February 23, 2014  (Krasnaya Polyana, Russia) – Marit Bjoergen won historic gold as she led a first-ever Norwegian sweep of the women’s 30km FR mass start becoming the most successful woman in Olympic Winter Games history. This was Bjoergen’s sixth Olympic gold and her 10th medal at the Games as she also has won three silvers and one bronze.

Joining Bjoergen on the podium were teammates Therese Johaug, winning the silver, and Kristin Stormer Steira taking home the bronze finally earning a medal after finishing off the podium in 4th on four previous occasions at the Games.

The top North American was the USA’s Liz Stephen in 24th followed by Holly Brooks in 27th with Kikkan Randall 29th. Teammate Jessie Diggins had a tough day in the warm conditions ending up 40th. Brittany Webster lead the Canadians in 46th with teammate Emily Nishikawa in 47th and Amanda Ammar in 49th. Heidi Widmer was close behind in 52nd.

Johaug took an early lead with Finland’s Kerttu Niskanen and Krista Lahteenmaki in tow as Sweden’s Charlotte Kalla and fellow Norwegian Heidi Weng were close behind. By the 5km mark Bjoergen was leading with Johaug in second as Steira moved into third when they reached 8km with the Americans in the main pack sitting in the mid 20s.

Things remained unchanged at 10km as they started the third lap with Kalla in fourth but the Norwegians would soon wind it up and at 12.5km they had a 16.9 second gap on Lahteenmaki who was leading the chase behind

By the 15km mark the writing was on the wall as Polish star Justyna Kowalczyk dropped out and Kalla faded as the gap was now 33 seconds to Lahteenmaki with no rest in sight. The trio had clearly made the move of the day and any chance of catching them was fading fast as they proved to be untouchable for the remainder of the race.

In a show of solidarity for their tech crew that has been under fire at these Games for the somewhat lacklustre Norwegian performances, the three leaders did not change skis.

The three were like glue until the last lap as Johaug attacked on the final climb with Steira unable to counter but Bjoergen was not an easy mark and had a game plan of her own as she passed Johaug and crested the hill in the lead. Johaug couldn’t contain her as Bjoergen crossed the line more for another memorable gold as Norway swept the podium.

While Stephen hoped for better than 24th she was happy with her race. “Today I wanted to come out here and smile as big as I could on the start line. I did that and I skied with no stress out there,” said the Vermont skier. “I was trying to enjoy myself because that’s when I ski my best. I’m just happy to have started my fifth Olympic race ever. What a day to race, for sure. It was hot and there were tons of fans.

“I’m just happy to be here and to have a great team around me. Certainly I was hoping to have better results today, but what can you do? You go out and you try your hardest and that’s what I did. Some days it works and some days it doesn’t.”

Anticipating a softer course in the second half of the race the Americans elected to swap their skis. Brooks spoke of her decision to make the exchange.

“I felt really good. I’m just kicking myself for switching skis at 10k. That was a disaster. We were all skiing together and our team kind of came into the day thinking that it was going to be way faster to switch skis. I don’t think those [other] girls were skiing that much faster than I was. When you’re skiing out there by yourself or with one or two other people, you can’t do it.

“I’ve been on the other side of the coin before too. In Oslo 2011 I didn’t switch skis, I skied right through the exchange zone and then everyone caught me and just flew past me. So I had that in the back of my head and thought maybe my skis were going to make a difference today. I felt good, but I lost the pack, so I’m bummed about that.”

Randall struggled on her own but found the course held up and while she hope for better results she felt the Games were a success in the end. “It was a lot better than I thought out there. There were a couple sections that got a little soft, but for the most part the course was firm and it actually skied much better at race pace than it does when you’re trying to go slow. It was fun to jump in and for about 7.5k I was right there with the leaders and feeling good.

“It was kind of weird. All of a sudden things just started to break up and I looked up and I was on my own. Then the ski exchange really spread that apart. So I definitely struggled skiing on my own in the middle when the pace kind of settled a little bit, but then I came on strong in the last lap.

“I’d certainly say it’s been a character building couple of weeks. It’s not exactly what we had imagined. We were good to come in with so much confidence. For me personally, I just didn’t quite hit the fitness right and then tried to put on a new face every race, but it was challenging. So I think we will learn a lot. Certainly we know that we are close. We’ve just got to keep fighting to get it right. I think overall we still had a successful Olympics.”

The intense heat on the snow did not serve some athletes well including Diggins. “The biggest thing I learned from today is that it’s a really good thing I’m not a summer Olympian because I do not perform in the heat very well. I just shut down. The first 8km felt great. I was really excited. I was skiing right where I wanted to be in the pack and just cruising. Then the first time up this really big hill-it was in the sun, it was hot -I just reached a certain temperature and shut down. It was pretty immediate.”

Of her solid effort, Diggins stated, “There were some awesome, fun moments out there and I’m just proud of myself for finishing. It was a brutal race. It wasn’t my kind of temperature at all, but I stuck it out and so I’m psyched with that. How many Olympic 30k’s am I get the chance to do in my life? So I might as well give it my best shot and just enjoy the moment.”

Full results here.