Canada misses women's 4x5km ski relay podium, but earns best finish in 20 years

Team Canada finished eighth in the women's 4x5km relay, falling just short of their best-ever result in the event, seventh at Innsbruck 1976, but matching their result from Salt Lake City 2002.

The crew of Katherine Stewart-Jones, Dahria Beatty, Cendrine Browne and Olivia Bouffard-Nesbitt were comfortably in the secondary group of nations, not challenging for medals or cashing in on some of the chaos at the top of the race.

After a slower lead leg from Stewart-Jones put Canada in 10th, the latter three skiers helped push the Canadians into the top eight, where they did not leave until the finish line. 

The Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) was not a favourite heading into the event, but when they crossed the finish line, they capped a shocking afternoon at the Zhangjiakou Cross-Country Centre.

Norway, the defending Olympic champion and gold medal favourite, fell back early when its lead skier Tiril Weng got tied up with Latvia's Patricija Eiduka, hitting the snow and losing a significant amount of time. The collision allowed the Germans and Russians to push their way into the top two.

While the Germans skied comfortably to the silver medal, only 0.5 seconds decided the race between Sweden and Finland for the bronze. Jonna Sundling, who had looked on the verge of collapse at points, got her ski ahead of Finland's Krista Pärmäkoski to seal the final podium position.

Although Canada finished short of its record seventh-place finish from 1976, the group had the top eight as their goal.

For Beatty and Browne, two members of the PyeongChang 2018 team, the growth was noticeable with both skiing confidently to improve their team's 13th-place finish from four years ago.

With momentum on their side, Canada's women's cross-country skiers continue their Olympics with the classic team sprint at 4:00 a.m. ET on Feb. 16, streaming live on CBC Gem, the CBC Sports app and CBC Sports' Beijing 2022 website.