March 02, 2011 (Oslo, Norway) – In surreal mist that made skiers disappear ten metres up a climb Sweden’s Ida Ingemarsdotter and Charlotte Kalla delivered a spectacular performance for the gold as Kalla revealed later, that as long as her legs would let her, she was going to try to break from the pack in the last lap.

And break she did. The powerful Finnish team of Aino-Kaino Saarinen and Krista Lahteenmaki took the silver at 3.3 seconds back, while the Norwegian team minus Marit Bjoergen, but nonetheless, with top skiers Maiken Caspersen Falla and Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen, settled for bronze at 4.1 seconds behind the winners.

The three Nordic nations had their own train going well ahead of the competition. Chasing behind were the Italian team of Arianna Follis and Marianna Longa finishing 4th at 15.1 seconds and fifth went to Slovenians Katja Visnar and Petra Majdic.

The North Americans were remarkable both making the top ten with Canada’s Perianne Jones and Daria Gaiazova having an excellent race placing 6th, at 46.9 seconds back while the USA’s Sadie Bjornsen and Kikkan Randall also had a fine race delivering a very respectable 9th-place finish at 56.5 seconds back.

The Swedes looked like they had trained all season for this event, with flawless transitions, but Kalla and Ingemarsdotter disagreed. “We didn’t know until Monday [two days earlier] that we were in the team sprint,” said Kalla. “In the summer and fall I have not thought about team sprint, but I have done some improvements in classic this year. I was very glad when I got the opportunity to go.”

Ingemarsdotter added, “Sweden has a big team. The strongest in the team makes this day much better for everyone.” She was implying that their skiers in the upcoming relay and distance events will now be inspired by their victory – but not everything went smoothly.

“In the last exchange I made a mistake,” she continued, “But I had focused on the last lap. I had really gone easy at the beginning – I find if I have the power inside, I will do something in the last lap. I took my own track and saw Saarinen. She had bad legs. I thought Charlotte would have self-confidence going into the last lap if I could establish a lead for her.”

Saarinen would not have concurred about the bad legs. Clearly the Finns pushed the pace on every climb with phenomenal turnover in cadence leading for most of the race.

“I tried to go a little harder and harder. It was really tough but I’m satisfied from this race.” said silver medalist Saarinen, who had won the bronze two days earlier in the 10km classic. “I always make a tactic before the race and this time it was pushing every leg a little bit harder.”

Teammate Lahteenmaki said she had reached her goal to be on the podium. “I was so happy in the last hundred metres – it was very good for me. I had so much lactate in my legs, but my arms were strong,” she added, referring to the amount of double poling done on the 1.3 km course.

Norway’s bronze medalists admitted they were very nervous preparing for a crowd of 50,000. “We sat up in the wax cabin shaking together,” laughed Jacobsen. “I always get nervous – usually it is a good thing.”

Falla concurred. “My whole body was shaking, but I felt really good. I thought my shape was really top. We were less than a second from silver and very happy with third place. It was my goal to have the back of Saarinen in front of me the whole way – I think I managed that. I did not want to be the first into the stadium.”

She said she’d sacrificed the silver by holding back behind Saarinen because she was shooting for gold, and wanted to start the sprint from behind in order to catch Finland and Sweden. But the Norwegians gambled and lost as Sweden’s Kalla attacked hard on the last lap and established a wide gap well before the stadium that she never relinquished.

Gaiazova was very pleased with the entire Canadian team effort, as she and Jones looked to have excellent wax and a top day. “It was a great effort and a very good result for us. Aside from some minor tweaks with kick wax throughout the race, everything was running super-smooth and we stayed out of trouble and skied tactically smart and did not lose any time in transitions/downhills or any other places on the course.”

Clearly with such a strong sixth place finish, Canadian coach Justin Wadsworth was just as particular about preparing the women as he was the medal-potential men’s team. “For sure the women are going to be over shadowed by the guys today, but they really did a good job out there. It was not an easy decision to not start Chandra [Crawford], so I was really happy the ladies skied well.”

American coach Chris Grover said the day was an excellent one for the US women and the men. “I was very excited to have both teams in the final. This is the first time I believe that we have had either team make the final at the Worlds.

“I was especially proud of Sadie. This was her 2nd team sprint ever and her first at a senior WC or WM level. She has been very impressive this week. I think she could be an important part of a strong Sochi women’s team for the US.”

Full results HERE.