Alex Harvey picks up bronze medal at x-country ski worlds

There’s no stopping Alex Harvey, who entered the Canadian record books on Saturday.

The 26-year-old became the country's first cross-country skier to win two medals at a world championship, following up Thursday’s silver medal in the men’s sprint at the Nordic ski world championships with a third-place finish in the 30-kilometre skiathlon.

Harvey edged Norway's Didrik Toenseth in a sprint for the bronze, finishing in a time of one hour 16 minutes 27.5 seconds. Toenseth stopped the clock in 1:16:29.3.

"It's crazy. I only had two medals in my life at world championships and now I have two in three days," said Harvey, who won gold in the team sprint at the 2011 worlds and bronze in the individual sprint in 2013, but this was his first championship medal in a long-distance event.

In the men's skiathlon, Harvey and the rest of the field complete a 15-km course on classic skis before making a timed transition to another 15 km on skate skis.

"The skis were fantastic," he said in a statement released by Cross Country Canada. "I had really good training over the summer, and I think the wax team are doing such a great job, it's hard for me not to be on the podium these days."

Harvey, who hails from St-Ferreol-les-Neiges, Que., is a big fan of the track in Falun, Sweden, where he’s also won five World Cup medals. The skiathlon is also his favourite race.

"It's a bit of classic, a bit of skating, mass start, a long distance," he said.

A week ago, Harvey left Ostersund, Sweden on a high note after claiming silver at a World Cup event.

On Saturday, Maxim Vylegzhanin of Russia (1:16:25.9) beat Olympic champion and defending world champion Dario Cologna (1:16:26.3) to finally win gold at a major event.

Vylegzhanin, who won three silver medals at the Sochi Olympics and had three runner-up finishes from previous worlds, held off the Swiss star in a sprint to the finish.

Norway finished without a medal after taking gold in the three previous cross-country events of the championships.

Fellow Canadians Ivan Babikov and Perianne Jones competed in Saturday's skiathlon, with Babikov of Canmore, Alta., 23rd in the men's race and Perianne Jones of Almonte, Ont., 37th in the women's 15 km competition, won by Therese Johaug of Norway.