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Kikkan Randall’s Year: Olympic Glory Followed by Chemotherapy

Alana Paterson for The New York Times

PENTICTON, British Columbia — Inside the living room of her new home, Kikkan Randall held a wig in her hands.

Her own hair is growing back, but it is still a long way from matching the shoulder-length coiffure with the pink streaks that she sported for much of her career to remind her audience that cross-country skiers were “NOT boring.”

The blond wig with a pink streak — purchased last year in Anchorage, her home city — was meant to provide a sense of normalcy amid upheaval.

“It’s funny,” she said last week as she placed it on her no-longer bald head.