Norway were never threatened by the mixed relay at Estonia Otepää and won comfortably ahead of Sweden and France.

Vetle Sjåstad Christiansen, who made it to the second stage for the Norwegian team, gave praise for the Norwegian women’s anchor after the race.

– Ingrid’s position out today, half a minute lead, I think was the worst position to come out. What he did to attack and improve Elvira, there was great respect. I dare not, he told NRK.

– Very important

Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold was 22.5 seconds ahead of Sweden in the finish, meaning that Norway passed the “sweet brother” in total in the women’s national cup.

– It’s great to be the news anchor in the last relay. The team has given me a fantastic starting point every time, but of course you have a little extra pressure on your shoulders. Today I was very nervous, the Norwegian female broadcaster told NRK after the race.

– How nice was it to get past Sweden in the National Cup?

– It’s a very, very important day. It was so that we almost had to avoid talking about it at yesterday’s team meeting so as not to get too nervous before the final and decisive competition which was the sprint at Kollen. At least now we have done our job today. “We’ve fought as hard as we can and got them this far, now we just need to have the crowd with us on Thursday,” Tandrevold replied.

Sweden lead the National Cup ahead of Sunday’s mixed relay. Norway are now nine points clear of Sweden before the World Cup final in Holmenkollen.

– We were happy to be on the podium today, but then a little sad to be beaten by Norway. It’s a tough match in the national cup on the women’s side. It was important to finish second today and not to be number three, Swedish news anchor Elvira berg told NRK.

The Swede was fired up before the end at Holmenkollen.

– I think it will be difficult, I don’t think anything will be decided before the sprint in Oslo. It will be interesting. We’re going to do what we can, because it would mean a lot to us to take it.

– Trying to scare competitors

NRK biathlon commentators Ola Lunde and Andreas Stabrun Smith were impressed by how offensive Tandrevold was on his first stage.

– The plan really didn’t have a plan until I saw how we did it. It is impossible to predict a relay like this. We had absolutely wonderful skiing – by far the best of all. It gave me a real boost before starting. The others opened quietly, so I was thinking of opening loudly, said Tandrevold.

Bæringen further said that he had a clear plan during the race.

– I tried to scare the competitors a little so that they were stressed and left behind in the stands. Today was very important to beat Sweden, so I used the “all in” tactic.

Get the starting point of the dream

Sivert Guttorm Bakken, Vetle Sjåstad Christiansen, Tiril Eckhoff and Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold made up the Norwegian team.

Bakken advanced to the first stage for Norway, and had to use a total of three additional shots. The 23-year-old was still fast on the track and gave Vetle Sjåstad Christiansen a solid lead.

After that, the Norwegian team never looked back.

Both Sjåstad Christiansen and Eckhoff put on good performances, and provided Tandrevold with a dream starting point for newscasters.

Tandrevold went lightning fast down the track and only used one extra shot in total. Thus, Norway can rejoice in having picked up three of the three possible mixed relay winners this season.