Chinese cross-country skiers sweep women's 5km free event at Asian Winter Games

HARBIN, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- Bayani Jialin pocketed the women's 5km free gold medal in cross-country skiing, leading China to a sweep of the top four in the event at the Harbin Asian Winter Games on Sunday.

Thirty-three skiers began the race in succession with a 30-second interval. Bayani, the ninth to start, crossed the line first in 12 minutes and 7.5 seconds to secure her first-ever Asian Winter Games gold.

"I'm very happy to finish first," said the 25-year-old from northwestern China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. "I gave it my all throughout the race, and now I'm excited to focus on preparing for the relay race."

Dinigeer Yilamujiang, also from Xinjiang, was just 3.6 seconds behind Bayani to take the silver, adding to her bronze from the cross-country skiing women's sprint classic on Saturday. Chi Chunxue won the bronze, while Chen Lingshuang ranked fourth.

The cross-country skiing men's 10km free will take place on Monday.