Bjoergen leads Norway's sweep of 30K
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Krasnaya Polyana, Russia (SportsNetwork.com) - Marit Bjoergen won gold to lead Norway to a sweep of the medals in the women's 30-kilomter mass start event Saturday at the Sochi Olympics.
Bjoergen finished the race with a time of 1 hour, 11 minutes, 5.2 seconds, beating Therese Johaug by 2.6 seconds for gold in the final women's cross- country skiing event at the Sochi Games.
Kristin Stoermer Steira crossed the finish line 23.6 seconds behind Bjoergen to complete the Norwegian podium sweep. Finland's Kerttu Niskanen was 1:21.7 in back of Bjoergen for fourth place.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}With her performance on Saturday, Bjoergen tied the Winter Games record for most career medals (10) and golds (6) by a female Olympian. She earned three gold medals in Sochi, winning an individual title in the skiathlon while also helping Norway take the team sprint event.
Poland's Justyna Kowalczyk, a five-time Olympic medalist, won gold on a broken foot in the 10-kilmoter classic event earlier in Sochi, but she couldn't fight through the injury on Saturday. The 2010 gold medalist in the 30-kilometer event, Kowalczyk dropped out of the race before the halfway point.
Elizabeth Stephen had the best finish for the United States, finishing 24th.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Canada's Brittany Webster came in 46th place.