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| From left, Yulia Stupak, of the Russian Olympic Committee, Natalia Nepryaeva, Tatiana Sorina, and Veronika Stepanova celebrate after winning the gold medal during a venue ceremony after the women's 4 x 5km relay cross-country skiing competition at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Feb. 12, in Zhangjiakou, China. AP-Yonhap |
The Russian team started strong and finished strong Saturday in the women's four-person relay, winning another Olympic gold medal in cross-country skiing.
Yulia Stupak broke away early with nine women chasing. On the next leg, Natalia Nepryaeva was chased down by Katharina Hennig of Germany.
The Germans briefly took the lead on the last lap, with Russian skier Veronika Stepanova just behind Sofie Krehl. But Stepanova pulled away on the final climb and won in 53 minutes, 41 seconds. Germany took silver, 18.2 seconds behind. Sweden edged Finland for bronze.
Tatiana Sorina skied the third lap for the Russian team, which is competing at the Beijing Games under the acronym ROC ― short for Russian Olympic Committee.
The four-person relay began as a mass-start with 18 racers. Each woman skied two laps on a 2.5-kilometer (1.5-mile) course. The first two skiers raced in the classic style and the last two in freestyle.
Norway ended up in fifth place, just ahead of the United States in sixth. Therese Johaug, who already has won two gold medals at the Beijing Games, briefly brought the chase group closer to the leaders but she couldn't catch them.
The gold was the Russian team's second in cross-country skiing at the 2022 Games. Alexander Bolshunov won the men's skiathlon. (AP)
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