By Philip O’Connor
ZHANGJIAKOU, China (Reuters) – Cross-country skier Therese Johaug had her doubts about travelling to Beijing for the Winter Games due to concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic but the Norwegian says she put her fears to one side due to her desire to win an individual gold medal.
Johaug already has a relay gold medal from Vancouver in 2010 as well as individual silver and bronze medals from the Sochi Games four years later.
The 14-time world champion told Norwegian state broadcaster NRK her participation in Beijing was “not certain” if she already had the solo gold.
“It’s among the greatest things an athlete can achieve, it’s a dream to get it,” said Johaug, who missed the 2018 Winter Games as she served a doping suspension following a positive test for a steroid in September 2016.
“It’s what I need in my collection, and I have the opportunity in this championship.”
After Norway’s cross-country skiers postponed their original travel plans to China due to positive COVID-19 tests in the team, Johaug arrived at the Olympic Village in the mountains on Wednesday, but the unease around the novel coronavirus remains.
“I must admit that the last week has been marked by a lot of fear that maybe this Olympics wouldn’t happen (for me), that I would get sick, and I dream at night about corona tests that could go one way or the other,” she said.
Johaug’s first chance to win that coveted individual gold medal will likely come on Saturday when the women’s skiathlon kicks off the cross-country skiing program in Zhangjiakou, some 200km north-west of Beijing.
(Reporting by Philip O’Connor; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
