Justyna Kowalczyk of Poland grab the gold medal in the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games women’s 30km cross country skiing event by edging out Marit Bjoergen of Norway. In a sprint finish to the women’s 30km classical event, Justyna Kowalczyk overtakes Marit Bjoergen after the skiers had entered the stadium for the final time and narrowly edged out her arch rival in a thrilling race to the line although Marit Bjoergen had taken a 1.9-second lead with five kilometers to go. The world champion from Poland in the women’s 30 km mass start classic event completed the race in one hour 30 minutes 33.7 seconds while Norwegian Marit Bjoergen, who was bidding for a fourth gold at the Vancouver Games 2010, clocked a time of one hour 30 minutes 34.0 seconds to win the silver medal in the 30-kilometer classical cross country race in the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games. Aino-Kaisa Saarinen of Finland snatched the women’s 30 km bronze medal in Canada with a respectable time of one hour 31 minutes 38.7 seconds.The 2010 gold medalist in the 30km women’s mass start classic repeatedly pumped her arms skywards in relief after completing the energy-sapping and lung-bursting contest. The gold won by Justyna Kowalczyk is Poland’s second ever gold medal at the Winter Olympics. Justyna Kowalczyk, who won the 2010 Vancouver Games silver in the 1.4km sprint and bronze in the 15km pursuit, took early control of a grueling 30km event raced in intermittent drizzle but Marit Bjoergen of Norway took over at the top with just five kilometers remaining. Justyna Kowalczyk was perfectly placed in her slip stream and made her final move with perfect timing as both of them were virtually side by side down the final straightaway in this cross-country skiing competition in Vancouver 2010 Games. The Norwegian was denied a fourth 2010 Winter Games gold as she had already won gold in the 15km pursuit, the individual sprint classic and 4×5km relay in Canada. She has also won a bronze medal in the 10km freestyle. After her triumph, the Pole apologized to the Norwegian after accusing her of cheating in which she had accused her opponent of using asthma medication to fuel her triple gold-medal triumph at the 2010 Winter Vancouver Olympics. Marit Bjoergen’s coach said the medication used by the Norwegian Vancouver 2010 gold medalist was legal and has been approved by both the International Ski Federation and by the World Anti-Doping Agency. What are the full results for the women’s 30 km, mass start classic in the 2010 Vancouver Games? The complete results and rankings for the 30 km classical cross country race are Justyna Kowalczyk of Poland winning the gold, Marit Bjoergen of Norway winning the silver with Aino-Kaisa Saarinen of Finland winning the bronze and then followed to the finish line by Evi Sachenbacher-Stehle of Germany, Masako Ishida of Japan, Charlotte Kalla of Sweden, Therese Johaug of Norway, Kristin Stoermer Steira of Norway, Anna Olsson of Sweden and Karine Laurent Philippot of France.
Apart from the top ten finishers in the women’s 30 km gold in the Vancouver Games, other finishers include Kornelia Marek of Poland, Marianna Longa of Italy, Riikka Sarasoja of Finland, Virpi Kuitunen of Finland, Aurore Cuinet of France, Sara Renner of Canada, Antonella Confortola Wyatt of Italy, Stefanie Boehler of Germany, Oxana Jatskaja of Kazakhstan, Katrin Zeller of Germany, Marthe Kristoffersen of Germany, Tatjana Zavalij of Ukraine, Olga Savialova of the Russian Federation, Kikkan Randall of the United States (USA), Sylwia Jaskowiec of Poland, Krista Lahteenmaki of Finland, Kateryna Grygorenko of Ukraine, Kristina Smigun-Vaehi of Estonia, Paulina Maciuszek of Poland, Olga Rotcheva of the Russian Federation, Madoka Natsumi of Japan, Li Hong Xue of China, Katerina Smutna of Austria, Elena Kolomina of Kazakhstan, Marina Matrossova of Kazakhstan, Holly Brooks of the United States (USA), Laura Orgue of Spain, Olga Schuchkina of the Russian Federation, Alena Sannikova of Belarus, Eva Nyvltova of Czech Republic, Ivana Janeckova of Czech Republic, Tatjana Mannima of Estonia, Svetlana Malahova-Shishkina of Kazakhstan, Lada Nesterenko of Ukraine, Nastassia Dubarezava of Belarus, Madeleine Williams of Canada, Monika Gyorgy of Romania and Eva Skalnikova of Czech Republic. The skiers that did not finish the women’s 30 km classical event are Valentina Shevchenko of Ukraine, Ida Ingemarsdotter of Sweden, Cecile Storti of France, Morgan Arritola of the United States (USA) and Laurence Rochat of Switzerland and those who were disqualified in this women’s 30km classical skiing competition are Sabina Valbusa of Italy and Kamila Rajdlova of Czech Republic.