Niskanen wins Olympic gold in 50km cross-country skiing

PyeongChang, Feb 24: Finland's Iivo Niskanen won the men's 50km cross-country skiing on Saturday at the Alpensia Cross-Country Center during the PyeongChang Winter Olympics here.

Niskanen, 26, covered the distance in 2 hours, 8 minutes and 22.1 seconds, reports Efe.

He was 18.7 seconds ahead of Alexander Bolshunov, who won the silver medal for the Olympic Athletes from Russia.

Niskanen, gold medallist in the team sprint in Sochi four years ago, became the fourth Finnish cross-country skier to win multiple gold medals in the sport.

"It was a big dream," commented Niskanen following his victory.

It was Finland's 79th medal in cross-country skiing, equalling Sweden's total for second-most behind Norway with 120.

Another Russian, Andrey Larkov, came third, lagging behind Niskanen by 2 minutes and 37.5 seconds.