OSLO, Norway -- Andrus Veerpalu of Estonia won the men's World Cup 50-kilometer cross-country ski race Saturday, while home favorite Marit Bjorgen triumphed in the women's 30K.
Veerpalu clocked 2 hours, 10 minutes, 25.2 seconds, edging Jens Filbrich of Germany by 27.9 seconds. Norway's Odd-Bjorn Hjelmeset placed third, 28.4 seconds behind.
Overall World Cup leader Axel Teichmann of Germany didn't
compete because of illness, but remained atop the standings with
548 points.
Bjorgen, who clinched the overall title last weekend, finished
in 1:23:58.1 for her 18th World Cup victory. Katerina Neumannova of
the Czech Republic was second, 27.6 seconds back. Virpi Kuitunen of
Finland was third, 36.3 seconds back.
Biathlon
HOCHFILZEN, Austria -- Ole Einar Bjoerndalen led Norway to
victory in biathlon's 30-kilometer relay Saturday, its first gold
medal at the world championships since 1967.
Bjoerndalen joined Halvard Hanevold, Stian Eckhoff and Egil
Gjelland to complete the distance in 1 hour, 21 minutes, 59.2
seconds. Russia was next, 26.0 seconds behind. Austria was third,
43.3 back, for its first team medal in championship history.
Norway, Russia and Belarus were tied at the start of the final
leg before Bjoerndalen, who took gold in the 10K sprint and 12.5K
pursuit, continued his form in the run and followed with faultless
shooting.
"It's a great honor for me to cross the finish line and end
this nearly unbearable drought for my country," Bjoerndalen said.
"We knew we were strong enough to win it, but the Russians were
tough opponents."
Snowboard parallel slalom
SIERRA NEVADA, Spain -- Philipp Schoch of Switzerland and Aprilia Hagglof of Sweden won parallel giant slalom races Saturday
in a snowboard World Cup event.
Schoch beat Mattieus Bozzetto of France in the men's final.
Siefried Grabner of Austria was third.
Schoch retained the overall lead in the World Cup parallel
standings with 10,400 points. Urs Eiselin of Switzerland is second
with 6,470, and Grabner ranks third with 5,550.
Hagglof beat Heidi Neururer of Austria in the women's final.
Daniela Meuli of Switzerland remained the standings' leader with
10,050 points.
Ursula Bruhin of Switzerland is second with 7,660 points, and
Doris Guenther of Austria is a distant third with 4,700.