Olympic ski champion Therese Johaug is happy with her victory, and the Chinese cross-country skiing track is getting the best out of it. The 33-year-old Norwegian finally achieved her first individual Olympic gold dream on Saturday and is now heading to the classic 10km race on Thursday, calm and aware that the rest of the competition is watching her.
“I know that the other girls are really motivated to compete and I have to drive fast if I want to achieve my dream again”, said Therese Johaug.
Therese Johaug won gold with the relay at her first Vancouver 2010 Olympics and added silver bronze medals in Sochi 2014, before missing the PyeongChang 2018 due to doping elimination. She finally won a gold medal in her first race at the Beijing Games.
“My dream and goal before these games was to win an individual gold medal, so that means a lot. But when you won this gold medal, you want more. So tomorrow I will drive fast, as in other races here”, added the Norwegian.
Therese Johaug named Finns Krista Parmakoski and Kerttu Niskanen as the main competitors in Thursday’s race and suggested that her powerful riding could give her an advantage on the slow tracks in Zhangjiakou.
“I love the slopes here. They are really hard, but they are different from the World Cup ones because the snow is slow. But I am happy and I like this track”, said Therese Johaug.
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Therese Johaug won her first gold medal at the Beijing 2022 Olympics after triumphing in skiathlon 7.5+7.5 kilometers from cross-country skiing tournaments
