The top 5 teams in both men and women’s divisions of the team relays in Kuopio, Finland looked strikingly similar. In the women’s race it was, 1st-5th: Norway 1, Finland, Sweden, Sweden 2, and Norway 2. In the men’s race it was, 1st-5th: Norway 1, Sweden 1, Norway 2, Finland, and Sweden 2.
The format was a 3x3km for women and 3x5km for men, the first leg of each was classical and the last two legs were in the skate technique.
The U.S. women’s team of Annie Liotta, Kinsey Loan, and Katie Gill finished just behind the Scandinavian powerhouses with a solid 6th place finish out of 13 teams. They were just 1:13.9 back to the first place Norwegian team of Barbro Kvåle, Hilde Landheim and Cilda Buhrkall.
The second U.S. relay team consisted of Isabell Caldwell, Jessica Jortberg and Kate Backstrum. They placed 12th, 2:33.5 off the winning time.