Norway’s Eirik Langedal Breivik and Sweden’s Tove Alexandersson won the first gold medals at the World Orienteering Championships in Finland, when the middle distance was run on Wednesday afternoon.
It took place in the forest terrain of Neulamäki close to the host city of Kuopio in a technically demanding terrain with many details to keep track of and better runnability compared to yesterday’s qualification.
Strong Norwegian finish
It was the men who were first out in the forest on their 5.8 kilometer middle distance course.
Sweden’s Anton Johansson was fastest on the first part of the course and led the eventual Norwegian world champion by five seconds after 3.3 kilometers.
But Langedal Breivik, who is also the European champion in the middle distance, was impressively safe in his orienteering and overtook Johansson’s lead on the last loop towards the finish.
Eirik Langedal Breivik on his way to the gold medal. Photo: Kristina Lindgren
Here, also Kasper Fosser went pass Johansson, so it was Norwegian gold and silver, while Johansson took the bronze.
It’s Langedal Breivik’s first individual WOC medal, Fosser’s first medal in a WOC middle distance and Johansson’s first ever WOC medal.
The reigning World Champion Matthias Kyburz (SUI) held a small lead against the Swede but made a mistake towards the last control and ended up just one second behind the bronze medal.
Miika Kirmula was the best placed Finn in fifth place and, like his compatriots, received strong support from the enthusiastic arena with many home fans.
Gustav Bergman (SWE) finished sixth today.
Sweden-Sweden-Sweden
The women’s class was a pure Swedish celebration with three Swedish medalists. Tove Alexandersson won her 22nd WOC gold medal after a strong performance through the 5.0 kilometer course.
Tove Alexandersson in full focus towards the gold medal. Photo: Kristina Lindgren
She avoided notable mistakes and safely steered the gold home with a big margin to compatriot Sanna Fasth, who was 1:02 minutes behind at the finish. Fasth also had a strong race, but couldn’t quite keep up with Alexandersson’s pace in the final controls.
This is Fasth’s first medal at an international championship.
Another 1:24 minutes behind was Hanna Lundberg, who also won bronze at the WOC middle distance in Switzerland two years ago.
Just outside the medals was Norway’s Andrine Benjaminsen, while Simona Aebersold finished in fifth place despite a strong start on the course that could match Alexandersson’s. However, she lost crucial time on the way to control 4 and finished just ahead of compatriot Natalia Gemperle.
Results, TV, GPS-tracking and photos in IOF LIVE
The long distance at the World Championships in Finland begins on Thursday morning.
The first start here is at 11:00 EEST (UTC+3) and the TV broadcast begins at 14:10.
Go to the IOF LIVE Long distance page
Top 6 results
Men
1 Eirik Langedal Breivik, NOR 33:42
2 Kasper Harlem Fosser, NOR +0:34
3 Anton Johansson, SWE +1:07
4 Matthias Kyburz, SUI +1:08
5 Miika Kirmula, FIN +1:42
6 Gustav Bergman, SWE +1:48
Women
1 Tove Alexandersson, SWE 33:17
2 Sanna Fasth, SWE +1:02
3 Hanna Lundberg, SWE +2:26
4 Andrine Benjaminsen, NOR +3:33
5 Simona Aebersold, SUI +3:40
6 Natalia Gemperle, SUI +4:00