Mixed Relay
The regulations were clear: one athlete could only participate in either the Mixed Relay or the Mixed Team Sprint – the distances were the same for all and the race was held in Free technique.
5km per athlete was on the menu for the Mixed Relay in the order Woman / Man / Man / Woman. The course track was set to an intermediate difficulty so that the speed of the race remained high throughout.
Heidi Weng (NOR I) started out with Kerttu Niskanen (FIN I), Julia Kern (USA I) and Katharina Hennig (GER I) in the lead. In the Men’s first leg however, Team Norway II took charge with Sjur Røthe up front. Simen Hegstad Krüger took over from Røthe and skied along Didrik Tønseth who seemed to prosper on the course set once more. Iivo Niskanen was fired up by his sister along the course and passed on a top position to Krista Pärmäkoski as the final leg.
The grand finals saw Pärmäkoski in the direct fight off with Jessie Diggins and Therese Johaug. It was Jessie Diggins who managed to open a gap up front and crossed the finish line first with a margin of 3.8 seconds.
Team Norway I and Finland I with Johaug and Pärmäkoski ended in a tight Sprint, which Krista managed to win for Team Finland I before Norway I.
