Sydney Peterson of Lake Elmo added a gold medal to her three-medal haul at the Beijing Paralympics as the U.S. won the 4x2.5-kilometer mixed relay in the cross-country competition on Sunday.
Peterson raced the second leg of the relay, which also featured seven-time Beijing medalist Oksana Masters, Dan Cnossen and Jake Adicoff guided by Sam Wood — the event includes men and women in the sitting, standing and visually impaired classifications. The U.S. finished in 25:59.3, ahead of China (26:25.3) and Canada (27:00.6).
The gold was the first in the mixed relay for the U.S., which closed the Beijing Paralympics with 14 medals in Nordic skiing. Overall, the U.S. finished the Paralympics with 20 medals, fifth-highest of any nation.
Peterson, 20, a late addition to the U.S. team for her first Paralympics, also won a silver in the 15km classic and bronze in the freestyle sprint. She finished sixth in the middle-distance race.
A first-time Paralympian, Peterson also won silver in the standing 15k classic and bronze in the standing freestyle sprint.
"It's so much better being part of a team," Peterson said. "There were five of us out there [Sunday], and I think all of us had great races.
Five Minnesotans competed at the Beijing Paralympics. Mike Schultz of St. Cloud won a silver medal in snowboardcross, his third Paralympic medal overall, and finished fifth in banked slalom.
Oyuna Uranchimeg of Burnsville played lead for the U.S. mixed-gender wheelchair curling team that finished in fifth place with a 5-5 record.
In his sixth Paralympics, Aaron Pike of Grand Rapids competed in biathlon and cross-country skiing, finishing eighth in the sprint biathlon, ninth in individual biathlon, 10th in sprint cross-country, 12th in middle-distance cross-country and 15th in middle-distance biathlon.
Cross-country skier Max Nelson of Grant, 18, who is legally blind, finished ninth in the open relay, 13th in the middle-distance race and 14th in the sprint.
