Silver! Nöckler and Pellegrino on the World Championship podium

Fierce scrambling, a fall and disbelieving medal winners - the final of the men's team sprint in Lahti couldn't have been more thrilling and nerve-wracking.

Finale furioso turns everything on its head

But first things first: After third place in the semi-finals, Nöckler and Pellegrino initially took things slowly in the final. Only gradually did the duo get closer to the top. The newly crowned sprint world champion from the Aosta Valley led Italy to third place halfway through the race before Nöckler unleashed all his strength immediately after his last change and catapulted the Azzurri into second place. Final runner Pellegrino started chasing Emil Iversen from Norway almost at the same time as the Finn Iivo Niskanen and the Russian Sergey Ustiugov. Niskanen was able to catch up with the leader shortly before the end, but then the unforeseeable happened: Iversen and Niskanen touched each other in the finish corner and both crashed. Pellegrino was only able to avoid it with great skill, but had to let Ustiugov go. The Russian took advantage of the competition's misfortune and gave full throttle. Pellegrino sprinted across the finish line in second place, followed by Niskanen. At the finish, the Russians and Italians threw their hands up at the sky, while their Scandinavian competitors hung their heads in disbelief. “A longed-for success” “We showed an excellent performance. This is a longed-for success, I am overjoyed. Now I want to finish this World Championship properly, then my eyes will turn to the Olympic season and the team sprint in South Korea,” said Nöckler immediately after the race. Pellegrino agreed: “Didi and I can still achieve a lot as a team. We started the race with medal ambitions and were able to fully live up to them. The fact that the final was so spectacular makes everything even more special.”

Nöckler's second World Cup medal

Dietmar Nöckler celebrates the greatest success of his career with second place in the team sprint. He and Pellegrino already won a medal at the last intercontinental title fights in Falun in 2015, but at that time it was still a bronze medal. Together with Italy's sprint ace, the 28-year-old from Bruneck was already third on the podium in Toblach this season, but in 2016 they celebrated their first and to date only World Cup victory in the team sprint in Planica.

Results Nordic Ski World Championships in Lahti (FIN):

Classic team sprint, men 1. Nikita Kriukov/Sergey Ustiugov (Russia) 17:40,69 minutes 2. Dietmar Nöckler/Federico Pellegrino (Italy) +2,14 3. Sami Jauhojärvi/Iivo Niskanen (Finland) +18,42 4. Johannes Hösflot Kläbo/Emil Iversen (Norway) +23,58 5. Simeon Hamilton/Erik Bjornsen (USA) +27,02 6. Alex Harvey/Len Valjas (Canada) +30,96 7. Thomas Bing/Sebastian Esenlauer (Germany) +31,73 8. Emil Jönsson/Teodor Peterson (Sweden) +31,73

SN/Alexander Foppa

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Silver! Nöckler and Pellegrino on the World Championship podium

South Tyrol's first medal at the Nordic World Ski Championships in Lahti is secured: Dietmar Nöckler and Federico Pellegrino made it to the podium in the team sprint. After a spectacular finish, the two Azzurri took second place.

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