Skiathlon (15 kilometres), Women

The ladies’ skiathlon, contested for the third time as a mixed style event with 7.5 km each of classical and freestyle, was the first cross-country skiing event in Sochi with defending champion Marit Bjørgen the hot favorite. During the first classical part of the race, a group of six was leading the race consisting of the three Norwegians Bjørgen, Heidi Weng and Therese Johaug, Sweden’s Charlotte Kalla, Finland’s Aino-Kaisa Saarinen and Poland’s Justyna Kowalczyk, all experienced Olympians and former medal winners except Weng. Kowalczyk collided with Saarinen during the ski changing phase at the half-way mark and never really was able to close this gap again, finishing in sixth place. The remaining group of five led the rest of the second half. On the final uphill stretch Kalla made an effort to break away followed only by Bjørgen. In the sprint for the gold Bjørgen took advantage of a small gap that opened up, winning with Kalla 1.8 seconds behind. Weng was successful in the contest for the bronze medal, beating Johaug and Saarinen in a close finish.

In winning the opening event at Sochi Marit Bjørgen, on that day 33 years, 324 days old, and already a triple gold medalist at Vancouver in 2010, bettered the mark set by the Italian Stefania Belmondo as the oldest female Winter Olympics gold medalist