Daehlie in Seventh Heaven

HAKUBA, Japan â€”  Bjorn Daehlie’s chance at Olympic history rested with his Norwegian teammate and rival, Thomas Alsgaard--the same man who had denied Daehlie a record seventh gold medal by surging past him in a race last week.

Wednesday, Alsgaard helped put Daehlie in the record books.

Alsgaard got his right ski across the line two-tenths of a second ahead of Italy’s lunging Silvio Fauner, giving Norway the gold medal Wednesday in the 40-kilometer cross-country relay and making Daehlie the winningest Winter Olympian.

“I was not thinking about it so much, but it means something to me,� Daehlie said of the record. “I will appreciate it in a few years when I look back on a fantastic career. But I was not concentrating on it here.�

Daehlie, who overcame a 12.6-second deficit in the third leg, has seven gold medals and 11 overall. His gold-medal total moved him past two athletes and his total medals broke the record he shared with Raisa Smetanina, a cross-country skier from the former Soviet Union.

It also was Daehlie’s third medal and second gold of the Nagano Games. He won the 10-kilometer and was beaten by 1.1 seconds by Alsgaard in the 15-kilometer pursuit.

Daehlie and Alsgaard live on the same street in Nannestad, and Daehlie liked having his neighbor around Wednesday: “Thinking of the relay, I am glad I have this guy next to me on the same team.�

He was even more glad Wednesday.

Alsgaard and Italy’s Silvio Fauner were stride for stride all the way to the line, but Alsgaard stuck out his leg as Fauner made a dive for the finish. Replays showed the Norwegian’s right leg barely got there first, and Fauner’s bid ended with him sprawled dejected in the snow.

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MEDALISTS

Cross-Country Skiing

MEN’S 4X10-K Relay

Gold: Norway

Silver: Italy

Bronze: Finland