5 kilometres, Women

The triple gold medalist from the 1972 Games, Galina Kulakova, now aged 33, was still counted as the leading lady in cross-country skiing. At the 1974 World Championships in Falun, she matched her three gold medals from 1972. In the 1975 season Kulakova was challenged by her younger teammate, Raisa Smetanina, 10 years her junior, who had her international breakthrough at the 1974 World Championships, placing third in the 5 km race.

For the first time the 5 km was the opening distance in the Olympics for the female cross-country skiers. Wearing start #2, the third ranked skier on the Soviet team Nina Baldycheva, who in the 1972 Games competed under her maiden name Fyodorova, took an early lead, until Smetanina, starting 16th, beat her time by 23 seconds in a performance that looked to be good for a gold medal. But to the experts great surprise, the 28-year old Finn Helena Takalo, starting 3 minutes behind Smetanina, was able to beat her leading time by 1.04 seconds. The only one among the last starters who could compete with the leading times was defending champion Kulakova. She arrived too late for gold and silver, but finished 5 seconds better than Baldycheva, seemingly ready for her sixth Olympic medal. However, her doping test revealed the banned drug ephedrine, contained in a nasal spray she had used before the start. She was disqualified from the race, a warning was issued by IOC, but she was allowed to take part in the remaining two events.