November 22, 2009 (Beitostoelen, Norway) – Sweden (Anna Olsson, Sara Lindborg, Anna Haag, Charlotte Kalle) won the women’s 4x5km relay on Sunday in 58:37.1 over Norway 1 (Vibeke W. Skofterud, Therese Johaug, Kristin Stoermer Steira, Marit Bjoergen) in 58:53.8 with Finland (Pirjo Muranen, Virpi Kuitunen, Riitta-Liisa Roponen, Aino Kaisa Saarinen) taking the third spot on the podium. Team Canada (Perianne Jones, Chandra Crawford, Sara Renner, Madeleine Williams) DNF’d. There were twenty teams competing – no US women’s team was entered.

In the men’s 4x10km relay Team Canada (Devon Kershaw, Ivan Babikov, Alex Harvey, Graham Nishikawa) had a great showing placing 10th at 1:36 in a photo finish with Team Belarus in 9th. Taking the win was Norway 1 (Eldar Roenning, Martin Johnsrud Sundby, Ronny Andre Hafsass, Petter Northug) in 1:48:50.7, with Russia 1 (Maxim Vylegzhanin, Nikolai Pankratov, Alexander Legkov, Ilia Chernousov) in second and Germany (Jens Filbrich, Axel Teichmann, Rene Sommerfeldt, Tobias Angerer) in 3rd. The US Relay Team (Kris Freeman, Torin Koos, Andrew Newell, Lars Flora) lead by Kris Freeman placed 19th in 1:53:17.1.

Devon Kershaw commented on Twitter, “Much better today. Was skiing relaxed and feeling good. 10th for us – not to shabby. Everyone skied well. Off to Oslo in a few minutes…”

Ivan Babikov added, “The relay was lots of fun, we finished 10th. Good day for the team, we all skied very well. Now off to Kuusamo, Finland.”

“A strong men’s relay effort today by Canada in Beitostolen. The team competed strongly in the top group for the first three laps, with Devon Kershaw leading off, followed by Ivan Babikov and Alex Harvey. Graham Nishikawa put in a strong effort that ended in a photo finish with Belarus, and 10th place, a tenth of a second behind of Belarus. Italy and Norway 2. Kazakhstan, Italy and Norway 2 finished less than a second behind. Canada finished as the 8th nation in the event, a strong result in the lead up to Vancouver 2010 and with seasoned veteran George Grey, still back in Canada,” reads a CCC press release.

“Freeman’s goal of the day was to work on classic racing in a head-to-head mass start situation and I think he had a good race, finishing sixth in the first leg,” Vordenberg said in a USSA release. The team wasn’t necessarily looking for the top results as much as they were warming up for the season ahead. “Andy had a really solid race and it showed a lot of athleticism. Torin raced well and Lars finishing 15th in his leg was a good showing. The finish for the team is not a goal for us yet. We don’t have a team yet where we can look for those results,” he added.

Kalle and Northug Clinch Victories for their Teams
by Sandra Spitz/FIS

In the 4 x 10 km men’s relay competition of the World Cup weekend in Beitostoelen (NOR), the Norwegians were able to celebrate a home victory.

Team Norway I with Eldar Roenning, Martin Johnsrud Sundby, Ronny Andre Hafsaas and Petter Northug claimed victory in a time of 1:48.50,7h, just 5.1 seconds ahead of the Russian Team (Maxim Vyleczhanin, Nikolai Pankratov, Alexander Legkov and Ilia Chernousov). The third spot took the Germans (Jens Filbrich, Axel Teichmann, Rene Sommerfeldt and Tobias Angerer) finishing 11,8 seconds behind the winning team.

The race was tight and the decision of the victory was done in the last round of the fourth leg. Norway, Russia and Germany were together until approx the last three kilomters where Tobias Angerer (GER) couldn’t follow the last racers of Norway and Russia. Petter Northug searched then the decision on the last uphill where he attacked Chernousov successfully.

In the 4 x 5 km ladies competition, the Swedish team with Anna Olsson, Sara Lindborg, Anna Haag and Charlotte Kalla took the victory 16.7 seconds ahead of the favourites from Norway I (Vibeke Skofterud, Therese Johaug, Kristin Steira and Marit Bjoergen). The third place went to Finland (Pirjo Muranen, Virpi Kuitunen, Riitta-Liisa Roponen and Aino Kaisa Saarinen) with a gap of 22 seconds to the winning team.

It was an exciting competition in ideal winter conditionn with fresh snow. On the last round, the top three teams were very close together but then Kalla attacked and managed to make a gap to Norway and Finland. For the Swedish ladies it was since February 2007 in Davos the first victory in the World Cup relay.

After this weekend, Norway is leading in the Nations World Cup ranking ahead of Sweden and Russia.

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

Pre-race – Magnar Dahlen – Finland Head Coach


More FIS news and video coverage from Beitostoelen here.

Pre-race – Guri Hetland – National TD Assistant