The Norwegian superstar took command immediately and was in the lead at the first half, but close behind followed Ebba Andersson and Jessie Diggins.

Ebba hung on well and was second up to 8.8 kilometers - then only 0.9 seconds behind - but then Johaug used his super legs and jerked in from the others.

At the next intermediate time, after 10.4 kilometers, she had a full 16 second lead down to second Diggins.

Andersson had slipped down to third place, almost 33 seconds behind the leader.

Sundling up and sniffing

Johaug - who also won gold in Beijing in the 10 km classic and 15 km skiathlon - only extended his lead at the same time as the Swedes slipped more and more.

Behind Andersson in third place, halfway into the race, a cluster approached with Kerttu Niskanen in the lead and Jonna Sundling a little behind.

Ebba's third place was threatened, but then the star responded by showing new strength and pulling away.

Exciting at the end

The tension rose at the end when Andersson got tired and had to work really hard.

With 1.3 kilometers left, Ebba had gone from almost 40 seconds to being only 14 before the chasing cluster with Niskanen in the lead.

The text is updated.