After just four days of rest since the final day at the European Ski Orienteering Championships in Latvia, the world’s best SkiO-athletes will race again at the third and final World Cup round in Norway.
Three race days await Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the Norwegian ski resort Beitostølen, where three individual races take place: A middle distance, a sprint and a pursuit race – all of them count in the World Cup standings and will therefore decide the overall winners of the SkiO World Cup season 2022-2023.
The youngest athletes will race for U23 World Championship medals on Friday and Saturday as well, and in the afternoon the tracks will be cleared for the older athletes competing at World Masters Ski Orienteering Championships.
Can Kudre Schnyder and Baklid repeat their win
Last year’s World Cup was decided with big margins, as Daisy Kudre Schnyder (EST) won by more than 60 points down to Linda Lindkvist (SWE) and Salla Koskela (FIN) in third.
Jørgen Baklid (NOR) was 50 points ahead of Stanimir Belomazhev (BUL) with Rasmus Wickbom (SWE) 20 points further behind in the men’s world cup.
And history could easily repeat itself, when the athletes have crossed the finish line on Sunday noon after the pursuit race, as both Kudre Schnyder and Baklid lead the world cup standings after strong performances at ESOC in Latvia.
The Estonian is a massive 136 points ahead of Anna Ulvensøen (NOR) before the final round. Linda Lindkvist (SWE) is 19 points further down in third position but has only three counting races due to illness in Latvia. The seven best results out of nine count in the overall standings.
It’s closer in the men’s world cup, where Baklid has an 18-point lead over the Finnish athlete Aapo Viippola, whose compatriot Niklas Ekström is third, a further 25 points down.
Find the complete standings in the World Cup and U23 World Cup here.
Follow all three races at IOF LIVE, where you’ll find an arena camera, GPS-tracking and live results.
Program:
All local times CET (UTC +1)
Friday
10.00 -13.00 Middle, World Cup and U23 World Championship
13.00 WMSOC
Saturday
10.00 – 12.10 Sprint, World Cup and U23 World Championship
12.30 WMSOC Sprint
Sunday
10.00 – 12.10 Pursuit race, World Cup and U23 WSOC
12.15 WMSOC Middle
Photo: Agris Veckalniņš /ESOC 2023