Marit Bjorgen Wins Gold for Cross-Country Olympics 2018 Women's 30km Mass Start

Norway's Marit Bjorgen won the final gold of the 2018 Winter Olympics on Sunday in the women's 30-kilometre cross-country skiing, blitzing the rest of the field in the process.

In doing so, Bjorgen became an eight-time Olympic champion and a 15-time Olympic medalist. The 37-year-old came home in a time of one hour, 22 minutes and 17.6 seconds to finish a long way clear of Finland's Krista Parmakoski and Sweden's Stina Nilsson.

Here are the top three finishers from the final event at the Pyeongchang Games in South Korea, as Bjorgen produced yet another masterclass.

1. Marit Bjorgen (NOR)—1:22:17.6

2. Krista Parmakoski (FIN)—(+1:49.5)

3. Stina Nilsson (SWE)—(+1:58.9)

For the result in full, visit the Pyeongchang website.

Bjorgen Finishes Games in Style

Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

Having already made history at these Games by becoming the most decorated athlete in the history of the Winter Olympics, Pyeongchang was always going to be memorable for Bjorgen.

But in this event, she had a tremendous opportunity to add another layer to her greatness, and from the off, it was evident just how intent she was on doing so.

Meanwhile, at the end of a long Olympics, it perhaps wasn't a huge surprise to see some athletes making some rudimentary errors in the 30-kilometres, per the Associated Press' Steve Reed:

The field simply couldn't live with the veteran here, as she was happy to go alone at the front of the pack and the pack were happy to let her go. Such was the blistering pace being set by Bjorgen, this race quickly became about the battle for silver and bronze.

It meant Bjorgen was able to savour the moment late on, as she picked up a Norwegian flag and took in the applause of the fans in attendance. As noted by Nick Zaccardi of NBC Sports, this felt like the gloss on an iconic career:

Indeed, the confidence and quality she showcased in moving to the front so early was indicative of a competitor that has been at the top of the pile for so long in cross-country skiing.

FRANCK FIFE/Getty Images

Arguably, the performances from her in Pyeongchang have been the best from her distinguished career, with four medals—a gold, a silver and two bronzes—already earned at these Games. As noted by Gracenote Olympic, this win means no competitor has won more titles than her either:

BBC Sport's Eilidh Barbour was full of praise for Bjorgen after this win, suggesting she's the greatest to ever grace the Winter Olympics:

Further back in the field, Parmakoski proved to be the best of the rest, as she was comfortable in silver. Meanwhile, Sweden's Nilsson eventually outlasted Ingvild Flugstad Oestberg to grab a bronze.

The gold for Bjorgen also sees Norway move to the summit of the medal table in the final event, as they move level on 14 golds with Germany but have more silver and bronze prizes to show from the Games.