Norwegian crowned Beijing 2022's first champ with skiathlon win

Norway's Therese Johaug claimed the first gold medal of Beijing 2022, taking a comfortable victory in the women's 15-kilometer cross-country skiathlon on Saturday in Zhangjiakou.

Johaug finished in a time of 44 min and 13.7 sec. Natalia Nepryaeva of the Russian Olympic Committee took silver in 44:43.9, while Teresa Stadlober of Austria took bronze in 44:44.2.

The 30.2-second margin of victory was the biggest in the history of Olympic women's skiathlon.

"It means a lot. I've never had an Olympic gold medal. It's my first one. I'm so happy," Johaug said after the race. "It's a dream come true. I've been training a lot for this for many, many years."

This is Johaug's fourth Olympic medal, and first individual gold medal. She won gold in the relay at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada, and took a silver and a bronze for cross-country skiing at the 2014 Games in Sochi, Russia.

"And today when I'm reaching my goal, I'm so happy. I've trained thousands of hours for this and been away from home a lot over the years. So it's beautiful to reach this goal," Johaug said.

The 15-km skiathlon, an event that includes both classical and freestyle techniques, requires athletes to switch to skate skis after two laps around the 3.75-kilometer course. Freestyle skiing is faster than classical skiing because of the technique and skis used.

The race got off to a chaotic start as Coralie Bentz of France and Anne Kyllonen of Finland crashed after an early clash, while Rosie Brennan of the United States was making good in the early going.

Johaug took the lead when she passed the timing point at the 6.3-km mark. The gap continued to grow after she switched to freestyle, opening up a 26-second lead by the 10-km mark.

Meanwhile, the battle for second was fierce.

Kerttu Niskanen of Finland passed the 7.5-km mark about 3 seconds after Johaug, but her place was soon taken by Nepryaeva, who had been seventh, to reach the switch station.

Nepryaeva, the overall World Cup leader this season, made excellent time in the second half of the race to win her second Olympic medal.

"It's my first time to produce a performance like this at the Olympic Games, and it gives me a lot of confidence for the races later this week. I feel very powerful now," said Nepryaeva, who won bronze in the 4x5-km relay event at the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang, Republic of Korea.

Stadlober, making her third Olympic appearance, claimed her first Olympic medal with the bronze. She had raced skiathlon in both her previous Olympic appearances, finishing 35th in 2014 and seventh in 2018.

Her bronze medal was the first ever medal in women's skiathlon for Austria. Three-time Olympic champion Charlotte Kalla from Sweden finished 19th in 47:53.8.

China's Li Xin finished 33rd with a time of 49:07.7, and was the best performer among the four Chinese skiers taking part.