ZHANGJIAKOU, China – Quebecer Cendrine Browne made Canadian cross-country skiing history by posting the second-best performance in the country in the 30 km mass start at the Beijing Olympics on Sunday.
The 28-year-old athlete from Saint-Jérôme finished 16th in one hour, 31 minutes, 21.6 seconds (1h31:21.6), 6:27.6 behind the winner, Norwegian Therese Johaug.
Only Sara Renner, at the 2010 Vancouver Games, had a better performance than Browne by finishing this race in 15th place.
Fellow Canadian Katherine Stewart-Jones of Chelsea equaled what is now the third-best Canadian mark in the distance finishing 30th in 1:32:33.3. Emily Nishikawa also finished 30th at the last Pyeongchang Games.
The other two Canadians in the running, Dahria Beatty, of Whitehorse, Yukon, and Laura Leclair, of Chelsea, finished 39th and 51st respectively.
Johaug thus won his third individual gold medal of these Olympics after the 10 km and the skiathlon. She was ahead of American Jessie Diggins and Finnish Kerttu Niskanen on the podium.
The Norwegian now has six Olympic medals, including four gold.
