Norway keeps rolling at Milan-Cortina Olympics

Gold tally leader Norway added two more on Tuesday at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, reported Xinhua.

Italy captured gold as Davide Ghiotto, Andrea Giovannini and Michele Malfatti clocked 3:39.20 in the men's team pursuit, with the United States taking silver.

In the women's event, Canada successfully defended its Olympic title by defeating the Netherlands, while Japan claimed bronze.

France staged a dramatic comeback to win its first Olympic gold in the men's 4x7.5km biathlon relay.

After Fabien Claude was sent to the penalty loop in the opening leg, the remaining three French skiers delivered steady shooting and fast skiing to post a winning time of 1:19:55.2.

Norway used just six spares, but was outpaced on the skis and settled for silver, finishing 9.8 seconds behind. Sweden earned bronze.

Norway's Jens Luraas Oftebro claimed his second Nordic combined gold of the Games, dominating the large hill ski jumping and 10km cross-country race. The 25-year-old crossed the line in 24:45.0, ahead of Austria's Johannes Lamparter and Finland's Ilkka Herola.

"I dreamed of winning one gold," Oftebro said. "To win two is something very special."

Norway added another gold in the men's freeski big air, where Tormod Frostad edged American Mac Forehand with a clutch final jump. Frostad finished with 195.50 points to Forehand's 193.25, with Austria's Matej Svancer taking bronze. It marked Frostad's first Olympic gold in his second Games.

Norway leads the medal table with 14 gold, eight silver and nine bronze medals.

Germany demonstrated its depth and dominance in the two-man bobsleigh event, sweeping the podium as Johannes Lochner and Georg Fleischhauer clinched the title with a combined time of 3:39.70.

David Kampf and Roman Cervenka scored 69 seconds apart in the second period as the Czech Republic defeated Denmark 3-2 in the men's ice hockey to advance to a quarterfinal matchup with Canada.

Weather also played a role during the daytime in Livigno, where winds and heavy snowfall forced the postponement of the women's snowboard slopestyle final, along with qualification rounds for both the women's and men's freestyle skiing aerials.