Andrew Musgrave’s second Winter Olympic campaign was destined not to finish on a high as illness prevented him from being competitive in the cross-country ski-ing finale in Sochi yesterday.
Musgrave, from Oyne near Insch, was left bitterly disappointed after failing in the quarter-finals of the sprint as his games got up and running – a measure of how far he has come as that was a best British performance.
He had toiled in the 15km classic before Andrew Young’s heart problems meant the duo were forced to pull out of the team sprint.
As if to script, Musgrave, 23, fell ill the night before the 50km mass start finale as he finished 53rd.
Musgrave was frustrated to be seen as making another excuse but insisted he was right to compete rather than hiding away and not competing in the final day of the games in Sochi.
“After every race I seem to have a new excuse,” said Musgrave, whose expectations in Sochi were raised after a stunning victory in the sprint at the Norwegian championships last month.
“I felt rubbish on the morning of the race and I had a little bit of a fever the night before. But I thought I may as well race. It is the Olympics and it comes around once every four years and it might have gone well.
“In the Tour de France guys race with broken collarbones, I had a sore throat and a cold. I just thought I should go for it.
“I got to the finish and that is all I could expect. It has been a pretty rubbish games. The sprint is the biggest disappointment.”
Musgrave has races in Scandinavia planned for as early as next weekend, adamant a rest would have been no good after his games experience.
Musgrave insisted he is grateful for next year’s schedule with the world championships being held in the Swedish city of Falun where he is determined to show his true colours.
“If I am healthy next week I will be racing next weekend in Finland and then in Norway the week after, he added.
“I am glad we have a world championships next year, it gives me something to work on after the disappointments here.”
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