Sweden win mixed relay to the joy of the home fans in Falun (SWE)

In the third day of competitions at the Coop FIS Cross-Country World Cup in Falun, Sweden, the home fans got a victory to cheer for.

Sweden won the mixed 4x5km relay classic/free on Sunday after a strong last leg from sprint ace Jonna Sundling, earning the hosts their first win this weekend.

The 28-year-old had broken away from the field early into Saturday's sprint, but been denied the first place by Norway's Kristine Stavaas Skistad, who had come back strongly in the final stretch.

On Sunday, Sundling made no mistake. In the first three legs – two classic and one free – Teammates Calle Halfvarsson, Moa Ilar and Edvin Anger had set her up to a good position right behind the front runners.

Sundling started in fourth place, 2.6 seconds behind leading Italy, and finished 4.6 seconds before Anne Kjersti Kalvaa who gave Norway I the second place. Germany I finished third.

"It's so nice (to win), especially with these guys," Sundling said, praising her teammates.

She and Ilar had put glitter on their cheeks for the glorious end to a long competition week.

"It was good. I had some power in the legs left in the end that I could use," Sundling said.

"It was my third competition (in three days) so I didn't know how my body was going to feel at the end of this, but it was good."

The competition had started at a furious pace – much thanks to USA's Ben Ogden – and Halfvarsson had done a good job to keep Sweden at the front after the first 5km in classic style.

"Ben made a crazy tempo at the beginning, so it was a tough one," Halfvarsson said.

Ilar, who felt "energised all the way" handed over to Anger there seconds before Norway and Germany in front, and Anger made sure to follow Norway's Simen Hegstad Krueger.

"It was really cool, of course, really tough but it was just to follow Krueger and give Jonna an as good place as possible."

Norway had won three of the four competitions in Falun on Friday and Saturday – as well as the two sprint races in Drammen, Norway, earlier in the week. But the two skiers behind the five victories – Skistad and Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo – were not in competition on Sunday.

Instead, it was Martin Loewstroem Nyenget, Heidi Weng, Krueger and Kalvaa who made up the first team who finished second.

Germany, with Albert Kuchler, Katharina Hennig, Anian Sossau and Victoria Carl was the big surprise of the race. Carl started the last leg ten seconds from the podium but set off at a much higher pace than her opponents to earn her team the third place. Norway II, with Erik Valnes, Ingvild Flugstad Oestberg, Harald Oestberg Amundsen and Ragnhild Gloersen Haga had to settle for fourth, 0.1 second behind the Germans.

Click here for full results from the mixed 4x5km relay classic/free.