The women's mass start of Cross-Country Skiing 2018 during the 2018 Winter Olympics was held on 25 February 2018 in the Alpensia Cross-Country Skiing Centre. With 47 athletes competing, the event was won by Marit Bjoergen from Norway, with Krista Parmakoski from Finland taking the silver medal and Stina Nilsson from Sweden taking bronze.
Format[]
The competition exists out of four rounds of 7.5 kilometres in the classic technique, with the athletes starting simultaneously. The competitor with the fastest time after 30 kilometres is the winner.
Preview[]
Forty-seven athletes qualified for the last cross-country event in Pyeongchang, with the Norwegian and Swedish athletes as big favorites. Norway had won six out of eleven gold medals in the cross-country events, and Heidi Weng and Ingvild Flugstad Oestberg were the top two seeds, and the most decorated Winter Olympian Marit Bjoergen was the defending Olympic champion. The fourth Norwegian competitor was Ragnhild Haga, who won the 10 kilometres ten days prior to this event. Charlotte Kalla had won four medals in her previous four events, and Stina Nilsson had also won three medals in the previous two weeks. Behind these top competitors, Jessica Diggins was the third seed and on a high after her win in the team sprint, while Krista Parmakoski had also medaled in other events. Other potential outsiders included Teresa Stadlober, Kerttu Niskanen, and Anastasia Sedova.
Results[]
The longest distance of the cross-country program with just over 30 km of skiing, during which the athletes passed the finish line eight times, was lead out by Charlotte Kalla, who set the pace in front of Kerttu Niskanen and Jessica Diggins. Most of the seeded athletes remained bunched up, even when Niskanen and Marit Bjoergen took their turns in front. The group in front thinned out, with the numbers dropping to 27, and even Bjoergen herself had taken small gaps on her own. Going into the stadium for the first time, Jessica Diggins tumbled and Anna Haag missed a turn, losing valuable positions in front. With the first passage of the finish line, the Scandinavian athletes came out on top, with Heidi Weng, Niskanen, Kalla, Ingvild Flugstad Oestberg, Krista Parmakoski, and Stina Nilsson all within two seconds from the leader Bjoergen. The leading group still consisted of 25 athletes, a bit over half the entire field. Katerina Berouskova followed on just 3 seconds from the first group, with the gap behind her to Rosie Frankowski already close to 10 seconds.
The group division didn't change much in the second half of the first lap, with the leading group being thinned out more, 19 athletes remaining after 5 kilometres, lead by Bjoergen. Stefanie Boehler and Aino-Kaisa Saarinen followed on barely four seconds, after which there was a larger gap to the next pursuers. The Norwegian and Swedish athletes kept deciding the pace, with Nilsson leading the Swedish team throughout the rest of the first lap. Bjoergen made the first acceleration with the finish line in sight, but she was being followed by Kalla, and a small gap to Oestberg, Niskanen, Parmakoski, Nilsson, and Teresa Stadlober. With the first opportunity to change skis, the gaps between small groups was around 2 seconds, with a larger difference behind Nathalie von Siebenthal just inside the top 20 of the race. Boehler lead the chasing group on 20 seconds of the leading group of 19, 40 seconds behind Bjoergen.
Throughout the second lap, Bjoergen, Kalla, and Niskanen split themselves off from the rest of the field, and only Parmakoski, Stadlober, Nilsson, and Oestberg were able to follow, with Diggins also close behind. Only shortly after, Bjoergen attacked, leaving Kalla chasing, while the three athletes behind her came together to form a small group. The Norwegian in front took over 20 seconds on Parmakoski, Kalla, Stadlober, and Niskanen halfway through the second lap, with Diggins following on another 10 seconds and Nilsson and Oestberg also still within range. The next group was close to a minute behind Bjoergen, seemingly without chances for a medal.
The sight in front wouldn't change anytime soon, with Bjoergen extending her lead on the four chasers behind her. The gap from the leader extended to almost a minute at the halfway point, a difference of 30 seconds compared to the last finish passage. Nilsson, Oestberg, and Diggins followed on 20 seconds from the first chasing group, and the next athlete Ebba Andersson lead the next group on another 25 seconds.
Kalla dropped back starting the second half of the race after changing equipment, but in any other sense the progression of the previous lap continued, with Bjoergen being followed at quite some distance by the first chasing group. The gap between the two continued to increase, while Kalla slowly came back, with the next group in her tracks. Halfway through the third of four laps, the lead of Bjoergen to Stadlober, Niskanen, and Parmakoski had already increased to 75 seconds, with the race for second place still on. Nilsson, Oestberg, and Kalla were only 15 seconds behind, with Diggins another 10 seconds behind them.
Stadlober set the pace in the chasing group, but quickly suffered quite a big setback after following the wrong designated course. Parmakoski was now the first chaser, but already lost almost 90 seconds on the Norwegian leader, 15 seconds in front of her countrywoman Niskanen and 25 seconds in front of Nilsson and Oestberg. Stadlober lost over a minute to her chasing companions after her mistake. With only a single lap to go, Bjoergen seemed sure to win the gold medal, being 90 seconds ahead of the first chaser Parmakoski, and almost 2 minutes ahead of a group with Oestberg, Nilsson, and Niskanen. Kalla and Diggins were another 30 seconds behind and had to hope for another slip-up to win a medal. Stadlober remained within 3 minutes from Bjoergen after her error.
The first half of the last lap didn't see any big changes in the race progression. The gaps between the four in front were retained, with Parmakoski losing almost two minutes on Bjoergen, and Oestberg and Nilsson another 15 seconds behind. With only half a lap to go, the race for the gold and silver medals seemed determined, with Bjoergen having a huge lead over Parmakoski of 2 minutes, and the Fin another 15 seconds in front of Oestberg and Nilsson. However, the two chasers were still able to catch Parmakoski, but they would probably have to sprint for the bronze medal. Fifth-placed Kalla was another minute behind and didn't seem to become a threat for the medals. Stadlober, who was able to keep up with the first chasers for a long time, once again raced into the wrong direction.
Bjoergen secured her gold medal after a dominating performance, almost 2 minutes ahead of second-placed Parmakoski. Nilsson tried to shake off Oestberg but slipped twice and had to find another moment for her attack. The attack from the Norwegian came on the last climb, but she wasn't able to prevent the Swede from following either, and in the last descent, Nilsson started behind but had the inside turn and after Oestberg went wide, the Swede caught up to win the bronze medal. Kalla finished fifth on almost 3 minutes from the winner, fencing off a final sprint from Niskanen, and Diggins finished another 40 seconds behind. The World Cup leader, the unfortunate Stadlober, and Masako Ishida completed the top 10.
In the final event of Pyeongchang 2018, Marit Bjoergen won her fifth medal in Pyeongchang, and her second gold medal after winning the relay. With her five medals, she became the most successful athlete at the Winter Olympic Games ever, having won a total of fifteen medals, of which eight gold. It was the 39th medal for Norway in 2018, a record number of total medals in a single year. Krista Parmakoski won her fourth Olympic medal, after a previous silver medal at the relay in 2014, and two bronze medals at the 10 kilometres and the skiathlon. Stina Nilsson won her fifth Olympic medal in seven events, while Ingvild Flugstad Oestberg and Charlotte Kalla missed out on their potential fourth and tenth medals, respectively. Kerttu Niskanen couldn't equal the result of her brother Iivo Niskanen, who won the gold medal in the men's mass start.
| Result | Athlete | Nationality | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
Marit Bjoergen | Norway | 1:22:17.6 |
 |
Krista Parmakoski | Finland | 1:24:07.1 |
 |
Stina Nilsson | Sweden | 1:24:16.5 |
| 4 | Ingvild Flugstad Oestberg | Norway | 1:24:18.0 |
| 5 | Charlotte Kalla | Sweden | 1:25:14.8 |
| 6 | Kerttu Niskanen | Finland | 1:25:19.2 |
| 7 | Jessica Diggins | United States | 1:25:54.8 |
| 8 | Heidi Weng | Norway | 1:26:25.5 |
| 9 | Teresa Stadlober | Austria | 1:26:31.7 |
| 10 | Masako Ishida | Japan | 1:26:38.4 |
| 11 | Anastasia Sedova | Olympic Athletes from Russia | 1:26:46.8 |
| 12 | Ragnhild Haga | Norway | 1:27:11.5 |
| 13 | Ebba Andersson | Sweden | 1:27:14.8 |
| 14 | Justyna Kowalczyk | Poland | 1:27:21.8 |
| 15 | Alisa Zhambalova | Olympic Athletes from Russia | 1:27:27.2 |
| 16 | Stefanie Boehler | Germany | 1:28:42.2 |
| 17 | Sadie Bjornsen | United States | 1:28:50.2 |
| 18 | Johanna Matintalo | Finland | 1:28:58.2 |
| 19 | Katharina Hennig | Germany | 1:29:48.9 |
| 20 | Aino-Kaisa Saarinen | Finland | 1:30:32.2 |
| 21 | Rosie Frankowski | United States | 1:31:11.4 |
| 22 | Nathalie von Siebenthal | Switzerland | 1:31:27.9 |
| 23 | Katerina Berouskova | Czech Republic | 1:31:41.4 |
| 24 | Natalie Nepryaeva | Olympic Athletes from Russia | 1:32:10.4 |
| 25 | Victoria Carl | Germany | 1:32:42.4 |
| 26 | Caitlin Patterson | United States | 1:32:43.6 |
| 27 | Elisa Brocard | Italy | 1:33:33.5 |
| 28 | Tatjana Mannima | Estonia | 1:34:27.7 |
| 29 | Anna Haag | Sweden | 1:34:31.0 |
| 30 | Emily Nishikawa | Canada | 1:34:31.7 |
| 31 | Anna Savchenko | Kazakhstan | 1:35:36.1 |
| 32 | Valeriya Tyuleneva | Kazakhstan | 1:35:38.0 |
| 33 | Yelena Kolomina | Kazakhstan | 1:35:38.4 |
| 34 | Anna Comarella | Italy | 1:35:48.7 |
| 35 | Sara Pellegrini | Italy | 1:36:07.3 |
| 36 | Alena Prochazkova | Slovakia | 1:36:50.0 |
| 37 | Li Xin | China | 1:38:04.9 |
| 38 | Tetiana Antypenko | Ukraine | 1:38:17.3 |
| 39 | Petra Hyncicova | Czech Republic | 1:39:14.7 |
| 40 | Polina Seronosova | Belarus | 1:39:36.0 |
| 41 | Lucia Scardoni | Italy | 1:40:26.3 |
| 42 | Jessica Yeaton | Australia | 1:40:54.8 |
| 43 | Cendrine Browne | Canada | 1:41:23.9 |
| 44 | Chi Chunxue | China | 1:42:03.2 |
| 45 | Valiantsina Kaminskaya | Belarus | 1:42:27.6 |
| - | Anne-Marie Comeau | Canada | DNF |
| - | Yulia Tikhonova | Belarus | DNF |
| 2018 Winter Olympic Games | |
|---|---|
| Cross-Country Skiing 2018 | |
| ← 2014 | 2022 → |
| Men | Women |
| 15 km | 10 km |
| Skiathlon | Skiathlon |
| Sprint | Sprint |
| Team sprint | Team sprint |
| Mass start | Mass start |
| Relay | Relay |