Swedish cross-country skier Kalla wins 1st gold medal of PyeongChang 2018
Kalla clocked a time of 40 minutes, 44.9 seconds in the 15-kilometer skiathlon competition at Alpensia Cross-Country Skiing Centre in PyeongChang, Gangwon Province, some 182 kilometers east of Seoul.
Defending champion Marit Bjoergen of Norway, also a six-time Olympic gold medalist, was second at 40:52.7, followed by Krista Parmakoski of Finland at 40:55.
Lee Chae-won, the oldest South Korean athlete at the PyeongChang Olympics at the age of 36, finished 57th among 60 contestants with the time of 46:44.5.
The women's 15km skiathlon, an event in which athletes have to race 7.5km routes back-to-back with the first half using classical technique and the latter half using freestyle, was the first gold medal event at the PyeongChang Olympics, which kicked off on Friday. There are a record 102 gold medals up for grabs at this year's Winter Olympics, with some 2,920 athletes from 92 countries competing at its events.
