Russia was just ahead of Sweden in the medals statistics after 4 days of hectic racing at World Ski Orienteering Championships. It was a very well-organised championships in the very north of Sweden, with for SkiO some high quality ground-breaking TV coverage for on-line viewers.
In the individual races, Russia won 3 gold, 1 silver and 4 bronze medals, whilst Sweden’s tally was also 3 golds, plus 3 silver and no bronze. On the standard points system, these equate to 15 points each! However Russia won both relay races with Sweden in silver medal position both times, so Russia has the edge over Sweden overall. Norway took 2 silver individual medals plus one relay bronze, and Finland had one individual bronze coupled with a relay bronze. Switzerland competes the picture with a single individual bronze.
Queen of the Forest was once again Tove Alexandersson, Sweden with 2 gold medals and 1 silver, but she was closely challenged by the Russian Mariya Kechkina, who finished with 1 gold and 2 bronze. Alena Trapeznikova, Russia also won 2 medals – a silver and a bronze. Amongst the men it was an unusual situation – only one athlete won two individual medals: Erik Rost, Sweden with 2 golds.
Taking the World and the European Championships together, Sweden’s tally of individual points totals 30 with Russia’s total being 24. But in the relays it is Russia dominant, with 14 points compared to Sweden’s 9. Taking everything into account, Sweden has a 1-point advantage over Russia: 39 points to 38!