German pair Rydzek and Frenzel power to team sprint glory

Frenzel and Rydzek pipped Norwegian pair Magnus Krog and Magnus Hovdal Moan to the title by a single second in what was a fierce fight for the gold medal in Finland.

Japanese brothers Akito and Yoshito Watabe finished third and took home the bronze.

The Germans went into the sprint behind the French duo of Francois Braud and Maxime Laheurte, who had a 16-second advantage after topping the ski-jumping standings the previous day with leaps of 125m apiece.

Frenzel and Rydzek jumped 125.5m and 122m respectively as they finished second after the first round, with Japan in third with two leaps of 123m, starting 18 seconds behind the French team.

Moan and Krog were fourth going into the sprint, but it became a straight fight between them and the German team for the gold after both pulled ahead of the chasing pack.

And Frenzel and Rydzek, the latter winning his fourth gold medal of the competition, finished in 28:45.8, a second in total ahead of the Norwegians, to take the glory.

Braud and Lahuerte could only manage fifth overall, finishing 27.5 points behind Germany, with Austrian pair Wilhelm Denifl and Bernhard Gruber fourth.

Sportsbeat 2017