Kazakhstan claimed its first gold medal at the sixth Asian Winter Games as Oxana Yatskaya led an 1-2 finish in the women's 5km classical cross country skiing here on Wednesday.

Yatskaya crossed the line with 15 minutes and 57.73 seconds, 1.69 seconds ahead of compatriot Svetlana Malakhova.

Chinese Wang Chunli, winner of the sprint event on Tuesday, settled for the third place on 16:02.73.

"I performed to my normal standard, but the Kazakhstan skiers did better," said Wang.

"There was some fresh snow on the course, which made it difficult for me. But it's not excuse because all the skiers faced the same situation," Wang added.

Traditional powerhouse Kazakhstan twice missed the gold in Tuesday's cross country competitions. Malakhova finished second to Wang in the women's sprint while Alexey Poltoranin took the silver in the men's category behind Japanese Yuichi Onda.