DEMINO, Russia — Anders Gloersen of Norway and American Kikkan Randall won freestyle sprint races Sunday for their first career cross-country World Cup victories.
        Randall, who came third in a World Cup sprint final here last season, was first this time with 2 minutes, 48.7 seconds  — 0.7 seconds ahead of Norway's Astrid Jacobsen. Natalia Korosteleva of Russia was third, 0.9 seconds behind.
    "Last year [when she was third], I was too tentative to make a move on the uphill. This year, I figured 'No guts, no glory' and was ready to make the move," Randall said.

DEMINO, Russia — Anders Gloersen of Norway and American Kikkan Randall won freestyle sprint races Sunday for their first career cross-country World Cup victories.
    Randall, who came third in a World Cup sprint final here last season, was first this time with 2 minutes, 48.7 seconds  — 0.7 seconds ahead of Norway's Astrid Jacobsen. Natalia Korosteleva of Russia was third, 0.9 seconds behind.
    "Last year [when she was third], I was too tentative to make a move on the uphill. This year, I figured 'No guts, no glory' and was ready to make the move," Randall said.
    "I knew the speed was there, and I knew the course could work for me. I wanted to go for the win and not just settle [for another podium or top-5]. I stayed relaxed and was thinking good, positive thoughts."
    She took charge on the lone uphill, passed Jacobsen and never was caught as she "powered to the finish. It felt good to hit that finish," she said. Randall, a two-time Olympian, credited the U.S. Ski Team waxing technicians who "made it easy for me all day. They kept me going fast."
    Coach Justin Wadsworth said Randall, a two-time Olympian, has looked strong over the last two weeks in workouts, so they knew she had the speed. "Kikkan skied smart. There was a head wind on the back part of the course and you didn't want to lead in the wrong places," he said.
    Gloersen led the Norwegian 1-5 sweep of the men's 1.2-kilometer final sprint race, with a time of 2 minutes, 29.3 seconds. The Norwegian edged his teammates Ola Vigen Hattestad by 0.3 seconds and Oystein Pettersen by 0.4.
    Tor Arne Hetland came in fourth, 0.7 seconds behind, and Johan Kjoelstad was a distant fifth.
    Andy Newell finished seventh, winning the so-called B Final after being mouse-trapped behind a skier and stopping at the top of the uphill.
    Hetland moved to second place in the World Cup overall standings with 234 points. Axel Teichmann of Germany, who skipped the event, leads the standings with 260 points after 7 of 31 races.
    Lukas Bauer of the Czech Republic, who was eliminated in the semifinals Sunday, is third with 230.
    World sprint champion Jacobsen, who won the women's 15-kilometer freestyle race on Saturday, now has 380 points and leads the overall World Cup standings ahead of her teammates Marit Bjorgen (312) and Vibeke Skofterud (234).
    The next World Cup event will be held in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic, on Dec. 29.
    It was the second meet to be held in Russia since the International Ski Federation had stripped the country of races because of badly organized runs in the Kavgolovo, Leningrad region in 2003.

    — The Associated Press and USSA contributed to this report