Whistler (AFP) - Poland's Justyna Kowalczyk won the ladies 30-kilometre cross-country skiing competition on Saturday after a photo-finish with Marit Bjoergen, then apologised to the Norwegian after accusing her of cheating. World champion Kowalczyk, who had accused her rival of using asthma medication to fuel her triple gold-medal triumph, came home in one hour 30min 33.7sec. Norway's Bjoergen was just 0.3sec behind to claim silver while Finland's Aino-Kaisa Saarinen took bronze. "I am sorry, because it wasn't a good time for such a question and opinion," said Kowalczyk after her victory which gave her the gold, silver and bronze set at the 2010 Winter Games. "It wasn't (meant as) an attack on Marit. She is a very good athlete, but I was trying to talk about the asthma problem we have in cross-country, there are a lot of athletes sick with asthma. "We must find a solution. I am really sorry because it wasn't the time for such a conversation." In the race build-up, the last on the women's schedule, an ugly war of words had broken out between the two competitors. Bjoergen's coach said the medication used by the 29-year-old Norwegian, who added the 4x5km team relay gold to her two individual titles, was legal and has been approved by both the International Ski Federation and by the World Anti-Doping Agency. Bjoergen brushed off the controversy. "That annoyed me a little bit, but for me it's already yesterday's news," she said. "I was a little bit disappointed in the ...

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