February 17, 2017 (Hochfilzen, AUT) – Team USA finished 14th while Canada was 16th in the women’s 4 x 6km relay as Germany won gold for their fourth relay win this season. Ukraine took the silver at 6.4 seconds back with just four spare rounds and France took the bronze medal with seven spares.

Heavy snowfall and gusting winds greeted the women’s relay field on Friday, much different conditions than the clear, sunny days that preceded it.

The first loop saw domination of Germany, France and Italy out front, but two spares for Vanessa Hinz in standing pushed back Germany into third. Canada’s Rosanna Crawford used two spares tagging Julia Ransom in 13th. The USA’s Clare Egan see-sawed on the range and battled back to 16th place at the first exchange with Dunklee.

Dunklee delivered the fastest second leg moving the USA up to 7th while Germany faltered and France took over the lead. Canada dropped to 20th as Ransom suffered two penalties.

“Well, after a couple weeks of sunshine, Mother Nature decided to keep us on our toes and give us a blizzard,” said Dunklee. “Skiing was a little tricky — slow snow and hard to balance on, plus I could barely see through my fogged-up glasses on the last lap. I had a blast chasing people down, though, and we all put together solid performances.”

Germany regained the lead on the third leg with the Ukraine in second and France chasing in third. Team USA dropped to 12th as Joanne Reid started strong but needed four spares tagging their anchor Maddie Phaneuf. Canada’s Megan Tandy pulled them back into 16th as Emma Lunder took over on the final leg.

The pressure in the final standing stage kicked in when Laura Dahlmeier (Ger) needed two spares to close the final five targets. She remained in the lead, but Gabriela Koukalová (Cze) was just 5.4 seconds back, with Marie Dorin Habert (Fra) and Dorothy Wierer (Ita) also chasing. Leaving the shooting range five teams were within 12 seconds, making the last loop a thrilling battle.

Dahlmeier held on for the win as Germany used nine spares with the Ukraine using four spares in second and France nine spares in third. Phaneuf needed three spares to bring the USA home in 14th while Lunder kept Canada in 16th.

Results here.