Swedes Steal Sochi Olympic Gold in Cross-Country Relay Thriller

KRASNAYA POLYANA, Russia, February 15 (R-Sport) — Sweden snatched the gold medal in a tense sprint finish to the women’s cross-country skiing 4x5km relay at the Sochi Olympics on Saturday.

Coming into the final bend, Sweden’s Charlotte Kalla was level with the final-leg skiers for Finland and Germany before carving down the inside and sprinting for the line.

Krista Lahteenmaki of Finland briefly fell behind Germany’s Denis Herrmann in the final 100m but recovered to take the silver medal, 0.5 seconds behind Kalla and 0.4 ahead of Herrmann.

The gold medal capped a stunning comeback for the Swedes, who had been almost 26 seconds off the Finns before Kalla posted the fastest leg of the race.

Coming into the race, Sweden was without a gold medal in Sochi, having amassed five silver and two bronze medals in cross-country skiing. Kalla now has a gold medal and two silvers from the Sochi Games.

Finland was narrowly denied its first Winter Olympic gold medal since 2002.