CHONGLI, Zhangjiakou, February 5 (Xinhua) – Norway’s Therese Johaug won first gold at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics at the National Cross-Country Skiing Center this Saturday.
Johaug, Vancouver 2010 Olympic relay gold medalist, finished in 44 minutes and 13.7 seconds. The reigning world champion, who missed PyeongChang 2018 due to doping suspension, won his very first individual Olympic gold medal with a margin of 30.2 seconds in the 7.5 km + 7.5 km skiathlon.
“I have trained thousands of hours for this and been away from home a lot over the years. I have never had one [individual] Olympic gold, this is my first. I’m so happy, ”said Johaug.
Natalia Nepryaeva from the Russian Olympic Committee took the silver in 44: 43.9, while Teresa Stadlober from Austria won the bronze in 44: 44.2.
Nepryaeva, the overall World Cup leader this season, won his second Olympic medal.
“This is the first time I have produced such an achievement at the Olympics, 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 a relay race in PyeongChang.
Triple Olympic champion Charlotte Kalla from Sweden was ranked 19th in 47: 53.8. The 34-year-old suffered a heart defect during a World Cup race last season.
Li Xin, who finished 33rd in 49: 07.7, performed best among four Chinese skiers.