The women's 4 x 5 kilometre relay cross-country skiing competition at the

2010 Winter Olympics )'' , nations = 82 , athletes = 2,626 , events = 86 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = February 12, 2010 , closing = February 28, 2010 , opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean , cauldron = Catriona Le May DoanNancy GreeneWayne Gret ...

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was held on 25 February at

Whistler Olympic Park The Whistler Olympic Park is the location of the Nordic events facilities for the 2010 Winter Olympics and is located in the Madeley Creek basin in the Callaghan Valley, west of Whistler, British Columbia, Canada. The facility hosted the biathlon ...

at 11:15 PST.

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

was the defending

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with the team of Natalia Baranova-Masolkina, Larisa Kurkina, Yuliya Chepalova, and

Yevgeniya Medvedeva-Arbuzova Yevgeniya Vladimirovna Medvedeva (russian: Евге́ния Влади́мировна Медве́дева-Арбу́зова; born 4 July 1976 in Kondopoga, Karelian ASSR) is a Russian cross-country skier who has competed sinc ...

. Baranova-Masolikina retired following the

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while Chepalova retired in August 2009 after testing positive for recombinant erythropoietin (EPO) doping. (She would be banned from the International Ski Federation (FIS) for two years in a decision rendered on 23 December 2009 that would run until 20 August 2011.) The defending world champions were the

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

team of

Pirjo Muranen Pirjo Muranen (née Manninen, born 8 March 1981 in Rovaniemi) is a retired Finnish cross-country skier. She won a bronze medal in the 4 × 5 km relay at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Muranen won five medals at the FIS Nordic World S ...

Virpi Kuitunen Virpi Katriina Sarasvuo (née Kuitunen, born 20 May 1976) is a Finnish former cross-country skier who competed from 1995 to 2010. She won a bronze medal in the team sprint event (with Aino-Kaisa Saarinen) at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin and ...

Riitta-Liisa Roponen Riitta-Liisa Roponen (née Lassila, born 6 May 1978) is a Finnish cross-country skier who has competed since 1998. Career She won a bronze in the 4 × 5 km relay at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Roponen also won two team sprint me ...

, and

Aino-Kaisa Saarinen Aino-Kaisa Saarinen (born 1 February 1979) is a retired Finnish cross-country skier who competed in the World Cup between 1998 and 2018. With 354 individual World Cup starts, Saarinen is the current record holder for both men and women, with St ...

(The same foursome also won the event at the 2007 championships.) The last

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

competition for this event prior to the 2010 Games took place 22 November 2009 in Beitostoelen, Norway and was won by the

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

team of Anna Olsson,

Sara Lindborg Sara Lindborg (born 30 November 1983) is a Swedish cross-country skier who has competed since 2002. Her best World Cup finish was second twice, both in the 4 × 5 km relay in France (2006, 2008). Lindborg's best individual finish was 12th in ...

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, and

Charlotte Kalla Marina Charlotte Kalla (born 22 July 1987 in Tärendö) is a Swedish cross-country skier who has been competing at international level since the 2003–04 season. Kalla is a three-time Olympian, winning her first Olympic gold medal at the 2010 Wi ...

. 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 (who would finish sixth) into the lead after the second exchange with Italy (who would finish fourth) 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

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Winter Olympics. Defending Olympic champion Russia, with Medvedeva (formerly Medvedeva-Abruzova) 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.Wallenchinsky, David and Jaime Loucky. (2009) "Cross-Country (Nordic) Skiing, Women: 4 x 5-Kilometer Relay". In ''The Complete Book of the Winter Olympics: 2010 Edition''. London: Aurum Press Limited. pp. 252-3.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cross-country skiing at the 2010 Winter Olympics - Women's 4 by 5 kilometre relay Women's cross-country skiing at the 2010 Winter Olympics Women's 4 × 5 kilometre relay cross-country skiing at the Winter Olympics