After a tight, incident-filled race, the 36-year-old finally broke away on the last slope to edge out local favourite Krista Parmokoski and take first place by a margin of 4.8 seconds.
In the men's race, Russia's Sergei Ustiugov held on to win gold after an epic battle with Norway's Martin Sundby, who had to content himself with a silver medal after slipping and breaking a pole while making a late spurt for victory.
The two broke away from the pack over the final five kilometres and the race looked set for a thrilling finish when Sundby slipped, allowing the 24-year-old Ustiugov to power away over the finish line and add gold to the silver he won in the sprint race on Thursday.
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(Reporting by Philip O'Connor in Stockholm; Editing by Clare Fallon)
