The 50 kilometre has been skated as a mass start event at the World Championships since 2005 and since the 2006 Winter Olympics.

Italy's Giorgio Di Centa was the defending Olympic champion though that event was held in the freestyle technique.

[3] The last World Cup event in the 50 km classical took place in Trondheim, Norway on 14 March 2009 and was won by Sami Jauhojärvi of Finland.

Northug's 0.3 second victory over Teichmann is the closest 50 km event in Olympic history, beating the previous record of 0.8 seconds set at the previous Olympics when di Centa edged out Russia's Yevgeny Dementyev.

[7] The medals were presented at the closing ceremony at BC Place Stadium in Vancouver that same evening.