshunov of Russia pushed through for third in 36:24.2. That left Harvey just 0.6 seconds off the bronze position with a time of 36:24.8.
"I started really hard and spent a lot of energy coming back to catch the field," said Harvey, who began the race in 12th and 83 seconds behind the leader based on previous results from the weekend.
"I am in good shape but not my best shape yet, so I was cooked at the finish and just needed to cross the line."
However, Harvey leaves the event happy with his result.
"The goal was to come in and fight for the top-10 and I was able to do that today," he said. "...It's my best start to the season, so I'm happy."
Devon Kershaw of Sudbury, Ont., finished 29th as the only other Canadian to crack the top 30.
Harvey was 13th in the 10km classic on Saturday and began the season by finishing 21st in the sprint race on Friday.
Meanwhile, Klaebo swept the weekend's three events.