Alessandra Tarantino/Associated Press
Norway did not waste any time establishing its dominance atop the 2022 Winter Olympics medal table.
The winter sports powerhouse captured two of the first few gold medals in Beijing in two sports they typically dominate: biathlon and cross-country skiing.
Norway’s first gold came with some revenge, as it took back its title in the mixed 4×6 km biathlon relay. The Norwegians finished in front of France, who beat them four years ago in the event.
The first individual medal of the Olympics went to Norway’s Therese Johaug in the women’s cross-country skiathlon. Norway earned the most cross-country skiing medals in each of the last three Olympics.
Norway was not the only nation to take home a gold in a traditionally successful event. The Netherlands opened the speedskating competitions with a victory out of Irene Schouten in the women’s 3,000-meter event. The Dutch are looking to win the most speedskating medals for the third straight Olympics.
Day 1 Medal Results
Biathlon
Mixed 4×6 km Relay
Gold: Norway
Silver: France
Bronze: Russian Olympic Committee
Cross-Country Skiing
Women’s 15km Skiathlon
Gold: Therese Johaug (Norway)
Silver: Natalia Nepryaeva (ROC)
Bronze: Teresa Stadlober (Austria)
Freestyle Skiing
Men’s Moguls
Gold: Walter Wallburg (Sweden)
Silver: Mikael Kingsbury (Canada)
Bronze: Ikuma Horishima (Japan)
Short-Track Speedskating
Mixed Team Relay
Gold: China
Silver: Italy
Bronze: Hungary
Ski Jumping
Women’s Individual Normal Hill
Gold: Ursa Bogataj (Slovenia)
Silver: Katherine Althaus (Germany)
Bronze: Nika Kriznar (Slovenia)
Speedskating
Women’s 3,000m
Gold: Irene Schouten (Netherlands)
Silver: Francesca Lollobrigida (Italy)
Bronze: Isabelle Wiedemann (Canada)
Norway Opens Up Competition With Two Gold Medals
Norway entered Beijing as the favorite to win the most medals.
The European nation flexed its dominance in the biathlon and cross-country skiing events on Saturday morning with a pair of gold medals.
The Norwegian mixed relay biathlon team of Marte Olsbu, Tiril Eckhoff, Tarjei Bo and Johannes Thingnes Bo beat out France to re-gain the first place title that the country earned in 2014 in the event.
Thingnes Bo finished off the relay with a final leg time of 14:43.3. The 4×6 km relay features three loops around the biathlon course.
The Norwegian biathlon quartet joined Therese Johaug in the gold-medal column for Norway.
Johaug captured the 15-kilometer skiathlon to open the cross-country skiing program in China.
Johaug controlled the race for most of the 15 kilometers. She finished 30 seconds ahead of her closest competition.
Saturday’s victory handed Norway its 47th all-time gold medal in cross-country skiing. Norway has 41 more medals than its closest rival on the all-time cross-country skiing medal board.
Irene Schouten Breaks 20-Year Olympic Record
Irene Schouten of the Netherlands produced the first record-setting performance of the Olympics in the women’s 3,000-meter speedskating race.
The 29-year-old completed the course in 3:56.93, which was over a second better than silver medalist Francesca Lollabrigida of Italy.
Schouten’s time broke an Olympic record that stood since 2002. Germany’s Claudia Pechstein set the previous best mark in the competition.
Pechstein made some history of her own in the 3,000 meters, as she became the oldest woman to compete in the Winter Olympics and the first female to take part in eight different Winter Games.
Schouten was not joined by any of her Dutch teammates on the medal stand. That was a bit of a surprise since the Netherlands swept the medals in the event in Pyeongchang, South Korea in 2018.
The Netherlands are expected to win a handful of gold medals throughout the speedskating program and they are aiming to finish with the most medals in the sport for the third straight Olympics.
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