FasterSkier’s coverage of this week’s FIS World Championships stands as a proud tribute to an icon of American Skiing, Marty Hall who has generously supported our coverage of international cross country ski events. To learn more about Marty and Kathy Hall’s A Hall Mark of Excellence Award, please contact info@fasterskier.com. We’ll miss you, Marty.
In the long history of Women’s Team Relay races in FIS World Championships, Sweden has triumphed only once. Many other times, they have appeared snake bit: slow skis, unexpected falls, inexplicable blow ups. Sweden may be the dominant women’s team at these World Championships (having gone four-for-four in gold medals thus far), but the team Relay has always been a place where favorites can find themselves vulnerable.
Norway is aware of this particular ski history, and the home team was not afraid to show its hand. To know what strategy would be employed in today’s Women’s Team Relay, fans only needed to observe who Norway had placed in the anchor position: Kristin Austgulen Fosnaes. She’s a fine and talented skier, but at her best she’s neither the sprinter who will challenge Sweden’s Jonna Sundling at the finishing sprint, nor is Fosnaes the sort of dominating all ’rounder who can drop the field out on the trail. For Norway to win, they’d need to rely on skiers in the middle legs to create an insurmountable gap over the Swedes. Norway really does want to win; this could prove to be the only strategy that makes that victory possible.
Team Relay
The World Championships in Trondheim were designed to be the Norway Show. For the Norwegian Women’s Team, it just hasn’t turned out that way. Kristine Stavaas Skistad was Norway’s hope to win the opening event, the Freestyle Sprint. She finished second (behind Sweden’s Sundling). Therese Johaug is one of the sport’s all-time greats. She hoped to return from retirement to deliver championships in the Distance events. She finished second in both the Skiathlon and the 10 k Classic (behind Sweden’s Ebba Andersson). The Team Relay was Norway’s chance for retribution. But their daring plan needed to work . . .
Twenty teams lined up at the start of the Women’s 4 x 7.5 k Team Relay, but really only a few teams were likely to contend. Before the field had even left the stadium (paced by Sweden’s Emma Ribom) gaps had already opened, and groups had already begun to be established. Within the first two kilometers, the front of the race had developed into a group of seven nations: Sweden, Norway, USA, Finland, Switzerland, Germany, and Czechia.
Norway’s Heidi Weng was undoubtedly the most decorated and experienced skier on Leg 1. She wasted little time in going to the front where she set a blistering pace, but if Weng had intended to gap the field and give a substantial lead to her Leg 2 teammate, Astrid Oeyre Slind, the rest of the contenders were having none of it. Switzerland’s Anja Weber led the pack through the stadium for the first time at 3.8 kilometers, followed by and Germany’s Pia Fink and Sweden’s Ribom. Weng marked her rivals, perhaps hoping to surge before the end of this first 7.5 kilometer leg. Rosie Brennan (USA) had begun to dangle from the lead group, but she commented in post-race interview that she was fairly satisfied with her performance, and that she feels she skied up to her current potential.
“I’m for sure not at my best,” said Brennan. “So my goal was just to stay as close as possible . . . I felt I did that pretty well, and I was happy with how I skied—kinda met my goals out there. It was good.”
Weng knew the job she had to do, and she set about doing it on the climb out of the stadium. She attacked the climb, initiating a gap in front of Fink and Czechia’s Katerina Janatova. Ribom began to struggle visibly, dropping off the back of the chase group. The gap continued to grow.
Pink and Janatova kept Weng within range as the leaders entered the stadium for the hand-off to Leg 2 skiers. Norway had a five second lead over the chasers, but the real lead was what they had built over their rivals, Sweden. When Sweden’s Leg 2 skier, Frida Karlsson, took the tag, she was already 40 seconds behind. Karlsson had her work cut out for her, and only 7.5 kilometers in which to close that gap.
USA’s Brennan entered the exchange zone in sixth place alongside Switzerland and Finland, some 45 seconds behind the leader.
Norways Leg 2 skier, Slind, went straight to work, followed by Germany’s Katerina Hennig. Czechia’s Anna Jaklova quickly found herself in over her head with the pace set by Slind; she dropped back to preserve her placing rather than race on ahead and blow up. It was a smart move from the young Jaklova, but it also provided an enticing target for the charging Karlsson, who rocketed past the Czech on her way into third position.
Slind continued to open the gap. On her first time through the stadium, Norway enjoyed a lead of 21 seconds over Germany, 33 seconds over Sweden. Norway’s plan was to just keep pouring fuel onto the fire, setting up Leg 3 skier, Therese Johaug, to deliver a slam dunk. That would be the only way to keep Fosnaes ahead of Sundling in Leg 4.
Jaklova was caught and passed by Niskanen, and later by Nadia Kaelin of Switzerland. Julia Kern (USA) skied alone in seventh, 1:22 behind the leaders.
The growing excitement on the course could be measured in the exhortations of Norwegian coaches. Their shouts of “Kom igjen! Kom igjen!” rose in pitch and tenor as Slind raced by. The Norwegian plan was working thus far, but no lead was big enough to provide a sure-thing advantage over Sundling in the anchor leg.
Karlsson skied brilliantly in her pursuit of Slind, catching Germany’s Hennig along the way. Sweden skied through the exchange in second place, but still 30 seconds behind Norway. Germany would hope to preserve their third position rather than engage in a chase of Sweden, as their Leg 3 skier, Helena Hoffman, was likely to find herself no match for Sweden’s Ebba Andersson.
Thus far at these World Championships, Johaug has claimed two silver medals. That would be a career-accomplishment for most cross country skiers, but Johaug is cut from different cloth. She came out of retirement in pursuit of gold at these championships . . . she raced out of the stadium determined to do her part in Norway’s quest to seize the relay.
Johaug’s line on the course was a bit nerve-wracking as she hugged the very edge of the course, flirting with v-boards and course markers on every bend. Johaug could have been considered the favorite among all those contesting the Freestyle legs, but she needed all the time she could get. Johaug’s tempo was proving to be a match for Andersson’s power. Through the exchange zone, the gap remained at roughly 37 seconds. Andersson tagged Fosnaes who exited the stadium to the deafening cheers of the Norewegian crowd. Sundling followed intently. History was about to be made . . .
After watching Johaug’s blazing tempo in Leg 3, it was a bit unnerving watching the more contemporary tempo of Fosnaes. Granted, the Norwegian needed to avoid overdoing it, but Sundling’s charge began almost immediately. In less than three kilometers, Sundling carved 20 seconds off Fosnaes’ lead. The Norwegian was in sight, and Sundling was on fire. Even before the end of the first lap, Sundling had erased the gap to Norway. Sundling—the three-time World Champion in the Sprint—may be the fastest skier in the world. With one lap to go, Fosnaes must have realized the depth of her predicament.
Sundling could have waited on Fosnaes tails, confident in her ability to win a sprint to the finish. But Sundling is also one of the best Distance skiers in the world, and she went to the front as the Norwegian crowd went absolutely silent.
Sundling continued to lead Fosnaes around the final lap, seemingly content to remain in the vicinity of her rival while she attempted to recover from her Lap 1 effort. Sundling pressed the pace up the final rise, but was not able to shake a determined Fosnaes. It came down to a battle on the final straightaway, where Fosnaes actually made up a bit of ground. but Sundling had maintained just enough energy to power to the finish line, delivering Sweden’s fifth straight gold medal at these championships.
Showing not an iota of dejection, the members of Team Norway rushed to Fosnaes in the finish area, burying her in a team hug that showed an appreciation for the performance she had delivered. Team Sweden, showing perhaps more relief than elation, crowded around Sundling, celebrating a victory that was quite a bit more challenging than they had originally imagined, but satisfied that Sweden had finally lived up to its billing in a World Championship Team Relay.
In the battle for third, Victoria Carl (GER) led over the top of the final rise, bumping and clacking her way along the edge of the v-boards at the top in an effort to find the fastest snow and shorten her line to the finish. Jasmi Joensu’s (FIN) skis proved no match for Carl’s on the final descent, and Germany entered the final bend with a lead of a few precious meters. Joensu is the top-ranked sprinter in the world this season, but Carl managed to hold her off down the home stretch. Germany once again claims a relay medal; this time, a bronze.
The United States followed Switzerland across the line to claim sixth. Canada followed close behind in eighth.
A day of rest follows for the women’s field, but it will be interesting to see how much energy may have been taken out of the contenders in Sunday’s 50 k Freestyle Mass Start. Andersson and Johaug appear likely to battle for that crown but, as today’s relay clearly demonstrates, it’s never wise to count out a racer like Jonna Sundling.
2025 World Championships Women’s Team Relay RESULTS
John Teaford
John Teaford—the Managing Editor of FasterSkier — has been the coach of Olympians, World Champions, and World Record Holders in six sports: Nordic skiing, speedskating, road cycling, track cycling, mountain biking, triathlon. In his long career as a writer/filmmaker, he spent many seasons as Director of Warren Miller’s annual feature film, and Producer of adventure documentary films for Discovery, ESPN, Disney, National Geographic, and NBC Sports.
