The women's team sprint freestyle cross-country skiing competition at the 2018 Winter Olympics was held on 21 February 2018 at 19:00 KST at the Alpensia Cross-Country Skiing Centre in Pyeongchang, South Korea.[1][2] The event consisted of six by 1.25km sprints alternating between two teammates. Kikkan Randall and Jessie Diggins won the event, making this the first ever Olympic medal for the United States in women's cross-country skiing. It was also the first ever Olympic gold medal for the United States in cross-country skiing.[3] Charlotte Kalla and Stina Nilsson came second, and the defending champion Marit Bjørgen, skiing in pair with Maiken Caspersen Falla, won the bronze medal.
| Women's team sprint at the XXIII Olympic Winter Games | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | |||||||||||||
| Venue | Alpensia Cross-Country Skiing Centre | ||||||||||||
| Dates | 21 February 2018 | ||||||||||||
| Competitors | 42 from 21 nations | ||||||||||||
| Winning time | 15:56.47 | ||||||||||||
| Medalists | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
Qualification
editA total of up to 310 cross-country skiers qualified across all eleven events. Athletes qualified for this event by having met the A qualification standard, which meant having 100 or less FIS Points The Points list takes into average the best results of athletes per discipline during the qualification period (1 July 2016 to 21 January 2018). Countries received additional quotas by having athletes ranked in the top 30 of the FIS Olympics Points list (two per gender maximum, overall across all events). Countries also received an additional quota (one per gender maximum) if an athlete was ranked in the top 300 of the FIS Olympics Points list. After the distribution of B standard quotas, the remaining quotas were distributed using the Olympic FIS Points list, with each athlete only counting once for qualification purposes. A country could only enter a maximum of one team for the sprint consisting of two athletes.[4]
Results
edit- Q — qualified for next round
- LL — lucky loser
- PF — photo finish
Semifinals
edit
Final
editThe final started at 19:00.[5]
| Rank | Bib | Country | Athletes | Time | Deficit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 14 |  United States | Kikkan Randall Jessie Diggins | 15:56.47 | — |
 | 12 |  Sweden | Charlotte Kalla Stina Nilsson | 15:56.66 | +0.19 |
 | 1 |  Norway | Marit Bjørgen Maiken Caspersen Falla | 15:59.44 | +2.97 |
| 4 | 3 |  Switzerland | Nadine Fähndrich Laurien van der Graaff | 16:17.79 | +21.32 |
| 5 | 13 |  Finland | Mari Laukkanen Krista Pärmäkoski | 16:19.18 | +22.71 |
| 6 | 5 |  Slovenia | Alenka Čebašek Anamarija Lampič | 16:28.24 | +31.77 |
| 7 | 18 |  Poland | Justyna Kowalczyk Sylwia Jaśkowiec | 16:32.48 | +36.01 |
| 8 | 17 |  France | Aurore Jéan Coraline Thomas Hugue | 16:32.49 | +36.02 |
| 9 | 15 |  Olympic Athletes from Russia | Natalya Nepryayeva Yuliya Belorukova | 16:41.76 | +45.29 |
| 10 | 2 |  Germany | Nicole Fessel Sandra Ringwald | 17:06.57 | +1:10.10 |
Broadcast call
editThe final is also known for its NBC broadcast call of "Here comes Diggins!" from Chad Salmela alongside Steve Schlanger:[6]
Schlanger: Jessie Diggins with two fifth-place finishes, one sixth, so close for the U.S. on so many occasions, now moving up on the outside into second place!
Salmela: They're all completely gassed! They've given it everything on the Klæbo-bakken! Stina Nilsson leading Jessie Diggins into the final turn – can Diggins answer?!
Schlanger: As the roars rattle around the cross-country stadium in Pyeongchang, Sweden, the U.S., and Norway coming to the line!
Salmela: Here comes Diggins! Here comes Diggins!
Schlanger: On the outside! Diggins making the play around Sweden!
Salmela: Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Gold!
Schlanger: Jessie Diggins to the line! And it is Jessie Diggins delivering a landmark moment that will be etched in U.S. Olympic history! The first ever cross-country gold medal for the U.S.!
Salmela: It's a gold medal for the United States! It's not just a medal, it's the gold!
References
edit- ↑ "Schedule". Archived from the original on 5 November 2017. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
- ↑ Start list
- ↑ Bragg, Beth (21 February 2018). "Anchorage skier Kikkan Randall wins Olympics gold". Anchorage Daily News. Retrieved 21 February 2018.
- ↑ "Qualification Systems for XXII Olympic Winter Games, PyeongChang 2018 Cross-country skiing" (PDF). International Ski Federation (FIS). 13 April 2017. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
- ↑ Final results
- ↑ NBC Olympics and Paralympics [@NBCOlympics] (21 February 2018). "UNBELIEVABLE! @kikkanimal & @jessdiggs earn the first ever cross-country #gold medal for @TeamUSA, with a pass that will go down in American Olympic history! #WinterOlympics #BestOfUS http://bit.ly/2EWGmBB" (Tweet). Retrieved 9 February 2026 – via Twitter.