PARK CITY, Utah, Feb. 17 (UPI) -- Norway again was a ski length better than Italy on Sunday in the men's Olympic 4x10-kilometer cross-country relay, winning gold by three-tenths of a second.
For the third straight Olympics, the race came down to a final-leg sprint between Norway and Italy and the second in a row won by the mighty Norwegians.
"For some reason, it always comes down to Norway and Italy," said Thomas Alsgaard, who skied the last leg in each victory. "It has become a tradition."
In 1998 at Nagano, Alsgaard nipped Silvio Fauner at the finish line to give Norway gold. This time, he won a duel with Cristian Zorzi.
"I can't compare races, each race is different," Alsgaard said. "Right now, we're just happy. I mean, we could have lost and that would have been a disaster. We showed that we're still the best team in the world."
The team of Alsgaard, Anders Aukland, Frode Estil and Kristen Skjeldal posted a time of 1 hour, 32 minutes, 45.5 seconds for the nation's third gold medal in four years in the relay.
"In Norway there are so many competitions in different races that the Norwegians will always be able to well, no matter what type of race it is," Alsgaard said.
Italy settled for silver in 1:32:45.8. The Italians were not considered gold medal contenders after placing sixth at the 2001 World Championships.
Germany eased its way to the bronze medal in 1:33:34.5. Austria was fourth in 1:34.04.9, followed by the United States at 1:34:05.5.
