Nordic skiing - Russia takes team sprint gold as Norway, Finland collide

FIS Nordic Ski World Championships - Men's Skiathlon - 15km Classic + 15km Free Event - Lahti, Finland - 25/2/17 - Martin Johnsrud Sundby of Norway and Sergey Ustiugov of Russia compete. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach

LAHTI, Finland (Reuters) - Russia swept to victory in the team sprint at the Nordic World Ski Championships after the Norwegian and Finnish skiers who were battling for gold collided late on, causing both to fall.

Finland's Iivo Niskanen had reeled in leader Emil Iversen of Norway and made his move to pass coming into the final bend, but the pair collided with each other and fell.