SOCHI SCENE: Another Finn Surprise

KRASNAYA POLYANA, Russia – Nikita Kriukov had just lost out in a fight for a gold medal against a Finnish skier at the Sochi Olympics, when the Finns made his day even worse.

Kriukov and Russia teammate Maxim Vylegzhanin had to settle for silver in the cross-country team sprint on Wednesday after Finland surprisingly won the final. That was Kriukov's last event of the games, and he plans on spending the next few days in the coastal cluster watching some of the other events. Especially, he told a news conference, he was looking forward to watching Russia's hockey semifinal on Friday.

A journalist had to interrupt him then, to inform him that Russia was in the process of losing its quarterfinal — to Finland.

Kriukov managed little more than an "oh" and then had to modify his plans.

"I hope to catch some of the competitions," he said through a translator.

— By Mattias Karen — Twitter http://twitter.com/mattekaren

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Associated Press reporters are filing dispatches about happenings in and around Sochi during the 2014 Winter Games. Follow AP journalists covering the Olympics on Twitter: http://apne.ws/1c3WMiu