February 23, 2015 (Falun, Sweden) – The Norwegian team of Finn Haagen Krogh and Petter Northug were untouchable in the men’s 1.4km FR Team Sprint on Sunday. Like their women counterparts, the duo quickly established a lead that grew to take the gold over the Russian team of Nikita Kriukov and Alexey Petukhov, the defending champions, with Italy’s Dietmar Noeckler and Federico Pellegrino claiming the bronze.

Team USA’s Andrew Newell and Simeon Hamilton, who qualified a strong 3rd in their Semifinal heat, could not match the brutal pace in the final, finishing 7th at 17.48 seconds behind Norway. The Canadian team of Jesse Cockney and Len Valjas raced in the same semi as the Americans placing 7th and did not advance to the final ending up 13th on the day.

”It was a good race and great to win. It’s a great day for both of us,” commented Northug who crossed the line with a 5.64 margin but enjoyed a huge lead of 17-18 seconds when he began the final lap.

The pace was quick from the start as Krogh went to the front and started turning the screws which Northug continued. Behind the teams scrambled with Sweden initially near the front but Calle Halfvarsson and Teodor Peterson caught some bad luck when Petukhov went over Peterson’s pole in close quarters and their race was done.

With Norway out front it was Russia, Italy and Germany battling for the remaining medals as the USA duked it out with Finland and the Czech Republic another 10s back.

”I felt I recovered pretty well after Thursday’s sprint but still felt a little tight today,” said Hamilton post-race. “We had great conditions and it was fast. I liked that and we had great skis.

”One of the nice things about Team Sprint is that even though it’s super hard, you get three chances to improve your game. It’s the kind of course with technical corners where it can be a big advantage if you’re at the front.”

”It was great to make the finals – that was our number one goal. We’ve been around 7th-9th a few times so for sure it was one of my personal goals to be top six today and we were just outside that.”

His teammate Newell echoed their top-6 goal and came away with positive feelings about their effort.

“It was a really fun day of racing but as always with sprint relays it was tough and painful. The course was actually in perfect condition since they had it closed all morning. With fast downhills had many turns which made it tough to recover.

“Our semi went great and I felt really strong and confident racing against those guys. As the lead off sprinter a big part of my job is making sure the heat doesn’t slow down too much to give us a much better shot at a LL situation.

“In the finals we held our own but we were all caught off guard by the fast pace. It made for some hard laps and as always it’s our goal to be within the top 6 in the final. We caught a little bit of good luck with Sweden bonking and France crashing going into the stadium so it was great pick off a few spots.

“In general I think it was a positive day for us and I think when Simi and I are in top shape we can be medal contenders in the future which is the ultimate goal,” Newell told Trax.

Canada’s Cockney was happy with his effort with Valjas but wants more and looks forward the next opportunity. ”It was a better feeling than the classic sprint for me, so I was happy with that. It’s a good format for Lenny and I doing the team sprint. It’s our third time racing it together and we got some good experience and hopefully we can crash podium some day.”

Valjas is also optimistic. “It’s tough as these guys are all fast. I felt okay but not fast enough to pass them, just enough to keep up. We had very good skis and need to find one and a half seconds which is very doable.”

Full results here.