Dusseldorf, Germany – The U.S. Ski Team’s Kikkan Randall and Sadie Bjornsen combined for an historic FIS World Cup cross country skiing podium Sunday in a sprint relay in Duesseldorf.

The U.S. team turned in a strong performance, finishing just 1.6 seconds behind Norway in the freestyle sprint. The podium came just a day after Randall won her fourth career World Cup and was the first in history for the U.S. in a sprint relay.

“Today even tops yesterday! I’ve always known that we could put together a podium-capable relay team, and we did it!” said an enthusiastic Randall. “Sadie skied really well – being patient when needed, skiing smarty and gutsy, and keeping us right in there!

“We skied strong in the semi-final and that gave us good confidence for the final. We knew we just needed to stay in contention early in the race and that we would be stronger near the end. I was definitely a little tired from the long day yesterday but I found it felt better as the day went on,” Randall explained.

“Today was amazing. What a feeling. Now I can truly understand why people keep coming back year after year. I think I can safely say today was one of the best days of my life. In fact, I still can’t stop smiling!” added an equally enthusiastic Bjornsen.

The USA’s other women’s team, consisting of Holly Brooks and Ida Sargent, finished 15th. The U.S. men’s team finished in 26th place — dead last — in a race won by Sweden.

The U.S. sprinters will now rejoin their teammates for training in Davos, Switzerland before next weekend’s World Cup.

OFFICIAL RESULTS
FIS Cross Country Ski World Cup
Sprint Relay – Dusseldorf, Germany
Dec. 4, 2011

Men

Women