Lahti, Finland - Three-time world champion Petter Northug from Norway and Slovenian Petra Majdic on Saturday won the World Cup sprint events in Lahti.

Northug beat compatriot Ola Vigen Hattestad and Russian Nikolay Morilov into second and third place respectively, winning in a time of two minutes 36.8 seconds.

Majdic won the women's race in a time of 2:36.8, to clinch her sixth World Cup victory of the season. World champion Arianna Folis of Italy finished second, ahead of Finland's Pirjo Muranen.

Majdic extended her lead in the overall World Cup standings to 84 points from Finland's Aino-Kaisa Saarinen. After 24 of 32 season races Majdic has 1,276 points.

In the men's World Cup standings Switzerland's Dario Cologna, who did not participate in Lahti, continues to have a convincing lead and seems unstoppable. (dpa)