PJ BARRON’S first taste of the Winter Olympics was somewhat bittersweet as the Irish youngster finished well down the field in the 15km freestyle cross country event last night.
The 20-year-old, making his debut at Whistler Olympic Park in Vancouver, trailed home 91st out of the 95 starters over 10 minutes behind the eventual winner in a time of 43 minutes, 50.4 seconds.
Dario Cologna of Switzerland claimed the gold medal, upstaging cross-country heavyweights Petter Northug of Norway and the Czech Republic’s Lukas Bauer.
Cologna (23) powered his way around the winding two-loop course in 33 minutes 36.3 seconds, finishing a comfortable 24.6 seconds ahead of Italy’s Pietro Piller Cottrer.
Bauer, who is widely expected to vie with Northug for several medals at the Vancouver Games, took bronze. Northug, a winner of three gold medals at last year’s world championships in Liberec, Czech Republic, finished in 41st place after a disappointing run.
