TESERO, Italy, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Rivals of French silver medallist Mathis Desloges played down an early course infringement during the men's skiathlon at the Milano Cortina Olympics on Sunday, saying the incident had little impact on the final outcome.
Desloges was given a warning after cutting straight across a course marker while rounding a lap near the 13-km mark but he kept his medal after lengthy jury deliberations that delayed the official results at the end of the race.
The Frenchman stayed with the leading group and went on to take silver in a tight sprint finish, edging Norway's Martin Nyenget by just one tenth of a second.
The team of Russian skier Savelii Korostelev, who is racing as a neutral athlete and finished fourth, registered a protest which was dismissed.
"It was just a mistake, I didn't want to gain a place, I'd just like to say sorry," said Desloges, who wept on the podium after finally receiving his medal.
"I think the jury saw what happened and I don't wish to say much more about this topic. It was not intentional ..."
The Norwegians did not register a protest, with Nyenget and gold medallist Johannes Klaebo saying they felt a yellow card was sufficient punishment for the Frenchman's error.
A skier who gets two yellow cards has to miss the next race on the elite cross-country circuit.
"The whole group tried to call him back. I think he just saw it too late," Nyenget told Reuters.
"He didn't gain that much. I think that's okay. It's not my decision, so it's nothing I should think too much about."
"A yellow card is fine, I hope I would say the same if I was number four and not number three," he later added at the medallists' press conference.
Korostelev said he was happy to leave the decision to the jury.
"I saw the moment, but it's a jury decision," he said. "If it's a yellow card he could be disqualified. If it's okay, then it's okay. I seriously don't know."
Russian and Belarusian athletes were banned from the Olympics following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, although some were permitted to compete in Milano Cortina as neutral athletes without national flags or anthems.
(Tommy Lund and Liz Hampton in Tesero; Editing by Alison Williams)
