January 21, 2012 (Seefeld, AUT) – The USA landed on the podium with a historic third place finish in the Olympic-level Cross-Country/Biathlon Mixed Team Relay event on Saturday at the inaugural Youth Olympic Games in Innsbruck, Austria.

Germany, the pre-race favourites lead from the start and never looked back, taking home the gold as Russia came from behind just edging out the USA by half a second for the silver.

The US team of Anna Kubek/biathlete (Duluth, MN), Heather Mooney/xc skier (Peru, VT), Sean Doherty/biathlete (Conway, NH) and Paddy Caldwell/xc skier earned the USA its first biathlon/cross-country ski medal at the new Youth Olympic Games. Kubek and Mooney kept the team competitive but it was Doherty who put them in contention. Caldwell, the anchor, was in a see-saw battle with Russia’s Alexander Selyaninov and held his own for the bronze as Selyaninov took the silver by a mere 0.5s.

By coincidence, Vermont’s Bill Koch won the USA its first Olympic cross-country ski medal at the 1976 Games in Innsbruck winning silver in the men’s 30km classic.

The Canadian team of Danielle Vrielink/biathlete (Calgary, AB), Maya MacIssac-Jones/xc skier (Athabasca, AB), Stuart Harden/biathlete (Calgary, AB) and Matthew Saurette/xc skier (Edmonton, AB) finished 13th out of 24 countries.

Youth Olympic Games Cross-Country/Biathlon Mixed Team Relay Report
SEEFELD, Jan 21 – Pre-race favourite Germany made light work of the heavy snow as it stormed to the Gold medal in the first Olympic-level Cross-Country/Biathlon Mixed Team Relay event on Saturday.

Russia claimed the Silver medal and the USA took Bronze, in what was a surprise podium placing.

Biathlete Franziska Preuss (GER) completed an impressive first leg, missing only one shot in the standing round and skiing well, to put the Germans into a comfortable lead that they would not surrender. Her team eventually crossed the finish line in 1 hour, 4 minutes and 23.4 seconds, to take a well-deserved Gold medal.

Speaking after the first leg, PREUSS admitted she was more than happy with race conditions. “I like it very much when it’s snowing during a race,” she said. “The conditions today suit me.”

The win gave PREUSS her third Gold medal of the Innsbruck 2012 Winter Youth Olympic Games, having grabbed top spot in the Women’s 6 km Sprint, and the Biathlon Mixed Relay. It is a feat the German admits she cannot yet begin to comprehend. “I can’t really believe it at the moment,” she said. “I’m hoping that next week I’ll realise that I’ve won three Gold medals here.”

The battle for the Silver medal proved far more dramatic, with the USA at one point looking as if it could upstage the Russians, who have a stronger tradition across these disciplines. In the end, Alexander Selyaninov (RUS) was able to power across the line just 0.5s ahead of Patrick Caldwell (USA), with a time of 1:05:22.5, to secure the Silver.

The Bronze medal, however, remains a remarkable achievement for the USA. Speaking after the race, an elated CALDWELL, who started his anchor leg with the US in second place, described the tension he felt knowing Russia’s powerhouse Cross-Country skier SELYANINOV was just behind him.

“I knew he was there, coming right for me, and he overtook me in my first lap, so I just jumped right in behind him and tried to keep up,” CALDWELL said.

“We were going back and forth, but he got me in the end. He was just too strong.” CALDWELL was quick to praise the efforts of his teammates, particularly third runner Sean DOHERTY (USA), who put CALDWELL “in a great position for the final leg of the race” by skiing and shooting well, to take the US from ninth place to second.

After a poor start from the Russian team, with Uliana KAYSHEVA (RUS) finishing the first leg in 14th place, the rest of her team had work to do in making up ground.

KAYSHEVA admitted the pressure got to her. “Being disqualified on Thursday [when KAYSHEVA left the track during the Biathlon Mixed Relay, costing Russia the Silver medal] affected me,” she said. “Physically I was ok, but not mentally.”

Skiing after KAYSHEVA, Anastasia SEDOVA was able to put Russia in fifth place overall, thanks to the fastest Ladies’ Cross-Country leg of the day, in an impressive time of 9:57.9. Ivan GALUSHKIN (RUS) then produced an excellent leg to put Russia in third. It all came down to SELYANINOV, who was blunt about his performance. “I did what I had to do,” he said.

Norway, with a strong tradition across these disciplines, finished in a surprising ninth place. The Norwegians were in second place after the second leg but third runner Kristian Andre AALERUD shot poorly and they could not recover in the last leg.

Read more on the YOG at SMS Nordic.
Full results HERE.