November 20, 2011 (Sjusjeon, Norway)  – In another stunning display of raw power and control the Norwegian women lead by Marit Bjoergen delivered a 1-2 punch as Norway I and II landed on the podium in the women’s 4x5km classic/free relay event, with Finland another 13s back in third as Sweden settled for 4th another dozen seconds behind.

The real race was taking place behind as the stalwart US team, lead by veteran Kikkan Randall, battled with Germany, Italy, Russia I and Poland in a nailbiter that saw Germany’s Monique Siegel nip Holly Brooks on the final leg by a mere 0:0.1 for 8th with the USA 9th. Just behind Russia I, Poland and Italy finished 10th, 11th and 12th respectively. With their effort the US women earned their best World Cup relay result, matching their previous best effort at the 2011 Worlds in Oslo.

Anchored by Bjoergen, Norway I put on a commanding performance, grabbing an early lead that they built up to over 30 seconds at one point on chasers from Norway II and Finland.  Bjoergen’s teammates included Vibeke Skofterud, Therese Johaug, and Kristin Stoermer-Stiera.

Norway II and Finland skied much of the race together before Norway’s Marthe Kristofferson attacked and dropped Finland’s Riikka Sarasoja-Lilja on the climbs going into the final kilometre of the race. Charlotte Kalla skied the fastest leg of the day on her anchor leg for Sweden, but couldn’t pull enough time back from the Finns to get onto the podium. Two other Norwegian teams placed in the top seven, underlining the strength and incredible depth of the country’s program.

The US team was led off by Ida Sargent, who had a tough first leg, falling three times due to the tricky waxing and course conditions. The klister wax that she and others raced on was often grabbing and sticking to the loose granular snow whenever skiers came out of the tracks, particularly on uphills. Sargent spent much of her leg playing catch up and handed off to Randall in last position.

Randall, who skied to a career-best 8th in the previous day’s individual race, gradually clawed back time and position. Skiing against Justyna Kowalcyzk (POL) she had the second fastest time of her leg, bringing the US into 12th position at the exchange.

Liz Stephen took over from Randall and joined a chase group that included the  Russians and Germans. Stephen skied a strong leg to put the Americans into 9th before handing off to team anchor Brooks. Brooks had her work cut out for her and she came through in spades holding off Russia 1, Italy and Poland to claim 9th, but couldn’t contain Germany’s Siegel, missing out on 8th by a mere tenth of a second.

“The conditions were such that it would have been hard to make a decisive move and drop the other girls I was with,” Brooks told SkiTrax by email, “therefore, it was mostly skiing in the pack and being really aggressive about positioning – I knew it would come down to a sprint and I wanted to make sure I was set up to finish strong.”

Brooks went on the recount her finishing sprint against the three other teams: “Four of us rounded the corner coming into the finish and there were only three lanes to the line. I probably lost a tenth of a second jockeying for the middle lane with Italy, allowing Germany to get a jump start on the sprint on the inside lane. It came down to myself and Russia and my foot was longer in the lunge.”

Stephen lauded the team’s performance: “Kikkan really skied super strong and got us right back in the mix, and then I was able to catch a few more teams as was Holly. It was an exciting sprint finish! We are all satisfied with the result and are excited to get another try later this season to see if we can break into the top 6.”

U.S. Ski Team coach Matt Whitcomb was naturally buoyed by the women’s result. “I was pleased with the women’s relay. While we struggled a bit with Ida’s skis in the man-made snow, her energy was by far the highest it has been in her first five European starts. She fought incredibly hard to tag Kikkan and from that exchange on the girls made up a lot of ground. Kikkan put two seconds back into the lead team of Norway 1 and skied second on her leg, beaten only by Kowalczyk and moved from 16th to 12th.” said Whitcomb.

“Liz put together an outstanding 3rd leg by taking the team from 12th to 9th and giving only 7 seconds back to Steira on Norway 1. Then Holly had a great anchor leg for the team just narrowly losing a battle for 8th, but maintaining the ground she was given.  We have 6 or 7 women in the U.S. that will complete for a spot on the relay teams in Val di Fiemme and Sochi, and I am confident that this depth gives us a realistic shot at a result the U.S. has never considered in the women’s race.”

Indeed, if one excluded the three additional Norwegian teams competing in Sjusjoen, the Americans would have placed 6th, thus one could make the case that the American women actually surpassed their Oslo result today.

The Canadians did not field a team for the women’s relay event in Sjusjoen, preferring to skip the races here in favour of preparing for next weekend’s mini-tour in Kuusamo.

Final results HERE.
Final results detail PDF HERE.