15 kilometres Skiathlon, Women

Therese Johaug became the first Olympic champion at the Beijing Winter Games on the day after the opening ceremony. In the skiathlon, the Norwegian convincingly finished the 15 kilometers (7.5 km in classic technique and 7.5 km in freestyle) in 44:13.7. World Cup leader Nataliya Nepryayeva from Russia (+30.2 seconds) won silver, and bronze went to Austria’s Teresa Stadlober (+30.5).

After the classical section, Kerttu Niskanen and Frida Karlsson were both on Johaug’s heels, just a few seconds behind. Although the American Jessie Diggins was the fastest in the freestyle section, she was already too far behind to come close to a medal. Johaug continued to extend her lead for the remainder of the race. Nepryayeva and Stadlober, who skied with consistent pace in both styles, outdistanced Niskanen and Karlsson on the last few km after a fierce four-way battle on the second part.

For Johaug, it was her second Olympic victory, twelve years after relay gold at Vancouver in 2010. The three-time world champion in skiathlon (2015, 2019, and 2021) missed the 2018 Winter Games in PyeongChang due to a doping ban. For Stadlober, the medal served as redemption after she missed out on a podium place in the 30km at PyeongChang 2018, after taking a wrong turn when well placed, and ultimately finished ninth.

Yilamujiang Dinigeer was 43rd for China. The Uyghur lit the Olympic flame at the opening ceremony. Her election by the Chinese leadership had caused a lot of criticism.