Emily Nishikawa was the fastest Canadian on another sweltering day in Sochi’s Laura stadium at the 2014 Winter Olympics, as the team finished 14th in the women’s 4X5 km cross-country ski relay on Saturday (Feb. 15).
Although expectations were low, the Canadians were nearly six minutes back of surprise champions Sweden, as heavily favoured Norway finished fifth. Sweden hasn’t won gold in the women’s relay since 1960, and hasn’t medaled in the event since 1968. Norway has dominated the event since 2009, where they have won every world cup, world championship, or Olympic Winter Games in that span, but were nearly a minute off the pace on Saturday. Finland was half a second behind the Swedes, while Germany finished in third.
Perianne Jones struggled early on the course, falling behind the lead pack by 20 seconds by posting a time of 15:50.9 on the course. Dasha Gaiazova had the second leg and wasn’t able to make up any ground as she clocked a time of 15:09 on the 5 km course, as the Canadians fell farther back. Nishikawa was much faster, coming in at 13:27.3, but the race was already out of reach by that point. Brittany Webster came in at 14:45 on her anchor leg, willing herself across the finish line.
The event is a test of team depth and one of the reasons an appeal was launched to include Amanda Ammar and Brittany Webster. With those two skiers on the team, Canada was able to fill out their team, while Heidi Widmer and Ammar got another day of rest. Chandra Crawford was not chosen for the event, and has opted to leave the Games early.
