Russia Edges the United States in the 5,000 Relay
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Damien Meyer/AFP/Getty Images(SOCHI, Russia) — Viktor Ahn led Russia to the gold medal in the 5,000-meter relay on Friday, taking the lead over America J.R. Celski with eight laps remaining.
Earlier in the evening, Ahn won the 500. With two more gold medals added to his resume, he tied retired star Apolo Anton Ohno for most career Olympic medals in the sport.
The United States earned a silver medal in the event with a team made up of Celski, Eduardo Alvarez, Jordan Malone, and Christpoher Creveling.
China and the Netherlands also competed in the event, but they crashed not even halfway through the opening lap. It turned into a two-nation race between Russia and the U.S. for most of the 45 laps.
Creveling briefly put the U.S. in front with 15 laps left, but Ahn rallied teammates Vladimir Grigorev, Semen Elistratov and Ruslan Zakharov to victory.
China overcame a rough start to take the bronze medal, while the Netherlands finished fourth.
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