November 23, 2008 (Gallivare, Sweden) – The Norwegian teams swept the men’s and women’s relays on Sunday as Norway I (Marit Bjoergen, Therese Johaug, Kristin Stoermer Steira, Marthe Kristoffersen) took the win in the women’s 4x5km event while the men’s Norway I squad of Martin Johnsrud Sundby, Eldar Roenning, Tore Ruud Hofstad, Petter Northug) won the men’s 4x10km race. The U.S men – the lone North American entry – used it as a training opportunity, with Andy Newell and Chris Cook skiing the first two legs.

“We did do what we wanted to do as far as getting Newell and Cook some good racing,” U.S. Cross Country Head Coach Pete Vordenberg said. “They definitely had the kind of workout we wanted them to have going into Kuusamo and I feel pretty confident that we’re going to have a good weekend there.”

The Norwegian women won by the slimmest of margins by 0.4 of a second over Finland, while the Swedish women finished 43 second off the lead. The Norwegian women,meanwhile, had been running second behind the Italians and then the Finns on the first three legs. Marthe Kristoffersen out sprinted Finland’s Liisa-Riitta Roponen for the victory.

Not to be out done by the ladies the men’s race won by the Norwegian team saw the top 7 teams separated by only 3 seconds. Norway’s Petter Northug had the fastest anchor leg, out sprinting Sweden’s Marcus Hellner for the win. The Norwegians took the opening leg lead, but then dropped back to ninth before staging a dramatic comeback when Northug took over at the end according to a USSA report. Northug crossed the line just 0.2 of a second ahead of Hellner, and 1 second ahead of third place Germany.

Full women’s results here.
Full men’s results here.

Results

Women

1. Norway I (Marit Bjoergen, Therese Johaug, Kristin Stoermer Steira, Marthe Kristoffersen) 51:01.5
2. Finland (Pirjo Muranen, Virpi Kuitunen, Aino Kaisa Saarinen, Riitta-Liisa Roponen) 51:01.9
3. Sweden (Jenny Hansson, Britta Norgren, Anna Haag, Charlotte Kalla) 51:44.2

Men

1. Norway I (Martin Johnsrud Sundby, Eldar Roenning, Tore Ruud Hofstad, Petter Northug) 1:30:58.8
2. Sweden 1 (Daniel Rickardsson, Johan Olsson, Rickard Andreasson, Marcus Hellner) 1:30:59.0
3. Germany (Jens Filbrich, Tobias Angerer, Tom Reichelt, Axel Teichmann) 1:30:59.8