The Russian women’s cross-country skiing team has won a brilliant gold medal in the 4x5km relay at the Beijing Games, finishing ahead of Germany and Sweden.
The Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) quartet of Tatiana Sorina, Veronika Stepanova, Yulia Stupak and Natalia Nepryaeva came home in a time of 53:41.0 – more than 18 seconds clear of nearest rivals Germany.
The gold medal is the ROC’s third in total at the Beijing Games, following success for men’s skier Alexander Bolshunov and Russian figure skaters in the team event.
Saturday’s success at the Zhangjiakou National Cross-Country Skiing Center is the first time a Russian women’s team has won the 4x5km relay title since 2006.
For team member Nepryaeva it is a second medal of the Beijing Games, following her silver in the skiathlon last weekend, which opened the ROC’s medal account in China.
Nepryaeva and Stupak also both add to the bronze medal they won in the same event in PyeongChang four years ago – but this time will stand proudly at the top of the podium.
Leading the Russian team home on the final leg was 21-year-old Stepanova, who has been a revelation since joining the senior team ranks.
Both she and teammate Sorina, 27, have now claimed maiden Olympic medals.
The man who critically injured Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico on Wednesday was a fierce…
The Asia-Pacific region should be free of military blocs because of their potential to undermine…
Russian President Vladimir Putin was welcomed with an honor guard after his plane touched down…
Russian President Vladimir Putin has set the stage for his state visit to China by…
С каждым днем онлайн-казино становятся все более популярными среди азартных игроков. И это вполне логично:…
Russian President Vladimir Putin has officially appointed Andrey Belousov as the new minister of defense.Belousov,…