Sweden strike gold again

Hellner: Second gold of Games

Sweden claimed their fourth gold medal of the Vancouver Games with victory in the men's cross country 4x10km relay.

Marcus Hellner led the Swedish quartet to a grandstand finish in one hour 45min 05.4sec, 19 seconds ahead of Norway, with the Czech Republic snatching bronze.

Petter Northug had led Norway to a stunning final leg sprint win on Monday despite the absence of reigning world champion Ola Vigen Hattestad.

But he was unable to spark a repeat two days later as Daniel Richardsson, Johan Olsson, Anders Soedergren and Hellner triumphed for Sweden.

"We have had a fantastic Olympics and of course we've been really well prepared for this, and that's the main reason we've been so successful," said Olsson.

A French quartet led by Vincent Vittoz in his final Games missed out on bronze by an agonising four seconds alongside Jean-Marc Gaillard, Maurice Manificat and Emmanuel Jonnier.