Randall, Bjornsen get historic podium

Kikkan Randall and Sadie Bjornsen made history Sunday (Dec. 4) at Dusseldorf, Germany placing second behind Norway for the first team sprint podium result in U.S. cross country history.

“Today even tops yesterday,” said Randall, the winner of the individual sprint at Dusseldorf. “I’ve always known that we could put together a podium-capable relay team, and we did it.”

Randall said she was proud of younger teammate Bjornsen saying she was “patient when she needed to be,” and adding she had been both smart and gutsy.

The team used a strategy of staying close in the early stages of the event and relied on being stronger at the end. Randall said she did feel the effects of having put in a huge effort Saturday, “but I found I felt better as the day went on.”

Despite some bad breaks in the final getting caught behind a crash, the team worked back into the hunt to set up for that closing charge.

“Our final tag was a good one and I was able to work my way past a couple teams on the first corner,” said Randall. “I just reminded myself to stay relaxed and be patient. Coming down the back stretch I could tell some of the other girls were looking tired. I pushed hard over the top of Mt. Dusseldorf and got into fourth going into the final turn. With the podium in reach, I pulled a similar move to yesterday and swung wide and free skated into the finish lanes. I don’t even remember passing anyone but just before the line I realized we were in second.”

image by Gepa