15 kilometres Skiathlon, Women

The very first event of the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang, was the 2x7.5 km women’s skiathlon. Having run an excellent race, the first gold medalist of the Games was Sweden’s top skier Charlotte Kalla, with Marit Bjørgen second and Krista Lähteenmäki-Pärmäkoski third. The three top favorites, from three Scandinavian countries, presented themselves as the ones to beat over the following two weeks. During these Winter Games, these three would share eight of ten medals awarded in women’s individual distance cross-country events, with Pärmäkoski having the disadvantage of having weaker team-mates in the relay events.

Kalla began the race cautiously in the classical style, preferring to remain in the slipstream. For a long time, the race was determined by tactics, with Marit Bjørgen frequently varying the pace. During the slower phases, the top skiers were reluctant to take the lead, allowing Swotzerland’s Nathalie von Siebenthal to move up into first place. After the half-way mark, the event became an elimination race. While Bjørgen was in the rear part of the leading group of nine, Kalla started her decisive attack in a climb three kilometres from the finish. None of the group could follow her immediately, and Bjørgen first had to work her way through the pack to start the chase. She tried to close in on Kalla but was, of course, not supported by the second Swede Ebba Andersson. in third place.

When Kalla crossed the finish line in 40:44.9 minutes, she reversed the Sochi result, and Bjørgen had to settle for the silver medal, nine seconds behind. She prevented Bjørgen from winning her third consecutive gold medal in the skiathlon, and became the first Swede to win the Olympic title. On the last two kilometers, Pärmäkoski outpaced Andersson for the bronze medal by 0.6 seconds. An excellent performance was also showed by the fifth placed Jessie Diggins of the USA and sixth placed von Siebenthal.