The 37-year-old, already guaranteed to leave the South Korean resort as the most decorated Winter Olympian ever, rolled back the years with a blistering performance at the Alpensia Cross-Country Centre.

Bjørgen clinched her 15th medal in a time of 1 hour 22min 17.6sec, beating nearest challenger Krista Parmakoski of Finland by a huge margin of 1:49.5.

Stina Nilsson of Sweden came through to take the bronze medal.

The commanding triumph for Bjørgen, who made her debut 12 years ago in Turin, saw her equal the number of Winter Olympic Games gold medals won by compatriots Ole Einar Bjørndalen and Bjørn Dæhlie.

Bjørgen's victory ensured Norway finished top overall of the medals table with a total 39, a record for any country at the Winter Games.

A total of 14 of them were gold, 14 silver and 11 bronze. 

Bjørgen's contribution also included a gold medal in the 4x5km relay, a silver in the 15 km skiathlon and bronze in the 10km freestyle and team sprint. 

"When I look behind me and see what I have done, it's incredible," she said after this victory. 

"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 understand that I'd win the gold medal.

"Of course I'm very proud of myself to do what I've done, it's been an incredible career for me, and after being a mum, it's hard to stay away from home and these three weeks I was away from my son also, it's been tough, and to finish like this is amazing."

Norway's total of medals surpasses the 37 claimed by the United States at Vancouver 2010.

Then, however, they won only nine gold medals.