Winter Olympics fans divided as convicted doper Therese Johaug wins first gold medal in Beijing

The 2022 Winter Olympics are well underway and Norway’s Therese Johaug has opened up the gold rush in Beijing.

The decorated Norwegian athlete scooped the first gold medal of the Games after dominating in the 15km Women’s Skiathlon.

Johaug obliterated the course with a time of 44:13.7 — finishing more than 30 seconds ahead of second place Natalia Nepryaeva of Russia.

Austria’s Teresa Stadlober completed the medal rankings with a third place finish of 44:44.2.

Johaug’s triumph in Beijing marks her fourth Winter Olympic medal and second gold in her skiing career, but only her first in an individual event.

She also boasts seven World Cup titles and 14 World Championships.

However, despite her glittering portfolio and an emphatic win on the Beijing slopes, Johaug’s victory has come as a controversial one.

In 2016, Johaug was convicted of doping after testing positive for the performance-enhancing drug Clostebol. The Norwegian claimed the banned anabolic steroid had been in the ointment prescribed to her to treat sunburn on her lips.

However, skiing’s international governing body deemed her explanation implausible and Johaug was handed an 18-month ban, which saw her miss the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.

The packaging of the lip ointment had a clear doping warning on the packaging, of which the court ruled she had “failed to conduct a basic check.”

After Johaug won the Skiathlon, a race designed to determine the best all-around skier, social media sparked into debate.

A number of Olympic fans have slammed the race outcome on social media, referring back to the 33-year-old’s doping conviction.

One wrote a tongue in cheek comment that the “lip balm must have kicked in hard,” while another branded the win as