Norwegian Rules Cross-Country Slopes, Along With a Dog

Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo's golden run at Milan Cortina continued Wednesday as the Norwegian cross-country ski star secured his fifth gold at the Milan Cortina Olympics—and a record 10th overall—in the men's team sprint. Klaebo beat back a challenge from the United States to improve on his own record tally, racing with Einar Hedegart to win in 18 minutes, 28.9 seconds, reports the AP. Americans Ben Ogden and Gus Schumacher were just 1.4 seconds behind for the silver, while Italy's Elia Barp and Federico Pellegrino pleased the home crowd and took bronze, 3.3 seconds back.

• "It's obviously very satisfying to make this happen," said the 29-year-old Klaebo. "The team sprint is one of the most fun events, but also one of the hardest." Klaebo has won every race he has entered at these Games, breaking the Winter Olympics record in Sunday's 4x7.5km relay. His final race will be in the 50km mass start over the weekend. "There are so many strong teams and so many fast skiers, so it always comes down to tight battles," Klaebo noted. "That makes it even more rewarding."

• The US racers fought hard for an upset, with Schumacher slipping back only on the final hill where Klaebo sealed victory. "Man, we kept the belief, and I knew that Gus was not going to let up until the last second," Ogden said. "And therefore I couldn't let up to the last seconds. So it was pretty incredible."
• Meanwhile, in the women's competition, Jonna Sundling and Maja Dahlqvist continued Sweden's winning form. Switzerland's Nadja Kaelin and Nadine Faehndrich took silver, with Laura Gimmler and Coletta Rydzek of Germany taking the bronze. Norway was edged out to fourth place.
• A dog ran onto the track while the women's heats were in progress, running alongside athletes as they crossed the finish line. The incident didn't disrupt the competition, and the dog was cheered on by spectators. It later wandered to the finish area, approaching skiers as they completed their runs. Venue officials said a spectator had brought the animal into the venue despite a strict no-pets policy. The dog was secured near the finish line and its owner was asked to leave.