French-Moroccan sAlpin kier Samir Azzimani was ranked111th out of 119 athletes in the men's 15km cross-country ski race at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea. The race took place on Friday, February 16th at the Alpensia Biathlon and Cross Country Center. «I'm 13:50 away from the Olympic champion (Switzerland Dario Cologna, ed). I pulled a fist aside after the first lap that I had to manage for five kilometers, which made me slow down otherwise I would not have carried on», said Samir Azzimani, contacted by Yabiladi. «I won two places although I did not train enough, I had to stop skiing between October and December for lack of budget. My budget has actually arrived very, very late. The Olympic scholarship and the support of the Moroccan Olympic Committee, even if it was excellent, it was not enough», added the skier. «We worked hard and we were really happy because we fulfilled our goal, which was to be between the first Olympic champions. It's done!» said Samir Azzimani with a happy voice. In total, the event consists of two 7.5 km laps, which are themselves divided into four laps of 3,750 km. The silver medal was won by Norway's Simen Hegstad Krüger, while Russia's Denis Spitsov, who ran under the title «Russian Olympic Athletes (OAR)», won the bronze medal. For the record, Russia does not participate as a delegation to the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang, following the revelations of doping carried by the Russian state. The Executive Committee of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), however, decided to invite Russian athletes to compete, but under the name OAR.
