Northug leads Norway to gold medal in men’s cross-country team sprint

Norway wins men’s cross-country team sprint

WHISTLER, British Columbia — Petter Northug finally got to show off his closing ability, and it was enough to give Norway the gold in the men’s cross-country team sprint at the Vancouver Olympics.

Northug blew past Germany’s Axel Teichmann shortly before the finish, parading down the final straight for his first Olympic gold. Northug partnered with Oeystein Pettersen to finish in 19 minutes, 1 second.

The German duo of Teichmann and Tim Tscharnke won silver, with the Russian team of Nikolay Morilov and Alexey Petukhov taking the bronze.

The freestyle event features a two-man relay, where each skier takes turns going three laps around a 1.6-kilometer course.