Johaug savors long and winding journey to gold

Norwegian Therese Johaug had endured a long wait for an individual Olympic gold medal, so when it finally arrived last weekend at Beijing 2022 she made sure to savor the moment.

After crossing the finish line to win the women's 15-kilometer skiathlon, Johaug sat down on the snow and roared with joy. To some it may have seemed like an odd spectacle, but considering the many ups and downs of her career, her celebration made perfect sense.

Johaug dominated Saturday's skiathlon, pulling clear of the field before the halfway mark and surrendering the lead only once during the remainder of the race.

After completing the 7.5-km classical skiing section and switching to freestyle, Johaug never took her foot off the gas to finish more than 30 seconds ahead of silver medalist Natalia Nepryaeva of the Russian Olympic Committee.

The 15-km skiathlon requires athletes to switch to skate skis after two laps around the 3.75-kilometer course. Usually, freestyle is faster than classical skiing because of the technique and skis used.

The 30.2-second margin was also the biggest margin of victory in the Olympic women's skiathlon. The gold medal meant more to any records for Johaug, however.

The victory was the three-time Olympian's first individual Olympic gold medal.

She won relay gold at the 2010 Games and took two more cross-country skiing medals in 2014-silver in the 30-km skiathlon and bronze in the 10-km.

"Today when I'm reaching my goal, I'm so happy. I've trained thousands of hours for this and been away from home a lot over the years. So it's beautiful to reach this goal," Johaug said after the race.

The victory was all the more special for Johaug because she missed out on the 2018 Pyeongchang Games due to an 18-month doping suspension.

In October 2016, Johaug tested positive for a performance-enhancing substance, which she claimed was the result of a lip ointment bought by the team doctor on short notice to treat sunburn during training in Italy.

The Norwegian was initially hesitant about whether she should compete at Beijing 2022 as a 33-year-old-not considered a prime age for cross-country skiers.

However, she eventually knuckled down to a grueling training regime, spurred on by the prospect of fulfilling her childhood dream of individual Olympic gold.

"Of course it is eight years now since I was in Sochi (for the 2014 Games) and it has been a lot of training hours. Over the last year, I have been many days away from home, training at altitude," Johaug said.

Since returning from her suspension, Johaug stood on the highest podium at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in 2019 and 2021. She was widely tipped to triumph in Beijing.

"It's huge for me to pass the finish line today and now I reached my goal," she said.

Now Johaug is looking to the future with renewed optimism.

"I'm finished with this year, I'm focusing on myself, and things I can do something with," she said. "It means maybe more for me today to have this gold medal."

She also enthused about her stay in Beijing, describing it as "a wonderful trip so far".

"I just feel really nice, and people here are very friendly. They would greet you wherever we bump into each other," Johaug said.

"It's been perfect.... and I'm happy to be able to have a wonderful memory in Beijing."