Winter Olympics: Marit Bjorgen wins gold as Norway top the medal table

Norway topped the medal table as Marit Bjorgen won gold in the women's cross-country skiing 30km mass start classic, the final event of the Winter Olympics.

Norway finished with 14 golds, the same as Germany, but won a record 39 medals overall, eight more than the Germans.

Bjorgen, 37, became the most decorated Winter Olympian by winning bronze in the team sprint free - her fifth medal at Pyeongchang 2018 and 15th overall.

She won a medal in every event she contested at this year's Games.

• Read more: How a nation of 5.2 million topped the world

She also won gold in the women's 4x5km relay, silver in the 15km skiathlon and another bronze in the 10km freestyle in South Korea.

It was her eighth Winter Olympic gold and puts her equal with biathlete Ole Einar Bjorndalen and cross country skier Bjorn Daehlie - both also from Norway - for the most in history.

Competing in the final Olympic event of her 16-year career, Bjorgen finishes with eight golds, four silvers and three bronzes from five Games.

"When I look behind me and see what I have done, it's incredible," she said. "It has been an amazing career for me, this is my last Olympics and to finish like this is incredible.

"I've had an amazing day, today my skis were good and it was special, the last 100 metres by myself there and I understand that I'd win the gold medal."

• Full medal table - by country & by sport

'She transcended her sport' - analysis

BBC Sport commentator Ollie Williams

What a way to finish. If this is the last time we see Marit Bjorgen at an Olympic Games, then she is going out in style and Norway will celebrate this for days to come.

It is the greatest cross-country performance you could ever imagine. She has transcended the boundaries of her sport.

For 16 years she has been at the top. She's done it with humility and a hunger for success. She has rewritten the boundaries of what many thought was possible.

This is a very special moment for us all to witness.

Bjorgen dominates from start to finish

Bjorgen made an early breakaway and led by over a minute at the halfway point - which proved to be too much for the rest of the field as the defending champion became the first woman to win the 30km mass start twice.

Austria's Teresa Stadlober was in second place with less than 10km to go but went the wrong way, allowing Finland's Krista Parmakoski to take silver and Sweden's Stina Nilsson bronze.

It was Parmakoski's third medal of the Games and a record finish for Finland in the mass start event.

Charlotte Kalla was aiming to become Sweden's most decorated Olympian of all time but finished almost three minutes behind Bjorgen in fifth place.

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