Norway's Brandsdal and Bjoergen win cross country titles

Eirik Brandsdal and Marit Bjoergen handed Norway a golden double in the men's and women's sprints as the cross country World Cup season started in Ruka, Finland.

Brandsdal won the men's 1.4km sprint final in a time of two minutes and 34.84 seconds Saturday to claim his first World Cup victory since 2012, reports Xinhua.

Petter Northug was 0.46 seconds behind in second place, while Sondre Turvoll Fossli came third.

Bjoergen, a six-time Olympic gold medallist and 12-time World champion, won with a timing of two minutes and 58.33 seconds. Slovenian Katja Visnar was 0.45 seconds behind Bjoergen. Another Norwegian, Maiken Caspersen Falla, grabbed the last place on the podium.