FALUN, Sweden (AP) – Norway showcased its cross-country skiing supremacy by dominating the team sprint races Sunday at the Nordic skiing world championships.
Norway took its tally to five golds from six cross-country events at the worlds as its men’s and women’s teams easily won both finals.
The event features two skiers on each team taking turn doing three laps each around the course and often comes down to a crowd-pleasing multi-way sprint to the finish, but Sunday’s races lacked that kind of drama as the Norwegians decided matters early.
In the women’s race, Ingvild Flugstad Oestberg gave Norway a big lead on the penultimate leg and Maiken Caspersen Falla easily maintained the gap on the last lap. The men’s victory was even more emphatic as Finn Haagen Krogh pulled away on the third leg and Petter Northug widened the gap after that. Northug earned his 11th world title and the second of these championships following his victory in the individual sprint on Thursday. For Krogh, it was his first major championship medal.
The win also completed Northug’s gold medal collection at world championships, having won all six disciplines at least once – individual and team sprint here in Falun to go with previous victories in the skiathlon, 15-kilometer, 50K and relay races.