Sweden's Kalla wins first Pyeongchang gold
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[February 10, 2018]
By Philip O'Connor
PYEONGCHANG, South Korea (Reuters) -
Sweden's Charlotte Kalla won the first gold medal of the Pyeongchang
Winter Olympics on Saturday after powering away from the field to
secure victory in the women's 7.5km + 7.5km skiathlon.
Sochi Games champion Marit Bjoergen of Norway, who has decided to
skip Thursday's 10km sprint race, took the silver 7.8 seconds behind
and Krista Parmakoski of Finland won the bronze.
Kalla made her break midway through the last of the four laps,
leaving Bjoergen to battle Parmakoski and Swede Ebba Andersson for
the podium places.
It was the third Olympic gold medal for the 30-year-old Kalla, who
won the 10km freestyle at Vancouver in 2010 and followed that up
with a win in the 4x5km relay in Sochi four years later.
"I'm very happy today, it feels incredible," a beaming Kalla told a
media conference.
With about a dozen racers close together as they made the switch
from freestyle skiing to skating style, Kalla began evaluating when
she would attack.
"During the first skating lap I knew it felt very good, so my plan
was to try to do something quite early on the last skating lap," she
explained.
"I didn't know exactly where Marit was, I knew that she was in the
group somewhere, so I just tried to focus on my performance and not
evaluate what the others did."
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Winner Charlotte Kalla of Sweden reacts during the prize ceremony.
REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach
Kalla barely looked over her shoulder during the final three
kilometres as she dug deep for victory.
"There were thoughts about maybe what are the others doing, but I
just tried to focus on my performance all the time and just look
forward," she said, acknowledging that she had found it tough.
"I know that I have been in the zone of pain many times in the
summer and fall, and just looked forward all the time," she said.
Silver medalist Bjoergren has decided not to participate in
Thursday's 10km race, but said it had nothing to do with her
performance in the skiathlon.
"It's a decision I took a long time ago. I don't feel like I have a
chance of a medal, so that's why I made this choice," she told
broadcaster Eurosport.
(Editing by Peter Rutherford and Clare Fallon)
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