By Liz Hampton and Tommy Lund
TESERO, Italy, Feb 18 (Reuters) - Johannes Klaebo led Norway to victory in the men's cross-country team sprint on Wednesday to win his fifth gold of the Milano Cortina Games and 10th career Olympic title, while Sweden's women extended their domination in the sport by taking another gold.
The U.S. men's team won silver, its second of these Games which have ended a 50-year medal drought, while Italy took the bronze. On the women's side, Switzerland took silver and Germany
won bronze.
Klaebo's victory on Wednesday, which he clinched alongside teammate Einar Hedegart, ties him with U.S. speedskater Eric Heiden's record five golds in a single Games. He had already surpassed the record for most titles at all Winter Olympics with his win in the men's relay.
France had been a podium contender going into the race, but suffered a series of setbacks after three-time silver medal winner Mathis Desloges broke his ski poles twice, landing the team in 12th place.
Norway held a commanding lead for most of the race, leaving Gus Schumacher from the United States and Italian skier Federico Pellegrino to battle it out for silver at the end. Schumacher finished 1.37 seconds behind Klaebo, who anchored Norway's team.
Italy's bronze is the second for Pellegrino, who also took third in the men's relay and said these will be his final Olympics.
SWEDEN'S WOMEN DOMINATE
Jonna Sundling and Maja Dahlqvist led Sweden to the country's fourth gold medal in cross-country skiing of these Olympics, finishing 1.4 seconds ahead.
Switzerland took silver in that race, as anchor Nadine Faehndrich surged away from a chasing group in the final lap of the race, while Germany won the bronze - the first medals in cross-country skiing during these Games for those countries.
Sweden's women have dominated cross-country skiing events, also winning golds in skiathlon, classic sprint and the 10 km freestyle interval race and taking nine medals overall so far.
The Scandinavian country had been favourites for the women's relay, but lost out to Norway following a series of crashes.
While Sweden led for much of Wednesday's race, Finland had held in a medal position alongside the United States for the first five laps, but suffered a crash in the final segment and ended up ninth.
The U.S., led by medal-hopeful Jessie Diggins, had to settle for fifth place.
(Reporting by Liz Hampton and Tommy Lund in Tesero, Italy; Editing by Ken Ferris and Alison Williams)
