Victor Mather: Four years ago, Norway had by all accounts a screamingly successful Winter Olympics, but failed to win the events it treasures the most: the cross country relays. Indeed, Norway failed even to win a medal, placing fourth in the men’s race and fifth in the women’s.

At the Pyeongchang Games, it appeared all might go wrong again. After one leg of the women’s relay, Norway was third, and after two it was fourth, 30 seconds back.

But Norway still had two aces to play. The first was Ragnhild Haga, the gold medalist in the 10-kilometer event. She stormed through the course and pulled within three seconds of the leaders.

Then she turned the race over to Marit Bjoergen, one of the century’s greatest athletes in any sport. Already a six-time gold medalist before these Games, Bjoergen had defied her 37 years by picking up a silver and a bronze in individual events in Pyeongchang. (She added an individual gold later.)