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By Gavin Kentch
LAGO DI TESERO — Relay racing starts here later today with the women’s relay. The men follow on Sunday.
Both genders will race 4 x 7.5 kilometers, for the first time ever at the Olympics. From 1936 through 2022, the men raced 4 x 10km. (Winning time for the 1936 Games in Garmisch-Partenkirchen was 2:41:33, if you are curious how ski technology has improved since then.) The women raced a 3 x 5km relay from 1956 through 1972, then were permitted to move up to 4 x 5km in 1976. On information and belief, no one’s uterus fell out.
In advance of relay racing at the 2026 Winter Olympics, I pulled historic American performances in this event in the women-get-to-race-four-legs era, because I am curious. Also a dork. Those data are as follows:
| year | men | women |
| 2022 | 9 | 6 |
| 2018 | 14 | 5 |
| 2014 | 11 | 7 |
| 2010 | 13 | 11 |
| 2006 | 12 | 14 |
| 2002 | 5 | 13 |
| 1998 | 17 | 15 |
| 1994 | 13 | 10 |
| 1992 | 12 | 13 |
| 1988 | 13 | 8 |
| 1984 | 8 | 7 |
| 1980 | 8 | 7 |
| 1976 | 6 | 9 |
| average: | 10.8 | 9.6 |
The average women’s finishing position in this data set is 9.6. The average men’s finishing position is 10.8.
The men are guaranteed to surpass that average finish tomorrow, as there are, somewhat notoriously, only ten nations present at these Games with the four-male-athlete quota required to field a relay team. If the women do not surpass that average later today, then, no offense, something will probably have gone rather wrong out there.
Relay racing begins at noon local time both days. Stay tuned to see how many times I can use the phrase, “Jessie Diggins puts on the relay socks one last time.” (Since you didn’t ask, Diggins has previously skied on the relay team at the 2014, 2018, and 2022 Olympics, and the — deep breath — 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021, 2023, and 2025 World Championships. She skied the anchor leg in every single one of them save in Planica in 2023, where she skied leg three.) Okay, yes, she will probably actually put them on again on Wednesday for the team sprint, but “Diggins puts on the relay socks for the second-to-last time” just doesn’t quite have the same ring to it.
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