ASIAGO, Italy (AP) — Norway beat Kazakhstan in a photo finish Sunday to win the first cross-country skiing World Cup team sprint of the season.
Eldar Roenning and Ola Vigen Hattestad edged out Nikolay Chebotko and Alexey Poltoranin by 0.02 seconds. Another Norwegian team of Oeystein Pettersen and Eirik Brandsdal was third.
Poltoranin, who was beaten by Nikita Kriukov in Saturday’s individual sprint, caught up to Hattestad on the final straight and stretched out his right ski, but it wasn’t enough.
In the women’s event, Aino-Kaisa Saarinen and Anne Kylloenen of Finland beat Ingvid Oestberg and Maiken Caspersen Fall by 9.68 seconds.
Denise Herrmann and Katrin Zeller of Germany were third.
