February 25, 2013 (Val di Fiemme, Italy) – The USA’s Kikkan Randall and Jessie Diggins put on an awesome display of Team Sprint skiing at the duo delivered a historic win in a nail-biting performance in the women’s 6x.2km Team Sprint at the 2013 FIS Nordic World Championships in Val di Fiemme, Italy on Sunday.

Diggins put on a show like a veteran taking command of her final leg until suddenly up one of the final climbs she lost her left ski pole bringing fans to the edge of their seats. But the Afton, MN, skier held her composure while skiing the next 100 meters with only one pole in what looked like a disaster for the Americans.

US Coach Erik Flora raced to her rescue handing her an over-sized pole and she quickly recovered the ground she lost only to extend her lead even further and tag off to the current Sprint World Cup leader with a strong lead for one more lap towards inevitable victory.

Diggins took the pace hard out of the start, but after the first exchange to Randall the pace was slowed to a crawl for the next three laps. The two Americans were content to ski near the front of the pack but on the 5th leg of the 6-lap race, Diggins attacked opening up a 10-meter gap, which was countered by Finland’s Riikka Sarasoja-Lilja. Then Sarasoja-Lilja stepped on the American’s pole basket, and suddenly in an instant the pole was off Diggins’ hand.

But the American didn’t miss a beat, increasing her tempo, and survived in the front to get to US coach Flora and a new pole. In discussing the challenges of the race, Diggins told SkiTrax, “I tend to ski a lot with my legs anyway. So, I lost the pole and I was like, whatever, because I was trying to make a move there. I was like, ‘They’re going to give me a pole at some point.’ Then, Flora came hauling down the hill and got me the pole, and it was just so seamless.” Giving her service team some credit, she noted, “It definitely helped that the wax techs just got me the fastest pair of skis in the world.”

Diggin acknowledges that she couldn’t ask for a better teammate. “Anytime you’re sprinting with the best sprinter in the world, it’s like, ‘alright!’ Because I knew that if I could get her to take off in a good position then she’d be able to hold it and improve upon it. So I just tried to get her in the best spot I could and I have absolute confidence in her.” Even though the replacement pole was too long for the American, she extended her lead to win the heat.

After tagging off to Randall, victory was a near certainty, as the Sprint World Cup Leader predictably powered to victory. “I would say today is by far the best day of my career,” said Randall. “It’s just great to finally put a good one together.”

Coach Matt Whitcomb added: “It was really fitting that our first medal of these championship was in the team event, and there are obviously a lot of people behind that, mostly Jessie and Kikkan, but it’s a whole team effort.”

The other North American pairing of Canada’s Daria Gaiazova and Perianne Jones finished in 13th place, unfortunately not advancing out of the semi-finals.

Disaster struck for the Norwegians on the 5th lap as Ingvild Oestberg face planted on a gradual downhill, creating a deficit too large for the Norweigans to find their way back to the podium. The Swedish pair of Kalla and Ida Ingemarsdotter took silver, and Finland’s duo of Riikka Sarasoja-Lilja and Krista Lahteenmaki won the bronze.

Full results HERE.
Full Results w/splits HERE.