November 20, 2011 (Sjusjøen, Norway) – Norway continued its dominance in women’s World Cup skiing this morning claiming the top two spots on the podium while placing four teams in the top seven in the 4x5km classic/free relay event held in Sjusjeon, Norway. Finland was third and Sweden took fourth as the USA had a great day with their best WCup relay result placing 9th – only 0:0.1 behind Germay in 8th – as they matched their effort at the 2011 Worlds in Oslo.

Anchored by Marit 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 tim 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 led by Ida Sargent went through a tough first classic leg at the back, but then slowly worked its way up the field as Kikkan Randall, their second skier, took them into 12th having the second fastest time on her leg. The US joined a chase group including the Russians and Germans, as Liz Stephen skied strong to put them into 9th handing off to Holly Brooks who held off Russia 1, Italy and Poland to claim 9th just getting nipped by Germany.

Final results HERE.
Final results detail PDF HERE.