KRASNAYA POLYANA, Russia — Kikkan Randall’s attempt at becoming the first American woman to win an Olympic cross-country skiing medal fell well short Tuesday when she was eliminated in the quarterfinals of the women’s individual freestyle sprint.

Randall only finished fourth of six skiers in a tough heat that featured defending champion Marit Bjoergen of Norway and German sprint specialist Denise Herrmann. Those two advanced, along with Gaia Vuerich of Italy, who had the second best time of the third-place finishers in the five heats.

Randall, a two-time World Cup sprint champion, waited to see if her time would be good enough as well, but then gave a shrug to the camera when she found out it wasn’t.

Randall is also set to compete for the United States in the relay and team sprint.


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