Marit Bjorgen, Northug help Norway dominate cross-country pursuit

Norway's Marit Bjorgen continued her domination of women's cross-country skiing, easily winning the 10-kilometre pursuit on Sunday in Kuusamo, Finland.

Bjorgen finished in 31 minutes, 19.4 seconds — a convincing 1:21.4 faster than Justyna Kowalczyk of Poland.

Heidi Weng of Norway was third, 1:23.9 behind Bjorgen.

Canada's lone entrant, Alysson Marshall, of Salmon Arm, B.C., pulled out of the race midway through.

Also Sunday, Petter Northug of Norway won the men's 15-kilometre pursuit by a tight margin of 1.4 seconds after a challenge from Maxim Vylegzhanin of Russia.

Alexey Poltoranin of Kazakhstan came third, crossing the line just 3.4 seconds behind Northug.

Canada's top finishers were Devon Kershaw in 22nd (43:17.9), Alex Harvey of St-Ferréol-les-Neiges, Que., finished 23rd (43:18.8), and Ivan Babikov, of Canmore, Alta., was 25th (43:31.7).

© The Canadian Press, 2012