Sweden won its first European Championships sprint relay gold by a wide margin on Friday afternoon in the historic city of Sove, where the second race of Round 3 of the 2023 European Orienteering Championships and World Cup was held.
The Swedish team of Tove Alexanderson, Jonatan Gustafsson, Martin Regborn and Sara Hagström beat Switzerland by more than half a minute, while Finland won the bronze medals.
Sweden and Switzerland’s first leg runners Dov Alexandersson and Simona Aebersold set a high pace from the start of the relay and distanced themselves from the other 25 teams to take their favorite position.
Alexandersson built a small gap early on, but Aebersold took a narrow route on the sloping terrain beneath the picturesque Scaligero Castle and the Swede was caught.
In the end Alexanderson was faster and went into the exchange 15 seconds ahead of Aebersold.
Behind them Victoria Maag (HUN) put in a great performance and was 45 seconds slower in third place.
Jonathon Gustafsson extended the Swedish lead early in the second quarter, but lost time and Joey Hawthorne (SUI) cut the gap to just 5 seconds on the exchange.
Teemu Oksanen (FIN) and Erik Langedal Breivik (NOR) rose to third and fourth in a Nordic battle leading up to the end of the relay.
Norway and Finland tied for silver
In the third leg, Martin Reckborn (SWE) kept his cool despite being hot on the heels of newly crowned European Sprint Champion Matthias Kuybers (SUI).
The Swede made smart route choices with his leg, while Kybers 1 had already lost time on long leg to control.
Norway’s Casper Fosser and Toomas Heikila (FIN) both ran impressive legs for their team, catching Kybers during the short, tricky legs under the fort.
Reckborn gave Sara Hagström a 33-second gap before her final, now within seconds of the fight for second place with Finland, Switzerland and Norway.
Sweden’s gold medals were never in jeopardy during Hagström’s race, and he led by a few seconds at 3.7 kilometers under the Italian sun in Soave and had time to cross the finish line with his teammates.
Elena Roos (SUI) led the three-man group where Finland’s Venla Harju and Viktoria Hestad Bjornstad (NOR) struggled to follow the retired Swiss runner, who ran in the last sprint relay of many for Switzerland today.
Roos proved too strong and led defending champions Switzerland to silver, while Venla Harju led Finland to its first sprint relay championship medals. Norway finished fourth and France and Great Britain took the last places on the podium.
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In the Team World Cup standings, Sweden’s nearly 600-point lead over Switzerland before Sunday’s knockout sprint at Vicenza, the last race of the season, looks unlikely to hold.
Norway is third and Finland fourth.
Sunday’s knock-out sprint starts at 8.30am (UTC +2) with the first qualification and the broadcast from the semi-finals starts at 14.00.
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Top 6 Results:
1. Sweden (Alexandersson, Gustafsson, Regborn, Hagstrom) 1.02.35 minutes
2. Switzerland (Aebersold, Hadorn, Kyburz, Roos) +0.36
3. Finland (Nurminen, Oksanen, Heikkila, Harju) +0.53
4. Norway (Olaussen, Langedal Breivik, Fosser, Hæstad Bjørnstad) + 1.02
5. France (Basset, Delenne, Capbern, Calandry) + 2.14
6. Great Britain (Ward, Lawson, Street, Carter Davies) + 2.34
Photos: IOF / Kristina Lindgren
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