Winter Olympics: Andrew Young on cross-country sprint effort after Covid
- Published
Andrew Young finished 36th in the cross-country sprint
Three weeks after catching Covid-19 and suffering "quite badly", Andrew Young is just pleased he managed to make it to the Olympic start line.
Beijing 2022 is the 29-year-old cross-country skier's fourth Olympics, and he was coming into the Games feeling in the best shape of his life, with a medal his target.
But exactly three weeks before his first event, those double lines struck. Covid positive, his Olympic participation was under threat and a change of mindset was needed.
"I had five or six days where I was really quite bad," he told BBC Sport. "I missed a week of training, then I had a week where I was on quite strict orders from the doctor to take it pretty easy.
"Now, I feel healthy and I feel good, the body is responding well and I feel good when I'm skiing, but obviously I'm missing that top speed.
"It's the Olympic Games, you have to be in peak physical condition if you want to compete with the best guys. It's the Olympics, it's the pinnacle of the sport.
"You can't turn up here, not be at your best and expect to perform really well."
'It's been really difficult' - Young
Young had to temper his expectations as soon as the positive test came through. He arrived at the Games on Saturday, just 72 hours before his first competition, and having passed China's hyper-sensitive requirements to get the all-clear.
Come Tuesday, he was content with his 36th-placed finish in the sprint free event as he looked at the bigger picture despite not making it through the qualification round.
"It's been a really difficult three weeks, so I was actually quite surprised at how well I was feeling," he said. "The body feels quite good, I'm responding quite well to training, and it's getting better every day.
"I'm obviously a good way away from my goals and my aspirations for this event, this is my best event historically, and I wanted to come here to fight for a medal and I've gone out in the qualification.
"But considering the last three weeks, I'm really pleased with how it felt and how it went."
British team-mate James Clugnet, who will compete in the team sprint with Young on 16 February, placed 40th, with the top 30 progressing.
Norwegian Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo retained his men's sprint title for his fourth Olympic gold, with 2018 runner-up Italian Federico Pellegrino again taking silver, and Russian Olympic Committee's Alexander Terentev winning bronze.
In the women's event, Jonna Sundling led Maja Dahlqvist for a Swedish 1-2, with American Jessie Diggins in third.
'It belongs to all of us': Join us in celebrating 100 years of informing, educating and entertaining the UK
From Sheffield to the Beijing Mountains : Follow a group of Team GB freestylers in their preparations for the 2022 Winter Olympics
