Therese Johaug of Norway won the first gold medal of the Beijing Games on Saturday, dominating the 15-kilometer skiathlon after opening a commanding lead midway through the race that determines the world’s best all-around skier.
The 33-year-old Johaug, a 14-time world champion and three-time Olympic medalist, left the field behind after the first half of the race, which is skied half in the “classical” up-and-down skiing style and half in the less-regimented “skating” style.
The World Cup leader, Natalya Nepryayeva of Russia, held off Teresa Stadlober of Austria in a close battle for silver and bronze. Nepryayeva edged Stadlober, a surprise medalist, by three-tenths of a second, but both finished more than 30 seconds behind Johaug, whose winning time was 44 minutes 13.