Due to turn 42 on May 18th, Sergey skied dynamically in the last, downhill, stretch, but was obliged to be content with 4th place, 0.8 seconds behind the winner, Norwegian Sjur Røthe. Swiss Dario Cologna showed an identical time, with the gold medal decided only by photo finish. Bronze went to Norwegian Martin Johnsrud Sundby.
Belarusian ski veteran Sergey Dolidovich has been performing in the World Cup for 22 years, since 1993, and has taken part in six Olympic Games. His best Olympic result was 5th place in the 50km marathon, at the Sochi 2014 Games, aged almost 41, where he only narrowly missed out on a medal. His first and only victory in a World Cup stage was in March 2001, when he took bronze, and his best World Cup ranking was 31st place, during the 2000/01 season. Sergey Dolidovich has taken part in 11 successive World Championships (1995-2015), across 34 disciplines. His best result was 4th place in the 30km skiathlon in 2011, in Norwegian Holmenkollen.
Dolidovich has been helping coach the national team of Belarus while continuing to compete. In the overall World Cup standings, he has 58 points, placing him 82nd. Belarusian Mikhail Semenov (16 points) is 123rd, and Alexander Voronov (2) is 150th, among 159 scoring participants.
By Igor Grishin
