The most decorated Winter Olympian of all time Marit Bjorgen has won gold in the women's cross-country skiing 30km mass start classic, the final event of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.

Norway's Bjorgen, 37, has won a medal in all five of the events she has competed in at the Games, taking her career Olympic medal haul to 15. She won gold in the women's 4x5km relay, silver in the 15km skiathlon and two bronze medals in the 10km freestyle and the team sprint free.

Bjorgen's gold helped Norway to leapfrog Germany on the final day of competition. Bjorgen was their fifteenth gold medallist of these Games – with Germany managing the same number – but a total medal haul of 39 ensured they finished top of the Pyeongchang medal charts.

"When I look behind me and see what I have done, it's incredible," Bjorgen said after the event. "It has been an amazing career for me, this is my last Olympics and to finish like this is incredible.

"I've had an amazing day, today my skis were good and it was special, the last 100 metres by myself there and I understood that I'd win the gold medal."

Bjorgen was competing in her final Olympic event after a 16-year career, spanning four Games. The Norwegian has picked up eight golds in that time, tying her with compatriots Ole Einar Bjorndalen and Bjorn Daehli for the most by a Winter Olympian in history.

She dominated the cross-country 30km event from the outset, making an early breakaway leaving her comfortably ahead by the halfway point of the race.

She finished the 30km in 1 hour, 22 minutes 17.6 seconds, crossing the line 1 minute 49.5 seconds ahead of second placed Krista Parmoakoski of Finland who picked up the silver medal, and 1 minute 58.9 seconds ahead of Stina Nilsson of Sweden, who took Bronze.

2018 Winter Olympics – in pictures Show all 29 1 /29 2018 Winter Olympics – in pictures 2018 Winter Olympics – in pictures USA vs Slovakia The referee takes a bird's eye view during the Men's preliminary round match between USA and Slovakia EPA 2018 Winter Olympics – in pictures Michela Moiol Italy's Michela Moioli takes gold in the Women's Snowboard Cross Reuters 2018 Winter Olympics – in pictures Pita Taufatofua Tonga's Pita Taufatofua competes during the Men's 15km Cross Country Freestyle AFP/Getty Images 2018 Winter Olympics – in pictures Hanna Huskova Hanna Huskova of Belarus takes gold in Women's Aerials REUTERS 2018 Winter Olympics – in pictures Lizzy Yarnold Britain's Lizzy Yarnold gives a thumbs up at the end of her Skeleton run Garry Bowden/SIPPA 2018 Winter Olympics – in pictures Eric Frenzel Eric Frenzel of Germany takes gold in the Men’s Individual 10km Final REUTERS 2018 Winter Olympics – in pictures Mikaela Shiffrin Mikaela Shiffrin of the United States takes gold during the Ladies' Giant Slalom Ezra Shaw/Getty Images 2018 Winter Olympics – in pictures Kjeld Nuis Netherlands' Kjeld Nuis takes gold in the Men's 1,500m Speed Skating event Aris Messinisaris/AFP/Getty Images 2018 Winter Olympics – in pictures Natalie Geisenberger Natalie Geisenberger of Germany takes gold in the Women's Luge event REUTERS 2018 Winter Olympics – in pictures Aljona Savchenko and Bruno Massot Aljona Savchenko and Bruno Massot of Germany during the Figure Skating Pair event Jean Catuffe/Getty Images 2018 Winter Olympics – in pictures Pierre Vaultier France's Pierre Vaultier celebrates after winning the Men's Snowboard Cross big final at the Phoenix Park AFP/Getty Images 2018 Winter Olympics – in pictures Joseph Luke Cecchini Italy's Joseph Luke Cecchini on his sledge at the start of his run in the Men's Skeleton Heat 1 Roland Harrison/Action Plus via Getty Images 2018 Winter Olympics – in pictures Andrew Musgrave Britain's Andrew Musgrave in the Mens 15km + 15km Skiathlon David Davies/PA 2018 Winter Olympics – in pictures Norway men's curling team Norwegian Men's Curling team wear hearts on their trousers for Valentine's Day The Asahi Shimbun via Getty Images 2018 Winter Olympics – in pictures Elise Christie Elise Christie of Great Britain crashes during the Ladies' 500m Short Track Speed Skating final Richard Heathcote/Getty Images 2018 Winter Olympics – in pictures Mirai Nagasu USA's Mirai Nagasu competes in the figure skating team event women's single skating free skating. Her routine included a ‘triple axel’ – a notoriously difficult move to pull off Roberto Schmidt/AFP/Getty Images 2018 Winter Olympics – in pictures Shaun White Gold medalist Shaun White of the United States throws his helmet as he celebrates after his first round during Snowboard Men's Halfpipe Final on day five of the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics. White went on to win the gold medal David Ramos/Getty Images 2018 Winter Olympics – in pictures Chloe Kim Chloe Kim of the United States reacts to her first run score during the Snowboard Ladies' Halfpipe Final on day four. Kim later won gold becoming the youngest ever medalist in the discipline aged 17 David Ramos/Getty Images 2018 Winter Olympics – in pictures Dom Parsons Dom Parsons won Team GB's first medal of the games in the men's skeleton Getty Images 2018 Winter Olympics – in pictures Dom Parsons Parsons' medal was the first in the skeleton for 70 years Getty Images 2018 Winter Olympics – in pictures Sofia Goggia Goggia clinched the gold medal by just 0.09s ahead of Ragnhild Mowinckel Getty 2018 Winter Olympics – in pictures Eve Muirhead Eve Muirhead swung the match against Canada in Britain's favour at a crucial time to seal victory Reuters 2018 Winter Olympics – in pictures Elizabeth Swaney Elizabeth Swaney completed jump after jump without performing a trick in the ski halfpipe Getty 2018 Winter Olympics – in pictures Shaun White White pulled off back-to-back 1440s to clinch the victory Getty 2018 Winter Olympics – in pictures Shaun White White recorded a score of 97.75 with his final run to win gold Getty 2018 Winter Olympics – in pictures Lizzy Yarnold Lizzy Yarnold of Great Britain celebrates after winning the gold medal during the Women's Skeleton on day eight of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games Getty 2018 Winter Olympics – in pictures Red Gerard Gerard won the gold medal with his third and final run Getty 2018 Winter Olympics – in pictures Belarus' Iryna Kryuko takes gold in the Women's 4x6km Biathlon AFP/Getty Images 2018 Winter Olympics – in pictures Alina Zagitova, an Olympic Athlete of Russia, on her way to winning the Ladies Single Figure Skating at the Gangneung Ice Arena PA