Olympics Women’s Team Sprint Free medal results, highlights and more
By Zach Bigalke
The United States took gold in the women’s team sprint on the Alpensia cross-country course. Here’s how the Americans finished on top in the event.
In cross-country skiing, the United States is anything but a superpower. Before the 2018 Winter Olympics, Americans had won just one Olympic medal in any cross-country event. That was way back in 1976, when Bill Koch finished between Soviet skiers Sergey Savelyev and Ivan Garanin for silver in the 30-kilometer race.
In their penultimate opportunity to double their country’s medal count in the discipline, American women Kikkan Randall and Jessica Diggins were well prepared. The duo one-upped Koch’s position, taking a surprise gold in the women’s team sprint. Randall and Diggins finished ahead of a deep field containing two of the legends of the sport.
Less than two-tenths of a second separated the American women from the Swedish team of Charlotte Kalla and Stina Nilsson. The Swedes had the lead for much of the day, but they bled away precious time on the last few exchanges between Kalla and Nilsson. In the end, the Americans came out on top by just 0.19 seconds.
MEDAL RESULT | Cross-country skiing women's team sprint
Team United States
Team Sweden
Team Norway
Rounding out the podium with yet another medal finish was Norway. The runaway leaders of the 2018 Winter Olympics medal count, Norway’s women’s sprint team featured 37-year-old Marit Bjørgen in her final Olympiad. Bjørgen partnered with Maiken Caspersen Falla, 10 years her junior. The veteran Bjørgen led her first two rounds on the course. But once the duo fell behind they could not regain time on the Swedes or the Americans.
Switzerland and Finland rounded out the top five in the team sprint. Now attention turns toward the final women’s cross-country skiing event, the 30-kilometer mass start on the final day of the Winter Olympics.
Next: Best Olympian from each state
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