119 athletes tomorrow. That could be the biggest event in WOG history. 99, 96 and 92 were the number of starters in the last three editions, respectively.
Exotic points of interest:
Thierry Langer (Bib 94) - First ever Belgian cross-country skier at the Olympics.
Mark Chanloung (Bib 98) - First Thai male cross-country skier since 2006.
Yonathan Jesus Fernandez (Bib 101) - Totallympics user
Tucker Murphy (Bib 106) - First Bermudan Winter Olympian with 3 appearances (previously in 2010 and 2014).
Klaus Jungbluth Rodriguez (Bib 107) - First Winter Olympian from Ecuador.
Samer Tawk (Bib 108) - First Lebanese cross-country skier since 1956. Georges Gereidi competed in 56' and got disqualified (though Official Olympic Report is contradictive, because at one place it says he gave up, and on the other that he was disqualified). In any case, Tawk will be looking for a long awaited redemption.
Pita Taufatofua (Bib 110) - First Tongan cross-country skier at the Olympics, first athelte to combine taekwondo and cross-country skiing, potentially the first athlete from a small nation that appeared at both Summer and Winter editions.
Timo Juhani Gronlund (Bib 111) - First Bolivian cross-country skier at the Olympics, first Bolivian Winter Olympian that isn't an alpine skier.
Kequyen Lam (Bib 112) - First Portuguese cross-country skier since 2010, first Winter Olympian born in Macao
Samir Azzimani (Bib 113) - First Moroccan cross-country skier since 1992, competed in 2010 but in alpine skiing! First athlete to actually qualify in both after 1994 when stricter qualification standards were introduced. Interestingly, Georges Gereidi competed in both XC and alpine skiing in 1956. There is also a skier that did the same in the 80'.
Sebastian Uprimniy (Bib 114) - First Colombian cross-country skier, rumoured to be Project Bogota mastermind.
German Madrazo (Bib 115) - First Mexican cross-country skier since 1992.
Han Chun-Gyong (Bib 117), Pak Il-Choi (Bib 118) - First North Korean male cross-country skiers since 1992.
Syed Human (Bib 119) - First Pakistani cross-country skier at the Olympics, first Pakistani Winter Olympian that isn't an alpine skier.