Cheers from a sea of blue and yellow greeted the first Swedish Olympic gold medalist at the Whistler Olympic Park today as Charlotte Kalla claimed first place in the women's 10km freestyle cross-country final.

"It feels crazy right now, I can't believe I am a gold medallist," said Kalla.

Kalla earned bronze in the relay at the world championships last year, captured her first Olympic medal with a winning time of 24 minutes 58.4 seconds.

"I tried to just treat it like a World Cup competition, I believed in myself and fought as hard as possible for every second I could get. It hasn't sunk in yet that this is a gold medal," she said.

Estonia's Kristina Smigun-Vaehi, who won two golds in Turin four years ago, got silver with a time of 25 minutes 5 seconds.

Kalla also beat out Norway's Marit Bjoergen, who was hoping to be third-time lucky in her quest for gold in the event.

Bjoergen, who was bidding for her first gold after silver medals at Salt Lake City in 2002 and Turin in 2006, had to settle for bronze as she finished 15.9 seconds behind.

Overall World Cup leader Justyna Kowalczyk of Poland, who started as favourite, finished in fifth place.

Canada's Madeleine Williams placed 51st out of 78 competitors with a time of 27 minutes, 43.6 seconds.