Sweden’s Magdalena Olsson (pictured above) and Jonatan Ståhl were back to their best form today, both winning their races by convincing margins – and ending as World Cup winners for this season. After taking the Sprint Relay gold on Day 1 together, Olsson has won two further ESOC golds, and Ståhl one gold and one bronze.
These wins confirm Olsson and Ståhl as clear World Cup winners overall, Ståhl having become men’s favourite after Jørgen Baklid was injured pre-championships.
Today’s race was a classic Long Distance with some hillier terrain than the Middle, some long legs that took more than 10 minutes to complete, and some complex sections – as in the Middle race – with many small paths. For the women, leg 8-9 was decisive; here Olsson was fastest by just 12 seconds over Norwegian Anna Ulvensøen. But crucially the third fastest, Middle winner Ella Turesson, was 1.40 down on Olsson’s time – she ended in fifth place today. An interesting leg with clearly a difficult route choice decision, as seen from the GPS tracking.
Finn Amanda Yli Futka was fastest today up to control 8 on the 19-control course, but took 2.29 longer than Olsson on this decisive leg. Futka continued in third or fourth position from then on, ending up 23 seconds outside a medal position. Ulvensøen had a good race throughout to take silver, 2.18 down on Olsson’s time, and bronze went to the Middle Distance silver medalist – Frida Sandberg, Sweden.
Amanda Yli Futka FIN – just outside the medal positions today
Ståhl provided a master-class on the men’s course today. He was not below fourth on any leg except 13-14 (15 seconds down on the fastest) and 18-19 (8 seconds), and led overall throughout. Niklas Ekstrӧm, Finland matched Ståhl for consistency, but was just that little bit slower, finishing 2.07 down on Ståhl.
Jonatan Ståhl, Sweden – master-class performance today Photos: Timo Mikkola
Norway’s Vegard Gulbrandsen had announced that this was the race he had prepared for the most – his season climax – and he was rewarded with a bronze medal, 3.19 down on the winner. He had a slow start, 1.16 down on the lead by control 4, but picked up well after that. He enjoyed a fierce tussle with Middle winner Aapo Viippola through the second half of the course, where they swopped third and fourth places 2-3 times, but Gulbrandsen came through strongest in the later stages. Andrei Lamov, expected to be a Swedish team member well up in the results today at the end of a good week, was forced to retire after control 12.
So ends a well-organised European Championships, blessed with fine snow conditions and good weather. Statistics from the Championships, and more on the final World Cup scores, will be posted on the website here tomorrow.
Leading results, Long Distance
Women
- Magdalena Olsson SWE 1:24:02
- Anna Ulvensøen NOR 1:26:20
- Frida Sandberg SWE 1:26:38
- Amanda Yli Futka FIN 1:27:01
- Ella Turesson SWE 1:28:30
- Doris Kudre EST 1:32:24
Men
- Jonatan Ståhl SWE 1:21:53
- Niklas Ekstrӧm FIN 1:24:00
- Vegard Gulbrandsen NOR 1:25:12
- Aapo Viippola FIN 1:26:53
- Eevert Toivonen FIN 1:27:04
- Styrk Kamsvaag NOR 1:27:16
Junior World SkiO Championships
Women’s gold: Nelly Mårtensson SWE by 0.43 (also Sprint champion)
Men’s gold: Pyry Riissanen FIN by 1.09
Pyry Riissanen – Junior gold medallist for Finland
European Youth SkiO Championships
Women’s gold: Anett Liisa Parts EST by 0.23 (Iris Bergkvist SWE won silver – after gold in Sprint and Middle)
Men’s gold: Niklas Hirvilahti FIN by 1.07 (also Middle champion)