Cross-country skiing at the 2010 Winter Olympics – Women's 4 × 5 kilometre relay


The women's 4 x 5 kilometre relay cross-country skiing competition at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada was held on 25 February at Whistler Olympic Park at 11:15 PST.
Russia was the defending Olympic champion with the team of Natalia Baranova-Masolkina, Larisa Kurkina, Yuliya Chepalova, and Yevgeniya Medvedeva-Arbuzova. Baranova-Masolikina retired following the 2006 Winter Olympics while Chepalova retired in August 2009 after testing positive for recombinant erythropoietin doping. The defending world champions were the Finnish team of Pirjo Muranen, Virpi Kuitunen, Riitta-Liisa Roponen, and Aino-Kaisa Saarinen The last World Cup competition for this event prior to the 2010 Games took place 22 November 2009 in Beitostoelen, Norway and was won by the Swedish team of Anna Olsson, Sara Lindborg, Anna Haag, and Charlotte Kalla.
Each team used four skiers who each compete over two separate 2.5 km circuits with classical using the red circuit while freestyle using the blue circuit. The first two raced in the classical technique, and the final pair of skiers raced freestyle technique.

Results

The following are the results of the event.
Sweden's Olsson had the fastest first leg with Norway and Germany, who were using the same foursome in the starting order shown that won them silver at last year's world championships, rounding out the top three. Kowalczyk had the fastest second leg and in the classical technique, moved Poland into the lead after the second exchange with Italy and Norway rounding out the top three. Kalla of Sweden would have the fastest third leg and in the freestyle technique to propel her country from eighth to fifth. The top three after the third exchange was Norway, Italy, and tied for third with Germany and defending world champion Finland, who was using the same foursome in their same starting order. Norway's Bjørgen had the final anchor leg to give her team their first Olympic gold medal in this event since the 1984 Winter Olympics. Defending Olympic champion Russia, with Medvedeva being the only returning member, finished a disappointing eighth. Meanwhile, the Swedes, winners of the last World Cup event, finished fifth with Kalla being the only returnee of the foursome that won the previous November.
RankBibCountryTimeDeficit
4
Vibeke Skofterud
Therese Johaug
Kristin Størmer Steira
Marit Bjørgen		55:19.5
14:49.9
14:46.5
12:53.2
12:49.9		0.0
2
Katrin Zeller
Evi Sachenbacher-Stehle
Miriam Gössner
Claudia Nystad		55:44.1
14:53.7
15:00.6
12:52.0
12:57.8		+24.6
1
Pirjo Muranen
Virpi Kuitunen
Riitta-Liisa Roponen
Aino-Kaisa Saarinen		55:49.9
15:32.4
14:35.7
12:38.2
13:03.6		+30.4
5
Arianna Follis
Marianna Longa
Silvia Rupil
Sabina Valbusa		56:04.9
14:58.6
14:29.4
13:01.8
13:35.1		+45.4
3
Anna Olsson
Magdalena Pajala
Charlotte Kalla
Ida Ingemarsdotter		56:18.9
14:47.1
15:35.6
12:25.0
13:31.2		+59.4
9
Aurore Cuinet
Karine Laurent Philippot
Celia Bourgeois
Cécile Storti		56:30.6
15:13.3
14:38.8
12:59.9
13:38.6		+1:11.1
8
Olga Zavyalova
Irina Khazova
Yevgeniya Medvedeva
Natalya Korostelyova		57:00.9
15:15.2
15:19.0
13:01.1
13:25.6		+1:41.4
7
Madoka Natsumi
Masako Ishida
Nobuko Fukuda
Michiko Kashiwabara		57:40.4
15:03.0
14:50.4
13:34.5
14:12.5		+2:20.9
11
Elena Kolomina
Oxana Jatskaja
Tatjana Roshina
Svetlana Malahova-Shishkina		58:23.3
15:29.1
15:25.7
13:47.7
13:40.8		+3:03.8
1010
Nastassia Dubarezava
Alena Sannikova
Olga Vasiljonok
Ekaterina Rudakova		58:28.4
15:36.5
15:29.2
13:22.1
14:00.6		+3:08.9
1114
Kikkan Randall
Holly Brooks
Morgan Arritola
Caitlin Compton		58:57.5
14:57.5
16:12.8
13:41.6
14:05.6		+3:38.0
1213
Eva Nývltová
Kamila Rajdlová
Ivana Janečková
Eva Skalníková		59:11.2
15:15.0
15:28.9
13:34.3
14:53.0		+3:51.7
1312
Tatjana Zavalij
Kateryna Grygorenko
Maryna Antsybor
Valentina Shevchenko		59:25.7
15:38.1
16:16.7
13:34.2
13:56.7		+4:06.2
1416
Anja Eržen
Katja Višnar
Vesna Fabjan
Barbara Jezeršek		59:47.5
16:00.8
16:32.3
13:25.0
13:49.4		+4:28.0
1515
Daria Gaiazova
Perianne Jones
Chandra Crawford
Madeleine Williams
15:35.8
16:14.7
14:17.7
13:56.8		+4:45.5
6
Kornelia Marek
Justyna Kowalczyk
Paulina Maciuszek
Sylwia Jaśkowiec		56:29.4
15:25.3
14:00.3
13:38.4
13:25.4		+1:09.9