PYEONGCHANG, South Korea — When Kikkan Randall and Marit Bjorgen shared the Olympic podium after the women’s team sprint freestyle, it was a significant moment for their sport. It was also a great moment for mothers.

First the significance. Randall, 35, and her teammate Jessie Diggins became the first American cross-country skiers to win a gold medal, and the first from the United States to get any kind of medal at the Olympics since Bill Koch won silver in 1976. And Norway’s Bjorgen, 37, won bronze to become the most decorated winter athlete, with 14 Olympic medals, including five in Pyeongchang. (After the winning the 30-kilometer race Sunday, she finished the Games with two gold, a silver and two bronze.)

Both women are also relatively new mothers. Randall’s son, Breck, will be 2 in April. She is the only mother on Team U.S.A., which has 20 fathers. Bjorgen’s son, Marius, turned 2 in December.

Motherhood presents a challenge for any woman trying to juggle work and family, but it is an intense physical and logistical challenge for elite cross-country skiers — several hours a day of grueling training, extra sleep requirements and a brutal travel schedule across six or seven European countries from November through April.