In a show of Scandinavian strength, Sweden's Ebba Andersson skied to gold in the women's 50km race on Sunday, the first time this distance has been contested by women.
It was all sunshine at Tesero for the 38 athletes who completed the final cross-country skiing event at Milan Cortina. Norway's Heidi Weng came in 2nd, 2 minutes, 15 seconds behind, and Switzerland's Nadja Kaelin came in 3rd, 6 minutes, 41 seconds back.
This was the first time the distance had been increased from 30km to 50km for gender parity. In the “ski marathon" the athletes skied six laps around an 8.3km (5.15-mile) course for a total distance of 31.1 miles. The event begins with a mass start with the highest-ranked athletes in the front positions.
For Andersson, the gold medal in the 50km marked redemption after she tumbled twice in slushy conditions during the women's 4x7.5 relay.
"That's the point with sports; sometimes you lose and sometimes you win, it's both ups and downs," Andersson said.
Weng had a strong four laps and maintained a big gap in the field even after changing skis. Behind her was Kaelin, who was focused on saving energy for the last uphill.
“I feel very happy," Weng said after the race. "I had very good skis in the first part and then I changed, and I felt like I didn’t have so much power left."
Sunday marked Jessie Diggins' final Olympic race before the United States athlete retires. The cross-country skiing legend finished 5th — 6 minutes, 46 seconds behind the leaders.
“It was just so cool to be able to ski my best classic ski in my last-ever Olympic race," Diggins said after the race.
At the midway point when the athletes exchanged their skis, Diggins and others fell due to their fresh wax stopping their movement.
Two athletes that were favorites to win, Norway's Astrid Oeyre Slind and Sweden's Frida Karlsson, did not finish the race. Slind said she tapped out due to a combination of icy conditions, fatigue and equipment.