Bjoergen bows out with fifth Pyeongchang medal
Marit Bjoergen was so far ahead of the rest of the field in the women’s 30 km crosscountry ski race on Sunday that nobody else on the course could see her.
The 37-year-old Norwegian was never challenged and finished her remarkable Olympic career in dominant fashion, winning the gold medal in 1 hour, 22 minutes, 17.6 seconds — more than 1:49 ahead of silver medalist Krista Parkakoski of Finland in the final event of the Pyeongchang Games.
Stina Nilsson of Sweden won the bronze medal.
Bjoergen had plenty of time to pick up the Norwegian flag on the home stretch and wave it as she crossed the finish line to become the only Olympian to win five medals at these Winter Games.
“When I look behind me and see what I have done, it’s incredible,” said Bjoergen.
“It has been an amazing career for me. This is my last Olympics, and to finish like this is incredible.
Bjoergen finished her career with 15 medals, leaving her as the most decorated Winter Olympian in history.
Charlotte Kalla of Sweden failed in her bid to match Bjoergen for a fifth medal at Pyeongchang by finishing fifth in the race.
Bjoergen’s win was also big for the Norwegian team, which finished with 14 medals in cross-country skiing in South Korea, breaking the record of 13 held by the former Soviet Union in 1988.
“Of course I’m very proud of myself to do what I’ve done. It’s been an incredible career for me, and after becoming a mother, it’s hard to stay away from home,” said Bjoergen.
“These three weeks I was away from my son so it’s been tough, but to finish like this is amazing,”
The victory was Norway’s 14th gold, to overtake Germany in the final medal count after the German team won the four-man bobsled earlier on Sunday.
Germany also finish with 14 golds, but Norway took top spot with its 39 medals overall to Germany’s 31.
Canada finished third with 11 golds and 29 medals overall, while host South Korea was seventh.
Norway’s celebrations capped a dramatic final day of competition that saw the Olympics Athletes from Russia beat Germany 4-3 in a sudden-death, overtime hockey thriller.
The Russian players sang their national anthem on the ice — contravening rules governing their participation as neutrals, following a major doping scandal.