World Cup victories for Aebersold and Fosser – but neither won their Middle race

Swiss athlete Simona Aebersold and Kasper Harlem Fosser, Norway were both second today, the race winners being Tove Alexandersson, Sweden and the European Middle Distance champion, Norwegian Eirik Langedal Breivik. Both in technique and speed, these two were outstanding today.

Aebersold’s victory ends a run of 9 World Cup wins overall in succession for Alexandersson, who already on Thursday had in effect conceded victory and congratulated Aebersold on her marvellously consistent season. But Alexandersson was determined to end the season on a high, and achieved a new milestone in her career with her 50^th World Cup win.

Tove Alexandersson SWE – second win in Finland in three days               Photos: Timo Mikkola

The only athlete who could challenge Fosser today was Martin Regborn, Sweden, but a mistake at control 4 ruled out his chances of the win he needed; he ended outside the top six. Breivik was the only runner to have an almost error-free run, coming smoothly to the most difficult controls where other top runners were losing time. “I started hard and nailed the first control quickly, and felt really confident,” he said. “I believed in my ability to navigate in this forest at high speed.” Fosser in fact matched Breivik for speed, but a small error at control 7 and some slightly sloppy route-execution towards the end lost him vital seconds. Third place went to the Swedish athlete Max Peter Bejmer, an earlier starter who held the lead for some considerable time.

Simona Aebersold SUI on her way to overall victory    

In the women’s race it was local athlete Sanna Fast who caught the eye early on, and she too held the lead for some time before eventually finishing fifth. Aebersold was of course keen to avoid error today, and by control 13 Alexandersson was 45 seconds ahead, having made only a small mistake at the first control. The eventual winning lead was 47 seconds. Marie Olaussen, Norway was third, 7 seconds faster than Sweden’s Hanna Lundberg and reversing their positions in the Long race.

A win today for Eirik Langedal Breivik

With the start in full public view close to the finish, and sight of the athletes long before they reached the finish, there was a great atmosphere in the arena on a cool and cloudy day – ideal for running. The terrain had a broad hill in the middle, providing interesting over-or-round route choice legs coupled with tricky diagonal downhill descents and some boulder controls in relatively tight forest. Not many of the athletes avoided technical errors today.

The World Cup season finishes tomorrow with a Relay; IOF TV coverage is between 10.50 and 14.00 Finnish time (UTC + 3).

Leading results, Middle Distance

Women

1. Tove Alexandersson SWE 28:31
2. Simona Aebersold SUI 29:18
3. Marie Olaussen NOR 29:25
4. Hanna Lundberg SWE 29:32
5. Sanna Fast FIN 29:45
6. Andrine Benjaminsen NOR 29:50

Men

1. Eirik Langedal Breivik NOR 29:17
2. Kasper Harlem Fosser NOR 29:46
3. Max Peter Bejmer SWE 30:30
4. Eetu Savolainen FIN 30:47
5. Viktor Svensk SWE 30:49
6. Jannis Bonek AUT 30:59

Leading final World Cup scores

Women

1. Simona Aebersold SUI 600 points
2. Tove Alexandersson SWE 537
3. Natalie Gemperle SUI 405

Men

1. Kasper Harlem Fosser NOR 444
2. Martin Regborn SWE 346
3. Eirik Langedal Breivik NOR 294