Norway built a lead on the two classic legs of today's World Championship Relay, but in the end it was Germany who came home victorious.
Germany's Kuenzel skied a great third leg to build a lead after Hilde G. Pedersen fell for Norway, allowing both Germany and Finland to pass. Evi Sachenbacher controlled the race for Germany on her achor leg, while Skofterud (NOR) and Manninen (FIN) battled for silver. In the final kilometer, Manninen broke away to take silver by nine seconds over Norway.
This was Germany's second straight major relay win, after winning gold at the 2002 Olympics. Bente Skari, with two gold medals already, did not ski the relay due to illness. A lot of top skiers seem to be coming down will illness during these games.
No US or Canadian teams competed in the relay.Tomorrow is the Men's Relay, where the US men will be starting from the 5th position based on their excellent fifth place finish at the Olympics last year. They are starting ahead of such countries as Russia, Czech Republic, Estonia, and Sweden.
