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Norway Takes Olympic Gold in Nordic Combined Team

Norway's Nordic combined team won the men's large hill relay competition in a spectacular finish sprint on Thursday.

The surprise winner of the individual large hill event, Norway's Joergen Graabak, starred once more, beating Germany's Fabian Riessle by just 0.3 seconds.

Two-time Olympic champion Mario Stecher of Austria failed to keep up with his much younger opponents and settled for bronze, finishing 3.4 seconds behind the winner.

Germany's Eric Frenzel, who earlier won gold in the individual normal hill 10-kilometer event, started the cross-country skiing stage with a seven-second lead, but Austria's Lukas Klapfer and triple Olympic medalist Magnus Moan of Norway quickly caught him and finished the first leg.

Little changed for the remainder of the race until a determining sprint at the very finishing straight.

Norway wins its second Olympic gold in the team event, following its triumph at the 1998 Nagano Games, while both Austria and Germany made their fourth consecutive podiums.

The gold is a second medal in Sochi for Magnus Krog, who also grabbed bronze at the individual normal hill discipline, while veteran Havard Klemetsen finally takes his maiden Olympic medal at the age of 35.

Nordic combined events begin with ski jumping, after which the athletes' results are calculated into time advantages for the cross-country skiing stage according to a system known as the Gundersen formula.

Norway is now the highest ranking country in the medals table, with 10 gold medals, which is two more than runner-up Germany.

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