Cross-country skier Natalia Nepryaeva won silver for the Russian Olympic Committee in the women’s 15 kilometres skiathlon at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.

Nepryaeva completed the course at the Zhangjiakou National Cross-Country Skiing Centre in a time of 44 min 43.9sec, 30 seconds behind the race winner Therese Johaug of Norway.

There was a real battle for silver with Nepryaeva claiming second place by just 0.3 seconds from bronze medallist Teresa Stadlober of Austria.

Nepryaeva’s silver in Beijing is her second Olympic medal, following on from a bronze in the women’s 4x5 kilometres relay at Pyeongchang in 2018.

Natalia Nepryaeva, left, claimed silver by 0.3 seconds in the women's 15 kilometres skiathlon at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics ©Getty Images
Natalia Nepryaeva, left, claimed silver by 0.3 seconds in the women's 15 kilometres skiathlon at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics ©Getty Images

Nepryaeva’s best World Championship performance came last year, when she won silver in Oberstdorf, Germany, in the women’s 4x5 kilometres relay.

In the run-up to Beijing 2022, Nepryaeva won the Tour de Ski, held over six stages and part of the current Cross-Country World Cup season.

Nepryaeva won two stages on her way to victory in the Tour de Ski, stage four in Oberstdorf, the women’s 1.2 kilometres sprint classic, and stage five in Val Di Fiemme, Italy, the women’s 10 kilometres mass start classic.

Skiing runs in the Nepryaeva family, with her parents Irina and Mikhail both former skiers, and Irina a former member of the Russian national cross-country team.

Nepryaeva was introduced to skiing by her parents at the age of three, and started training at the age of seven, being coached by her mother Irina until the age of 15.