Amazing US women take first World Cup podium
American women are just amazing. Especially when they band together. A day after putting two into the top five of a 10k-f in Gaellivare, Sweden’s World Cup, the U.S. squad captured its first ever podium in the four woman relay.
Norway I took the win, and that’s somewhere around six million of them for those gals, and Sweden was second, but it was USA in third, ahead of Norway II, Finland and Russia.
Holly Brooks came out for the opening leg and held tough for eighth place, well within range. Kikkan Randall got the second leg, recorded the fastest time of the leg and moved position, 8.2 seconds behind Norway. Liz Stephens charged in the freestyle leg, kept the team ahead of Sweden and handed off to Jessie Diggins just 4.2 seconds behind.
Diggins skied the anchor and sprinted to the finish for the trophy and history. “I truly believe that our result today has everything to do with this team having such a strong group atmosphere. We all support and push each other to be our best every day. I know I race faster when I feel like I’m part of an amazing group of women/ We skied out hearts out and I am so proud to be a part of something this big.”
Gaellivare SWE
World Cup
Ladies’ Rel 4×5 km M
Nov. 25, 2012
| Rank | Bib | Name | Nation | Time | FIS Points | |
| 1 | NORWAY I | NOR | 45:32.2 | |||
| SKOFTERUD Vibeke W | 12:04.1 | |||||
| JOHAUG Therese | 11:50.0 | |||||
| HAGEN Martine Ek | 10:52.8 | |||||
| BJOERGEN Marit | 10:45.3 | |||||
| 2 | SWEDEN I | SWE | 45:51.6 | |||
| INGEMARSDOTTER Ida | 12:05.2 | |||||
| BLECKUR Sofia | 12:07.8 | |||||
| LARSEN Lisa | 10:48.3 | |||||
| KALLA Charlotte | 10:50.3 | |||||
| 3 | UNITED STATES OF AMERICA | USA | 46:00.4 | |||
| BROOKS Holly | 12:15.8 | |||||
| RANDALL Kikkan | 11:46.5 | |||||
| STEPHEN Elizabeth | 10:48.7 | |||||
| DIGGINS Jessica | 11:09.4 | |||||
| 4 | NORWAY II | NOR | 46:00.9 | |||
| WENG Heidi | 12:04.1 | |||||
| JACOBSEN Astrid Uhrenholdt | 12:09.5 | |||||
| STEIRA Kristin Stoermer | 10:50.8 | |||||
| KRISTOFFERSEN Marthe | 10:56.5 | |||||
| 5 | FINLAND I | FIN | 46:20.0 | |||
| KYLLOENEN Anne | 12:12.5 | |||||
| NISKANEN Kerttu | 12:02.6 | |||||
| ROPONEN Riitta-Liisa | 10:48.6 | |||||
| SARASOJA-LILJA Riikka | 11:16.3 | |||||
| 6 | RUSSIA I | RUS | 46:42.8 | |||
| IVANOVA Julia | 12:07.7 | |||||
| MEDVEDEVA Polina | 12:29.7 | |||||
| TCHEKALEVA Yulia | 10:58.0 | |||||
| KOROSTELEVA Natalia | 11:07.4 | |||||
| 7 | FINLAND II | FIN | 46:55.9 | |||
| SAARINEN Aino- Kaisa | 12:12.6 | |||||
| GRUNDVALL Maria | 12:27.0 | |||||
| AHERVO Laura | 11:14.7 | |||||
| LAHTEENMAKI Krista | 11:01.6 | |||||
| 8 | FRANCE | FRA | 46:57.0 | |||
| JEAN Aurore | 12:25.5 | |||||
| AYMONIER Celia | 12:09.9 | |||||
| FAIVRE PICON Anouk | 11:17.0 | |||||
| HUGUE Coraline | 11:04.6 | |||||
| 9 | SWEDEN II | SWE | 47:00.6 | |||
| WIKEN Emma | 12:21.5 | |||||
| LINDBORG Sara | 12:18.6 | |||||
| GRAEFNINGS Maria | 11:13.2 | |||||
| ERIKSSON Mia | 11:07.3 | |||||
| 10 | GERMANY | GER | 47:12.7 | |||
| ZELLER Katrin | 12:21.7 | |||||
| BOEHLER Stefanie | 12:42.8 | |||||
| FESSEL Nicole | 10:55.2 | |||||
| HERRMANN Denise | 11:13.0 | |||||
| 11 | RUSSIA II | RUS | 47:28.6 | |||
| SHAPOVALOVA Evgenia | 12:27.7 | |||||
| TIKHONOVA Julia | 12:37.0 | |||||
| DOTSENKO Anastasia | 11:03.9 | |||||
| KHAZOVA Irina | 11:20.0 | |||||
| 12 | POLAND | POL | 47:30.9 | |||
| KUBINSKA Kornelia | 12:31.3 | |||||
| KOWALCZYK Justyna | 11:59.1 | |||||
| MACIUSZEK Paulina | 11:19.0 | |||||
| JASKOWIEC Sylwia | 11:41.5 | |||||
| 13 | ITALY | ITA | 47:41.3 | |||
| DE MARTIN TOPRANIN Virginia | 12:07.5 | |||||
| BROCARD Elisa | 12:41.9 | |||||
| AGREITER Debora | 11:22.8 | |||||
| PILLER Marina | 11:29.1 | |||||
| 14 | CANADA | CAN | 48:31.2 | |||
| CRAWFORD Chandra | 12:37.0 | |||||
| JONES Perianne | 12:36.8 | |||||
| GAIAZOVA Daria | 11:18.9 | |||||
| MARSHALL Alysson | 11:58.5 | |||||
| 15 | KAZAKHSTAN I | KAZ | 48:31.3 | |||
| KOLOMINA Yelena | 12:31.0 | |||||
| MATROSSOVA Marina | 12:51.0 | |||||
| OSSIPOVA Tatyana | 11:40.8 | |||||
| SLONOVA Anastasia | 11:28.5 | |||||
| 16 | SLOVENIA | SLO | 48:34.3 | |||
| VISNAR Katja | 13:00.5 | |||||
| FABJAN Vesna | 12:40.6 | |||||
| JEZERSEK Barbara | 11:18.8 | |||||
| CEBASEK Alenka | 11:34.4 | |||||
| 17 | SWEDEN III | SWE | 49:03.5 | |||
| OEBERG Jennie | 12:4 8.3 |
|||||
| HANSSON Jenny | 12:55.4 | |||||
| DAHL Lisa | 11:46.4 | |||||
| SUNDIN Marika | 11:33.5 | |||||
| 18 | KAZAKHSTAN II | KAZ | 49:32.9 | |||
| YATSKAYA Oxana | 12:52.7 | |||||
| STOYAN Anna | 12:50.0 | |||||
| SHEVCHENKO Anna | 11:44.6 | |||||
| LANCHAKOVA Viktoriya | 12:05.6 |
About the Author: Hank McKee
