[1] The Swedish team of Björn Lind and Thobias Fredriksson were the defending Olympic champions when the technique was classical.

[2] The defending world champions were the Norwegian duo of Ola Vigen Hattestad and Johan Kjølstad when the technique was also classical.

[3] Sweden's team of Emil Jönsson and Robin Bryntesson won the test event that took place at the Olympic venue on 18 January 2009.

[4] The last World Cup event in this format prior to the 2010 Games took place in Rybinsk, Russia on 24 January 2010 and was won by the Russian duo of Nikolay Morilov and Alexey Petukhov.

The Russian team that won the last event in this format prior to the Olympics would win bronze.