2022 Winter Olympics predictions: Women's cross-country skiathlon betting tips

Free cross-country skiing tips, best bets and analysis for the Winter Olympics skiathlon at Beijing 2022.

Where to watch

Live Beijing 2022 coverage on BBC & Eurosport

When to bet

Starts 7.45am Saturday

Best bet

Frida Karlsson to win women's 7.5km + 7.5km skiathlon
1pt 7-2 bet365

Preview

The 2022 Winter Olympics ratchets up a gear after Friday's opening ceremony with the first medal event taking place Saturday morning UK & Ireland time.

A competitor from the women's cross-country skiathlon will have the honour of collecting the first gold in Beijing, and it looks like a duel between Norway's Therese Johaug and Frida Karlsson of Sweden.

The skiathlon sees the racers cover 7.5km skiing the classic style, where the skis don't leave the snow, followed by 7.5km freestyle. There hasn't been a skiathlon event on this year's World Cup circuit, but Johaug has won gold in the event at the last three World Championships and is the clear bookmaker favourite.

However, skiathlon is the only Olympic discipline Johaug has contested but failed to win a medal and she could be at a disadvantage due to the Norwegian team's delayed arrival in China.

Karlsson, 11 years Johaug's junior at 22, has already been training on the Zhangjiakou course for a week and could also be sharper having competed in the Tour de Ski a month ago. Johaug, meanwhile, hasn't raced since winning the 10km freestyle at Davos on December 12.

Others in the field to look out for include US veteran Jessie Diggins and Russian youngster Natalya Nepryayeva, who won two races each at the Tour de Ski.

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