Therese Johaug of Norway Photo: Cui Meng/Global Times

A total of six gold medals were won on the first medal day of Beijing 2022.

Therese Johaug of Norway claimed the first gold of the ­Beijing Games on Saturday, winning the women's 15-kilometer skiathlon competition in cross-country skiing at the Zhangjiakou National Cross-Country Skiing Center.

The Norwegian finished the race in 44 minutes and 13.7 seconds. ­Natalia Nepryaeva of the Russian Olympic Committee was second, a distant 30.2 seconds behind Johaug. Teresa Stadlober of Austria took bronze, a further 0.3 seconds back. 

This is Johaug's fourth Olympic medal. She won gold in her Olympic debut at Vancouver 2010 in the 4x5-kilometer relay, and took bronze in the 10-kilometer individual and silver in the 30-kilometer mass start. 

Charlotte Kalla of Sweden, gold medalist at the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Games, finished 19th.

Four Chinese ­skiers participated in the competition, including Dinigeer Yilamujiang, one of the two Chinese athletes who lit the Olympic cauldron in the opening ceremony on Friday night. The ­skier, who hails from Altay, Northwest ­China's Xinjiang Uygur ­Autonomous Region, finished 43rd. Li Xin was the best Chinese performer at 33rd.

Athletes have to ski 15 kilometers in skiathlon: In the first half they need to ski using a classical technique and then switch to freestyle and technique for the second half.  

This is Johaug's fourth Olympic medal. She won gold in her Olympic debut at Vancouver 2010 in the 4x5-kilometer relay, and took bronze in the 10-kilometer individual and silver in the 30-kilometer mass start. 

Team Norway won the first biathlon gold medal at the national ­biathlon center in the mixed relay 4x6 ­kilometers in a time of 1:06:45.6.

France took silver while the Russian Olympic Committee collected bronze. 

Biathlon originated in Northern Europe and did not become a sport until the eighth Winter Olympics in 1960.

As biathlon combines cross-­country skiing and shooting, the athletes need to shoot while skiing in the shortest time, displaying both speed and precision.

In the competition, the skier carries a rifle weighing no less than 3.5 kilograms, slides for some distance, then stops at the range and shoots five targets from 50 meters away in a lying or standing position.

Norway, Germany, Russia, the US and Romania are usually among the top countries in the event.

Ursa Bogataj from Slovenia won the gold medal in women's normal hill individual final round.

The ski jumping competitions were held at the 164-meter-long National Ski Jumping Center in Zhangjiakou, North China's Hebei Province.

A maximum of 105 ski jumping athletes - 65 men and 40 women - are competing at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.

Two Chinese female ski jumping athletes, Peng Qingyue and Dong Bing, and one Chinese male athlete named Song Qiwu attended competitions on Saturday. Song ranked 53rd in the men's normal hill individual qualification round. Dong ranked 31st and Peng 38th in the women's normal hill individual qualification round. 

There will be five events in ski jumping at Beijing 2022 including the new mixed team event, making its Winter Olympic debut.

Irene Schouten of the Netherlands won gold in the women's 3,000-meter speed skating at Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games on Saturday with an Olympic record of 3 minutes 56.93 seconds.

Skaters were lined up in pairs and raced against the clock in this near two-mile distance.

Italy's Francesca Lollobrigida, who had led in the early stages of the final race, ended just over a second behind Schouten, claiming silver. Isabelle Weidemann of Canada won the bronze medal, about half a second behind Lollobrigida.

Schouten not only won the first speed skating gold medal of the Beijing Winter Olympics, she also became the first ­Olympic champion in the history of the ­National Speed Skating Oval, ­commonly known as "The Ice Ribbon."

The Netherlands swept the podium in this race at the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympic Games. Carlijn Achtereekte of the Netherlands was the winner in 2018, and she finished in 4 minutes 2.21 seconds in the third group this year.

Han Mei and Ahenaer Adake of China finished 15th and 17th respectively.

Walter Wallberg from Sweden won the gold medal in the men's freestyle skiing moguls event.

The 21-year-old Wallberg garnered 83.23 points from a combination of time, air and turns, becoming the first Swedish moguls skier to win a medal at the Winter Games.

Defeated defending champion Mikael Kingsbury of Canada took silver in 82.18, and Ikuma Horishima of Japan took bronze in 81.48.

Medals in freestyle skiing in this year's Games will be won in 13 events, with freeski big air and mixed team aerials to make their Olympic debuts. The Netherlands swept the podium in this race at the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympic Games. Carlijn Achtereekte of the Netherlands was the winner in 2018, and she finished in 4 minutes 2.21 seconds in the third group this year.

Han Mei and Ahenaer Adake of China finished 15th and 17th respectively.