Kalla strikes gold

Pyeongchang: Sweden's Charlotte Kalla won the first gold medal of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics on Saturday after powering away from the field to secure victory in the women's 7.5km + 7.5km skiathlon.

Sochi Games champion Marit Bjoergen of Norway, who has decided to skip Thursday's 10km sprint race, took the silver 7.8 seconds behind and Krista Parmakoski of Finland won the bronze.
Kalla made her break midway through the last of the four laps, leaving Bjoergen to battle Parmakoski and Swede Ebba Andersson for the podium places.

It was the third Olympic gold medal for the 30-year-old Kalla, who won the 10km freestyle at Vancouver in 2010 and followed that up with a win in the 4x5km relay in Sochi four years later.
“I'm very happy today, it feels incredible,” a beaming Kalla told a media conference.
With about a dozen racers close together as they made the switch from freestyle skiing to skating style, Kalla began evaluating when she would attack.

“During the first skating lap I knew it felt very good, so my plan was to try to do something quite early on the last skating lap,” she explained. “I didn't know exactly where Marit was, I knew that she was in the group somewhere, so I just tried to focus on my performance and not evaluate what the others did.”

Kalla barely looked over her shoulder during the final three kilometres as she dug deep for victory. “There were thoughts about maybe what are the others doing, but I just tried to focus on my performance all the time and just look forward,” she said, acknowledging that she had found it tough.

“I know that I have been in the zone of pain many times in the summer and fall, and just looked forward all the time,” she said. Silver medalist Bjoergren has decided not to participate in Thursday's 10km race, but said it had nothing to do with her performance in the skiathlon.

“It's a decision I took a long time ago. I don't feel like I have a chance of a medal, so that's why I made this choice,” she told broadcaster Eurosport.Shiva finishes at 36

India's Shiva Keshavan finished at the 36th position in the men's luge competition at the 2018 Winter Olympics here on Saturday. Shiva registered 50.578 seconds in the Men's Singles Run 1 which saw a total of 40 competitors in action.

He was 2.926 seconds behind David Gleirscher of Austria who took the top spot with 47.652 seconds.Germany took the next two spots with Felix Loch and Johannes Ludwig finishing second and third respectively.

While Loch registered a time of 47.674 seconds, Ludwig came in at 47.764 seconds. Roman Repilov of Russia, who is competing as an independent athlete under the International Olympic Committee (IOC) flag, was fourth with 47.776 seconds.

Protests continue unabated
Conservative activists tore photos of North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un and attempted to burn its national flag in demonstrations here on Saturday against Pyongyang's participation in the PyeongChang Winter Olympics.

A flurry of demonstrations took place on the streets as Kim's sister and other high-ranking officials visited the presidential office and North Korean art troupe Samjiyon Orchestra arrived in Seoul to perform on Sunday, Yonhap news agency reported.

Some 800 anti-North Korean protesters marched and staged street performances in front of the Deoksu Palace in central Seoul, condemning the North Korean leader and President Moon Jae-in, who they regard as too soft on the North.Some people tried to burn the North Korean national flag, but were contained by police.