Sweden's Eba Andersson won the Olympic title in 50 km cross-country skiing in the classic style at the Games in Milan-Cortina. The 50 km marathon for women is being held for the first time at the Olympic Games, as the discipline replaced the criticized 30 km run. In the shorter discipline, Norwegians have dominated in recent Olympics with victories by legends Marit Bjørgen (2014 and 2018), as well as Therese Johaug (2022), BTA reported.
Eba Andersson finished first with a time of 2:16.28.2 hours, as she achieved a kind of peak, as she has won three silver medals at the competitions in Tesero so far - in the individual start, in the skiathlon and in the relay. This was the Swede's first Olympic gold. Anderson is also a six-time world champion in the individual and relay races since 2019.
Norway's Heidi Weng won the silver medal, 2:15.3 minutes behind the champion. She has gold with the relay at the Olympic Games, as well as a bronze medal in the skiathlon.
In the final sprint, Switzerland's Nadia Kelin finished third with the bronze, ahead of Kristin Fosnes from Norway and the famous American Jessie Diggins, for whom this was the last race of her career. Nadia Kelin won a silver medal with the Swiss team in the team sprint at the Milan-Cortina Olympics.
Eba Andersson led after the first kilometer, with Heidi Weng of Norway, Austria's Teresa Stadlober and the American Jessie Diggins close behind at the start.
After the tenth kilometer, Weng took the lead, and together with Anderson made a difference in front of her pursuers. The two alternated their leadership with Anderson leading more often, leading by more than 45 seconds over the others. Stadlober chased the leaders, but Jessie Diggins lost positions, and Finland's Kertu Niskanen came fourth.
Towards the middle of the distance, most of the competitors changed their skis and supported themselves. Anderson and Weng were again far ahead, with Therese Stadlober already nearly a minute and a half behind, and after the 30th kilometer, American Jessie Diggins came in third.
After the 32nd kilometer, Eba Anderson attacked and quickly built a 20-second lead over the Norwegian, which was a serious bid for the title, in case she was not overtaken by a serious crisis towards the end. She increased the lead to over a minute after 40 km and ended with a lead of over 2 minutes at the finish.
50 km cross-country skiing, classic style, women:
1. Eba Anderson (Sweden) - 2:16.28.2 hours
2. Heidi Weng (Norway) - 2:15.3 minutes
3. Nadia Kelin (Switzerland) - 6:41.5 minutes