February 24, 2019 (Seefeld, AUT) – Team USA’s Simi Hamilton and Erik Bjornsen raced to 8th while Canada’s Len Valjas and Evan Palmer-Charrette finished 10th in the men’s 6 x 1.6 km Team Sprint CL in Seefeld, Austria.

Norway’s Johannes Høsflot Klæbo and Emil Iversen claimed the top step of the podium in front of 10,300 spectators at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championship. Russia’s Alexander Bolshunov and Gleb Retivykh took home the silver while Italy’s Federico Pellegrino and Francesco De Fabiani grabbed the bronze.

“It was tough out there, but we had great skis,” said Hamilton. “The pace was pushed out of the start and I was just thinking I didn’t want to burn up the match, I know I had a few more legs to ski.”

“I felt a bit better in the semis and in the finals, I let a little gap open up on the second lap thinking some of these guys are going to blow up, but they didn’t, so that was unfortunate,” said Bjornsen. “I didn’t have a very good corner on the second lap and went from a gap of a few meters to a gap of about 10 meters.”

“Yes it was a revenge because of Lahti. But we did not just ski as a team today but more also as friends and this makes the win even more special for us. To be able to cross the finish line in the first position is of course always a special moment. We now evjoy the day and see what other goals we will set for us,” said Iversen.

U.S. Cross Country Head Coach Chris Grover shared his thoughts. “The big climb was so big and the course was so hard when you add six of those together it is very taxing,” said Grover. “The guys were getting a little tired and we got gapped while the front group was turning up the heat and there is just not that many people that can stay with them at a World Championship level.

“I am really proud of the efforts of everyone,” added Grover. “The service team pushed really hard and made great skis with a great plan. The athletes pushed as hard as they absolutely could all day. Both teams easily qualified for the finals and put themselves in the right place, it just wasn’t our day in the end.”

Results here.