In all three events he sprinted away from the rest of the pack to win the race. Northug was the runner up to the overall World Cup in the 2008/2009 season, losing to the Swiss Dario Cologna after leading before the final races. Northug finished in an extremely disappointing 41st place in the first Cross Country event during the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. A day later, Northug responded with a bronze medal in the Sprint Event. This success was short-lived however, as he broke his pole in the end of the 30 km pursuit, where he was one of the biggest favourites to win. He then won his first Olympic gold, in the Team Sprint, alongside Øystein Pettersen. Days later he was skiing the anchor leg in the 4 x 10 km relay. When he took over from Lars Berger who was skiing the 3rd leg, he was 37.5 seconds behind the lead group. Despite this he managed to catch and overtake France and the Czech Republic to win Norway a silver medal. Northug then won his first individual medal at the Olympics when he won gold at the Men's 50 kilometre classic. Less than two weeks later, he won the 50 kilometre freestyle event at the Holmenkollen, becoming the first skier to win the 50 km at the Winter Olympics, World Championships, and Holmenkollen since Sweden's Gunde Svan reached that triple crown in 1988. In September 2010 details of Northug's sponsorship contract with soft drink manufacturer Red Bull were publicized by Norwegian broadcaster TV 2, which did not divulge its sources, revealing the most profitable sponsorship agreement with an individual athlete in Norwegian history. For four years, until after the 2014 Winter Olympics, Northug was slated to receive a minimum of NOK 1 million annually with a prospect of getting twice that amount if his performances equalled those of his recent previous seasons. Northug did not start the 2010–2011 season well, missing the first three weeks of the World Cup due to illness. His Tour de Ski campaign was also marred by relatively poor results in the opening stages. However, he climbed the rankings and finished 2nd after winning the prestigious penultimate stage (20 km classic mass start) in Val di Fiemme. In doing so, he also took all the intermediate bonus sprints, which had never previously been done by the winner of the race.