Russia romped to a stunning victory in the 4x5km women’s cross-country relay at the FIS World Cup stage in Norway as 20-year-old rising star Veronika Stepanova stormed home in a stirring final leg.
Stepanova had plenty to do approaching the finish line in Lillehammer but surged ahead of Swedish rival Moa Olsson and Helen Marie Fossesholm of Norway.
The Russian quartet of Yulia Stupak, Natalia Nepryaeva and Tatiana Sorina finished in a time of 54:40.06 – 1.1 seconds ahead of the Swedish team and with Norway in third.
It is the first victory for a Russian women’s team in a relay event at a World Cup stage since 2004.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">🎞 Also the second Relay of the day was a close one 💥<br><br>How about that for a thrilling finish fight by the next generations great ones Veronika Stepanova 🇷🇺 Moa Olsson 🇸🇪 and Helene Marie Fossesholm 🇳🇴 !!<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/fiscrosscountry?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#fiscrosscountry</a> <a href="https://t.co/mVavppzVau">pic.twitter.com/mVavppzVau</a></p>— FIS Cross-Country (@FISCrossCountry) <a href="https://twitter.com/FISCrossCountry/status/1467470255727464454?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 5, 2021</a></blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="ru" dir="ltr">Наши тёлочки лучшие!!! Золото в женской эстафете на этапе Кубка мира в Норвегии в Лиллехамере. Победа в контактной борьбе, на финишной прямой, с прямыми конкурентками из Норвегии и Швеции! Вероника Степанова - золотце наше😍 <a href="https://t.co/VZpisGyxp2">pic.twitter.com/VZpisGyxp2</a></p>— Большой Змей (@ashaturnii) <a href="https://twitter.com/ashaturnii/status/1467518351811485704?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 5, 2021</a></blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">🇷🇺 back on the podium top in a Women's Relay - it's been a while🙌<br><br>Thank you for that thrilling Relay Day 👏<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/fiscrosscountry?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#fiscrosscountry</a> 📷 by NordicFocus <a href="https://t.co/ZqEd9bhsdU">pic.twitter.com/ZqEd9bhsdU</a></p>— FIS Cross-Country (@FISCrossCountry) <a href="https://twitter.com/FISCrossCountry/status/1467483906521944069?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 5, 2021</a></blockquote>
Finishing the Russian surge was Stepanova, a former Nordic world junior champion who is now part of the senior set-up as the team prepare for the Beijing Olympics in February.
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Stepanova is a colorful character on social media, not being shy to share her views on issues including the International Olympic Committee’s recent rulings on transgender participation in sport as well as rival teams such as Norway mixing politics and sport.
READ MORE: Russian ski starlet poses transgender question
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