Russian pair win cross country skiing mixed team sprint gold

Anton Gafarov and Svetlana Nikolaeva, of the Russian Federation I team, beat compatriots Raul Shakirizanov and Anna Povoliaeva (Russian Federation II) to the gold medal in the 10km race in Štrbské Pleso, with Jan Šrail and Karolína Grohov taking the bronze for the Czech Republic II.

With each skier completing three laps of the 1.5km track, Gafarov and Nikolaeva came home in a time of 19:56.98, 3.86 seconds clear of Shakirizanov and Povoliaeva and 4.78 seconds quicker than the Czechs.

"We are really satisfied with the race - everything, including weather, skis and track, was ideal," said 27-year-old Gafarov, whose best result in the senior World Cup circuit so far is second place in a sprint at Kuusamo in 2013. "There was no special strategy with the second Russian team. We just followed the motto that friends must help each other, especially on the track."

The gold medal followed Gafarov's silver medal in the men's sprint on the opening day of the games and Nikolaeva's bronze medal in the women's sprint.

Finland I took fourth place, at 20.30, and Kazakhstan II were fifth, a further seven seconds back. Polish pair Maciej Starega and Marcela Marcisz chances of securing a medal were dashed when Marcisz - a silver medallist in Sunday's women's sprint - crashed, leaving her partner with a mountain to climb.

Later in the day, Poland's Cieslar held off a dramatic late surge by David Welde of Germany to win gold in the Nordic Combined Individual Gundersen event in a nail-biting photo finish.

Welde was languishing in thirteenth place after the morning's ski jumping component, but came within a whisker of winning after a blistering performance in the afternoon's 10km cross-country skiing race.

Cieslar, who placed third in the ski jumping, showed admirable consistency to post the third fastest time on the skis but, thanks to his handicap over Welde, was able on to the victory - just.

"It was difficult race on a hard track and I am very glad for the victory," said 22-year-old Cieslar, who made his Winter Olympics debut last year at Sochi. "It was really close in the end and it took me a while to find out what is the result of the photo finish. It was was very exciting and, to be honest, the narrow margin was what I expected after the ski jumping part."

Despite agonisingly missing out on the gold medal, Welde was content with securing a silver for Germany. "Although it was very close, I'm happy with my performance and I consider it a success. I felt good all day and my team did a great job preparing my skis."

Another Pole, Szczepan Kupczak, took the bronze medal after finishing fourth in the ski jumping and registering the sixth-best time in the cross country skiing. "I'm happy with third place. It was the best I could have done considering I'm a stronger ski jumper than a skier," he said.

Germany's Tobias Simon was in pole position after excelling in the ski jumping, but the 22-year-old could not profit from his favourable starting position in the cross country skiing, and eventually crossed the line in ninth place.

A further four gold medals will be up for grabs on Tuesday with the final of the men's and women's HS 100 Individual ski jumping event at Štrbské Pleso, and the finals of the men's 10km sprint and the women's 7.5km sprint in the biathlon programme at Osrblie.