Norway's Johaug wins first gold of Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics

Gold medalist Therese Johaug (C) of Norway, silver medalist Natalia Nepryaeva (L) of ROC and bronze medalist Teresa Stadlober of Austria celebrate on the podium during the Flower Ceremony after the Cross-Country Skiing Women's 7.5km + 7.5km Skiathlon at National Cross-Country Skiing Centre in Zhangjiakou, north China's Hebei Province, Feb. 5, 2022. (Xinhua/Mu Yu)

CHONGLI, Zhangjiakou, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- Therese Johaug of Norway claimed the first gold of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games in the women's skiathlon at the National Cross-Country Skiing Center here on Saturday.

Johaug, the Vancouver 2010 Olympic relay gold medalist, finished in 44 minutes 13.7 seconds. The reigning world champion, who missed the PyeongChang 2018 due to a doping ban, won her very first individual Olympic gold medal with a margin of 30.2 seconds in the 7.5km + 7.5km skiathlon.

"I've trained thousands of hours for this and been away from home a lot over the years. I've never had an [individual] Olympic gold medal, it's my first one. I'm so happy," said Johaug.

Natalia Nepryaeva from the Russian Olympic Committee took the silver in 44:43.9, while Teresa Stadlober of Austria won the bronze in 44:44.2.

Nepryaeva, the overall World Cup leader this season, won her second Olympic medal.

"It's my first time to produce a performance like this at the Olympic Games, and it gives me a lot of confidence for the races later this week. I feel very powerful now," said Nepryaeva, who won the bronze in a relay event in PyeongChang.

Three-time Olympic champion Charlotte Kalla from Sweden ranked 19th in 47:53.8. The 34-year-old found herself suffering from heart abnormalities during a World Cup race last season.

Li Xin, who finished 33rd in 49:07.7, was the best performer among four Chinese skiers.