Finnish athletes won gold in M18, W18 and W16 in a tough Long Distance race in the European Youth Orienteering Championships near Vilnius, Lithuania. One of them, Silva Kemppi, won W16 by the big margin of 4.16. The M16 gold went to a Czech athlete.
Winner in W18 was Salla Isoherranen, who beat Alina Niggli, Switzerland by 1.47 over the 6.2 km course with 200 m climb. Bronze medalist was Boglarka Czako from Hungary, a further 1.25 down. In M18 it was another Finn, Aarni Ronkainen who triumphed, here winning by 0.38 in a time of 45.23 for 7.4 km with 240 m climb. Silver went to Mark Tutynin, Russia and bronze to Martin Vehus Skjerve, Norway who was 1.41 down on the winner.
M18 podium (see placings list below) Photos: Donatas Lazauskas
Silva Kemppi ran her 4.9 km (175 m climb) W16 course in a really fast time, 35.25. The Czech athlete Michaela Metelkova took second place and third was Elli Punto, Finland, 2 minutes down on Metelkova. By contrast it was a close race in M16 where Dan Bolehovsky, Czech Republic was only 11 seconds quicker than silver medalist Hannes Mogensen, Denmark after making a mistake on the final leg. A good race for the Czechs: they took the bronze medal too, Jan Strycek finishing 1.32 down on Mogensen.
W16 top three: runaway winner Silva Kemppi centre
In all the classes there was a big spread of times, with many competitors finding their way carefully in, for them, an unfamiliar type of terrain with significant physical and technical challenges. The weather was kind – dry and the temperature just under 20 degrees, with a gentle breeze.
Visibility was often low in bushy parts of the forest
Next race, the Relay, is tomorrow (Saturday) using the same forest.
Cover photo: W18 podium
Leading results – podium places
W18
- Salla Isoherranen FIN 42:32
- Alina Niggli SUI 44:19
- Boglarka Czako HUN 45:44
- Olesia Gladilkina RUS 47:00
- Hanna Jonsell SWE 48:08
- Hanna Sudol POL 48:20
M18
- Aarni Ronkainen FIN 45:23
- Mark Tutynin RUS 46:01
- Martin Vehus Skjerve NOR 47:04
- Tadas Dementavicius LTU 48:03
- Brage Takle NOR 48:08
- Ilya Malygin RUS 48:57
W16
- Silva Kemppi FIN 35:25
- Michaela Metelkova CZE 39:41
- Elli Punto FIN 41:41
- Emily Adenstedt AUT 41:55
- Harriet Koppel EST 42:01
- Virna Pellikka FIN 42:02
M16
- Dan Bolehovsky CZE 39:59
- Hannes Mogensen DEN 40:10
- Jan Strycek CZE 41:42
- Mattia Corona ITA 44:19
- Leander Wylenmann SUI 44:38
- Elia Gartmann SUI 44:42
Race highlights (Produced by Edgars Sparāns):