Skiers embarrassing fail at finish line

A pair of cross-country skiers had a finish to forget after they embarrassingly fell across the line chasing the minor medal spots in a World Cup race.

Norwegian Petter Jr. Northug and Russian Nikita Kriukov were determinedly chasing down leader Eirik Brandsdal in the final straight FIS Cross-Country World Cup.

But as the footage shows, they not only failed to overtake Brandsdal for the gold medal spot, but made a meal of their attempt to claim the runners-up medallion.

Giving it their desperate all, Northug lunges for the line with his outstretched foot and Kriukov, in a strange attempt to beat his rival, dives across the line head first.

The officials were forced to head to the slow-motion replay to split the two, but the only reaction was howls of laughter from the crowd.

In the end, Northug was handed the silver medal while Kriukov had to settle for third.