IBU Biathlon World Cup (Kontiolahti, Finland): Single Mixed Relay
In the last single mixed relay of the season, Susan Dunklee held the lead after two loops of skiing. She was looking for a top tag-off to American Lowell Bailey, but she crashed on a downhill. Nevertheless, she was able to focus on the shooting range and climb back into podium position.
The leaders were gone, however: Simon Eder and Lisa Therese Hauser of Austria ran away with the competition, using five spare rounds to race to a 32.8-second victory.
Bailey left the last shooting in third position, and caught Germany’s Roman Rees on the trails. The pair also managed to hold off Jean Guillaume Beatrix of France, who left the range just behind them. It came down to a sprint finish, with Bailey besting Rees (and his relay partner, World Cup Total Score winner Laura Dahlmeier). The U.S. had five spare rounds to Germany’s six.
It was the first relay podium of any kind for the United States since 1994, when the women finished second in a relay in Canmore, Alberta.
The Canadian team of Julia Ransom and Christian Gow finished 19th (+2:27.0) with eight spare rounds.
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/03/C6t-jXHWcAAGOGC-e1489325568801.jpg")
FIS Cross-Country World Cup (Oslo, Norway): Holmenkollen 30 k classic mass start:
Norwegian Marit Bjørgen won the women’s 30-kilometer classic mass start at Homenkollen on Sunday, in a time of 1:22:59.2. She bested two Finns, Krista Pärmäkoski and Kerttu Niskanen. Pärmäkoski finished in second (+2:05.8) and Niskanen in third (+2:07.0).
Norway’s Heidi Weng finished fourth (+2:08.6), outlasting Sweden’s Charlotte Kalla (fifth, +2:11.7). Poland’s Justyna Kowalczyk finished sixth (+2:12.9), Finland’s Aino-Kaisa Saarinen seventh (+2:19.6), Norway’s Ingvild Flugstad Øtsberg in eighth (+2:31.3), Sweden’s Anna Haag in ninth (+3:27.9) and Finland’s Laura Mononen in tenth (+3:28.7).
The first North American to finish on Sunday was Kikkan Randall, who placed 20th (+6:17.2). The next North American across the line was the U.S. Ski Team’s Sadie Bjornsen in 24th (+6:48.8). Liz Stephen finished in 31st (+8:46.8), and Chelsea Holmes (Alaska Pacific University) in 39th (+11:19.1).
