Norway wins cross-country sprint, Canada 4th

Last Updated: Monday, February 22, 2010 | 7:46 PM ET

By Lindsey Craig, CBC Sports

Alex Harvey, left, and Devon Kershaw try to catch their breath after the team sprint on Monday at Whistler Olympic Park. (Alberto Pizzoli/Getty Images)

Petter Northug of Norway earned some redemption on Monday, overtaking Germany in the sixth and final lap for a gold medal in the men's cross-country team sprint.

Northug and Oeyestein Pettersen won gold in a time of 19 minutes 1.0 seconds. The German team of Tim Tscharnke and Axel Teichmann were in the lead after the fourth and fifth laps but settled for silver ahead of the oncoming Russians.

Russia finished just 2-100ths of a second behind Germany, with Nikolay Morilov and Alexey Petukhov earning bronze.

Canadians 4th

Devon Kershaw and Alex Harvey spurred Canada to its best-ever Olympic result in the event, fourth place.

"Alex Harvey is the most talented skier I've ever, ever trained with, or raced with," Kershaw said. "Sometimes we almost forget he's almost 21 years old because he's been making so much noise internationally."

Canada had been in the sixth or seventh for much of the race until a strong final lap from Kershaw, of Sudbury, Ont., had the team in second at the end of five laps.

But as in their semifinal, Canada would finish behind the stronger Russian, Norwegian and German teams.

"I was going as fast as I could, and I was recovering well between each round [of skiing], but I just didn't have the speed the top guys had," Harvey said.

Harvey, of St.-Ferreol, Que., was one of three Canadians in the top 10 on Saturday in the men's 30-kilometre pursuit, another first for the national team. The Vancouver Games are the 21-year-old Harvey's first Olympics.

Cyril Miranda had his country in possible contention but suffered a fall that contributed to France finishing seventh.

In team sprint, two athletes alternate skiing the 1.4-kilometre course, three times each.

Athletes must perform a correct exchange between laps by physically touching their teammate without interfering or obstructing other teams. The winning team is the first team to cross the finish line after the completion of all six laps.

While Northug won bronze in the men's individual sprint classic, the frequent winner on the World Cup circuit also posted placings of 41st and 11th in the other two Olympic races he entered in Vancouver, the 15k free and the men's 30k pursuit.

He was heavily criticized in the Norwegian media after the first result, and the American broadcaster crew in the 30k race questioned whether he was giving a full effort at the end once he realized a podium finish was out of reach.

The Canadian men will compete in the 4x10k relay on Wednesday.

"We're definitely skiing better than a lot of people might have thought," said Kershaw. "But for ourselves … our expectations are super high all the time. We believed we can do it."

There were no medal winners coming from the second semifinal. The Czech Republic team won it, followed by the U.S. and France.

In the first heat, Team Belarus was disqualified for a missed turn.

Perhaps more surprising, Sweden did not advance after being hampered due to a broken pole.