5 kilometres (Classical), Women

Five women had dominated cross-country in the past two years and were favored in all the 1994 Olympic events. They were Russians Lyubov Yegorova, Yelena Välbe, and Larisa Lazutina and Italians Manuela Di Centa and Stefania Belmondo. Välbe was not entered in the short distance, possibly because the Russian coach entered his girlfriend, Svetlana Nageykina, but the other four were. Di Centa was first off of the challengers and set a fast pace, taking the lead at both time checkpoints. Lazutina and Belmondo started later and could not match Di Centa’s pace, eventually finishing sixth and 13th. Yegorova was off 60th of 62 starters and quickly took the lead, winning the gold medal by almost 20 seconds over Di Centa. The bronze medal went to Finland’s Marja-Liisa Kirvesniemi-Hämäläinen, who had won all three individual gold medals at the 1984 Winter Olympics, but this was her first individual medal since 1984, in her fifth Winter Olympics. Yegorova had won five medals and three golds in Albertville, and would repeat the three gold in Lillehammer, adding a silver in the 15 km. Di Centa would win five medals in Lillehammer – two golds, two silvers, and a bronze.