It has been an Olympics to remember for Marit Bjoergen.
Skiing the anchor leg in the women's 4x5km relay, Bjoergen brought home the gold medal for Norway. It was the third gold medal of these Games for Bjoergen to go along with a bronze medal.
"It has been so great," Bjoergen said. "I wouldn't dream of one Gold medal and now I have three, so this has been a wonderful Games."
"It was a good race for the girls, this is meaning a lot for our girls and for Norway at home."
Bjoergen becomes the first Norwegian woman to win three gold medals in the Olympics and just the sixth woman ever to win three gold medals in cross-country skiing in one Olympic. It was also Norway's seventh gold medal of these Games.
The Canadian team of Dasha Gaiazova, Perianne Jones, Chandra Crawford and Madeleine Williams struggled in the relay, falling behind early and never recovering. Canada finished in 16th place in a time of 1:00:05.0.
Sara Renner, the silver medallist in the team sprint in Turin in 2006, did not take part in the relay, choosing instead to focus on Saturday's 30km mass start.
It was a dominating performance for Bjoergen and Norway. Bjoergen crossed the line 24.6 seconds ahead of second-place Claudia Nystad and Germany. Led by a strong third leg by Riitta-Liisa Roponen, Finland won the bronze.
Bjoergen was so far ahead of the pack entering the stadium she had time to grab a Norwegian flag before she crossed the finish line.
If she were to win gold in Saturday's 30km mass start, Bjoergen would become just the second woman ever to win four golds in one Olympic competition.
