Liberec, Czech Republic  - Ola Vigen Hattestad of Norway was unstoppable on the home stretch again as he won a second cross-country skiing world title in 24 hours, in the team sprint together with Johan Kjoelstad.

Hattestad passed Finland's Sami Jauhojaervi who also had to bow to German Axel Teichmann in a photo-finish as Norway won from Germany and Finland on the first partly sunny day of the championships.

There was more luck for Finland in the women's race as Virpi Kuitunen and Aino-Kaisa Saarinen destroyed the opposition to give Kuitunen her fifth world title overall and Saarinen her second in Liberec and third in total.

The day after Hattestad and Kjoelstad took gold and silver in the men's sprint they were partners in the team event which saw them fight for victory against the Finns, Germany and France in the sixth and final leg of 1.6 kilometres for a full distance of 9.8km.

Hattestad was unstoppable coming into the home stretch as the Norwegians won in 22 minutes 48.5 seconds. Teichmann won the photo-finish to get silver with Tobias Angerer against the Finns Ville Nousiainen and Jauhojaervi, both teams 0.5 seconds behind the winners.

Hattestad spoke of "a good race" but also admitted to exhaustion after two days of sprinting: "I was exhausted ... I was ready to fight for silver but then I managed a good pace on the home stretch."

Angerer called Germany's first cross-country medal in Liberec important "as things were not so easy due to pressure in the team."

Jauhojaervi did not take defeat too hard, saying: "I lost gold again. I hoped for silver but it wasn't the first time. I lost by three centimetres at the Tour de Ski and probably by five today. I think I will wear shoes size 45 the next time."

Saarinen and Kuitunen led from start to finish for an overwhelming women's win in 19:43.7 minutes over 6x1.3km race for 7.8km, their first big team sprint title after Olympic bronze in 2006.

Anna Olsson and Lina Andersson for Olympic champions Sweden came second, 20 seconds behind. Italy with sprint champ Arianna Follis and 10km silver medallist Marianna Longa beat Japan for third place on the podium by 1.4 seconds with a deficit of 23.8 seconds.

"We decided to go out fast. We have the power to do that," said Saarinen which allowed Kuitunen "to enjoy the last lap" with the big lead in hand.

"Maybe it was our day ... It is a nice way to restart the Games," said Kuitunen after her first Liberec medal.

Kuitunen captured back-to-back team sprint titles as she had also won the 2007 race with Riitta-Liisa Roponen. She won three golds overall in 2007 and also has pursuit gold from 2001.

Saarinen, meanwhile, has medalled in every race she entered in Liberec, winning 10km gold and pursuit bronze ahead of Wednesday's second title. She also has a relay world title from 2007.

The Nordic worlds continue on Thursday with the women's 4x5km cross-country relay and the Nordic combined team event. (dpa)