Nordic World Championships - Women's Relay (updated)

With the new week comes the marquee pair of events at the World Championships: the men's and women's relays. The relay-winning teams earn bragging rights for their countries as the best nordic-skiing nations.

Today, Norway won the women's 4 x 5km relay, with Marit Bjorgen beating Julia Tchepalova to the line by 7.6 seconds. The two anchors had dueled over the whole leg, until Bjorgen attacked on the final climb and pulled away. The bronze medal went to Italy, and defending relay champions Germany were knocked off the podium in fourth.

The women's and men's relays (the men's 4 x 10km takes place on Wednesday) are designed to appeal to spectators by putting much of the racing action in stadium, where the start, the leg changes, and the finish all occur. The relays bracket another favorite spectator event: the men's and women's classic-style sprints, which happen on Tuesday.

(In other news, Finland is having a tough go at the championships...)