Quebec City (QC), Canada – Anchorage, Alaska’s Kikkan Randall, and Jessie Diggins, of Afton, Minn., made U.S. Ski Team history on the streets of Quebec City on Friday, taking the first ever American team event win.

“We just wanted to go out and execute a nice smooth race plan, build our way up through the field, stay out of trouble and I think we executed it just like we wanted to today,” said Randall. “It’s nice to make that happen.”

Diggins skied a masterful final lap , coming from behind on her third and final leg to put the USA into the lead, handing off to Randall, who held off a hard-charging pack and threats from Germany and Norway on the anchor leg for the win.

“It was overwhelmingly awesome to be here and win with a crowd so close to home and to be sprinting with the girl who has been my mentor and who I’ve looked up to my entire life,” said Diggins. “All of the wax techs and coaches did their job perfectly and that made us do our jobs perfectly! I’m happy I stayed on my feet!”

Last January, Randall and Diggins teamed up to finish a then record second in a freestyle team sprint in Milan.

“It’s a great reward to be able to win in front of friends and family. Everyone traveled really far to come out and support us today so we wanted to go out and do our job and put on a good show and the atmosphere here was fantastic today,” added Randall. “It’s so cool for us to see the American flag and hear our names called out. I’m glad we put in a good performance.”

Kazhakstan took the men’s victory, with USA Team 1 placing 12^th and Team 2 24^th. Women’s Team USA 2 with Ida Sargent, of Orleans, Vt., and Anchorage’s Holly Brooks qualified for the finals and finished ninth.

OFFICIAL RESULTS
FIS Cross Country World Cup
Quebec City (QC), Canada – Dec. 7, 2012

Women’s Team Sprint

Men’s Team Sprint