Kikkan Randall of Anchorage and partner Jessie Diggins of Afton, Minnesota combined to give the United States its first gold medal in a World Championship nordic ski competition on Sunday, skiing to the victory in the team sprint title in Val Di Fiemme, Italy. Randall and Diggins had previously teamed up for a win in a World Cup race earlier this season in Quebec City.
It is Randall's first gold medal at the World Championships as well. She took silver in the 2009 individual freestyle sprint.
"This is the most incredible day of my ski career so far," said Randall in a press release issued by the U.S. Ski team. "We’ve been looking forward to this race all year. We’ve been talking about it and the whole team has been helping us get here. And today the wax was great, the skis were amazing, our coach got Jessie a pole, our teammates were here. It’s just what we imagined it would be."
The World Championships resume on Tuesday with the women's 10K freestyle.
