Phil Bellingham top Aussie in Sprint Freestyle

Published Tue 08 Feb 2022

Phil Bellingham, at his third Olympic Games and the senior member of the Australian cross-country team, was the fastest and best placed Aussie in the sprint freestyle qualifying.

He placed 50th with a time of 3:01.57.

"I felt really quite good," Phil said.

"I had a bit of a tough day on Sunday in the 30km and didn't feel very good, but I think that effort really kicked me into gear. I felt a lot fresher and my body was really ready to go today so I'm happy with how it ended up."

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Snow Australia (@snowaust)

All competitors were preparing for the worst race conditions, as the weather at the Zhangjiakou National Cross-Country Skiing Centre had been extremely cold and windy for most of the past week.

However it did make a change for the race day, as the sun came out and the wind was light.

"Because it was warmer today the snow was a lot faster and that made the race a little bit shorter. That works better for me. I'm a bigger guy and I prefer a faster, quicker course with faster snow."

In other Aussie results, Jess Yeaton finished 52nd in a time of 3:32.85, Casey Wright and Seve de Campo placed 63rd. Lars Young Vik, on his debut Olympic event finished 55th and Hugo Hinckfuss, a fellow Olympic debutant, finished 61st. 

Read more on olympics.com.au