By Liz Hampton and Tommy Lund
TESERO, Italy, Feb 22 (Reuters) - Sweden's Ebba Andersson surged away from her rivals to secure a commanding win in the 50km classic cross-country ski race on Sunday, winning the first gold medal in the event on its Olympic debut.
It was redemption for Andersson, who suffered a series of falls in the relay that likely cost her team a gold medal. She also has three second-place finishes at Milano-Cortina, one earned after an impressive comeback in the relay, and individual
silvers in the skiathlon and 10km freestyle event.
In Sunday's race, Heidi Weng of Norway won silver, finishing two minutes and 15 seconds behind Andersson but roughly four-and-a-half minutes ahead of Switzerland's Nadja Kaelin who took bronze.
Andersson led for the early portion of the race, with Weng close behind, leaving others to fight for the bronze. After suffering a brief fall in a ski change, Andersson broke away from Weng and the two stayed safely in gold and silver medal positions for the second half of the race.
Kaelin tore away from the chasing group in the final uphill climb, outpacing podium favourite Jessie Diggins of the U.S. who came into the event as top seed.
"I tried until the end not to think about the medal, but then on the last uphill I was thinking, 'OK, now let’s go for the medal’,” said Kaelin, who also won a silver in the team sprint.
Diggins, who was racing the final event of her Olympic career, came fifth after clawing back from a fall during a ski change and collapsed at the finish line.
Kaelin finished six minutes and 41 seconds behind Andersson.
Sweden’s Jonna Sundling and Frida Karlsson, both seen as medal contenders, sat out the race due to illness, while Norway's Astrid Oeyre Slind dropped out early.
"At first, I tried to fight for it, but then I realised that I didn't have a chance today. I've been in this situation before and tried to finish the race, and it just doesn’t (work)," she said.
The race marked the first time that distance had been completed by women at an Olympic Games. While some skiers welcomed the challenge, others felt it was too much, particularly as they prepare to go back to the World Cup.
"It’s too long. But it was good to have family here to support me," said silver medallist Weng.
(Reporting by Liz Hampton and Tommy Lund in Tesero, Italy; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne and Ed Osmond)
