The Russian 3x10 kilometres cross country team, including yesterday's skiathlon champion Vladimir Mayorov, as well as Sergey Ermilov and Alexey Groshev, claimed victory in a time of 1 hour 18min 03.2sec, 2.9 seconds ahead of the Ukraine.

China came through to take bronze although they were some way off the pace as they crossed the line 10 minutes adrift of the winning time.

Maria Kapustkina then continued the Russian dominance as she took gold in the women's parallel giant slalom event by virtue of a win over Finland's Cecilia Emma Hanhikoski in the big final.

Anna Surmilova, also of Russia, rounded off the podium as she beat Japan's Nana Hoshi in the bronze medal contest.

Despite the disappointment in the women's competition for the Japanese athletes, they did enjoy some success out on the snow as Noboru Harada ousted Russia's Igor Ishatenko to secure gold in front of a partisan crowd in the men's event.

Home favourite Roman Khamitsevich claimed a podium spot as he did what his compatriot could not, beating Japan's Hiroki Takashima to the bronze medal.

The Russian men's curling team claimed a superb victory on day two of the Dealfympics as they beat favourites Canada 8-6 ©Ugra 2015





Elsewhere on an entertaining day of action in the Russian resort, the hosts ended Canada's excellent start to the men's curling competition with a tense 8-6 triumph.

Canada had gone into the contest on the back of two victories on the opening day but they came up against a stern Russian side who were desperate to return to form after losses to Japan and China.

There were also wins for the United States, who comfortably beat South Korea 13-5, while China picked up their second victory of the competition with an 8-3 success against Hungary, and Switzerland thrashed the Ukraine 9-3.

In the women's event, China are the only side still with their 100 per cent record in tact as they cruised to a 13-2 victory over Slovakia before they rounded off the day by beating Hungary 7-4.

Hosts Russia breezed to a 12-2 win over the Ukraine, while Croatia, Canada and Hungary all finished the day on two wins apiece.

The men's ice hockey tournament saw Kazakhstan suffer their second consecutive heavy loss as they followed up a 9-0 defeat to Russia with a 14-0 drubbing at the hands of Canada, while the United States' 4-3 success against Finland saw them pick up their first win.

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