WSOC: Second gold medals for Baklid and Olsson

Jørgen Baklid, Norway successfully defended his World Pursuit crown today, and he and Magdalena Olsson, Sweden followed up their Sprint wins yesterday with equally impressive performances in quite different snow conditions.

Competitors started today in their finishing time after the leader in yesterday’s Sprint, and in both races the leaders stayed ahead throughout. In the men’s race, Baklid was determined to avoid early mistakes, and with the forking variations in the three loops he was almost caught early on. However he was clearly the strongest, and already on the second loop it was clear he would be the winner if he avoided error – and that he did. Behind him, Switzerland’s Nicola Müller settled into second place after a strong start, and held it to the end to take silver. For a long while it looked like being bronze for Aapo Viippola, Finland, but his compatriot Niklas Ekström took a chance with a different route to the third-last control, and it paid off with Ekström taking bronze 22 seconds ahead of Viippola. “I feel strong and happy,” said Baklid afterwards. “I was a bit stressed on the first lap, seeing others not far behind, but I had the longer loop. It was tough and slow out there today.”

Linda Lindqvist, Sweden was winner two years ago, but started ninth today after problems in the Sprint. She worked very hard in the early stages to catch up several places, and looked a good bet to be the strongest challenger to Olsson. And so it proved; Lindqvist took silver, and bronze went to a third Swede, Frida Sandberg; the second day that all three women’s medals go to Sweden. Anna Ulvensøen, Norway in particular, and also Eliane Deininger, Switzerland were both challenging for bronze at different stages, but finished 5^th and 4^th respectively. “I was nervous before the start, and made some slight errors early on, but all went well,” said a smiling Magdalena Olsson. “I was determined to keep enough energy for a strong final loop.” She finished with a lead of 1.45.

After yesterday’s snowfall it was dry, mainly cloudy and crucially, a great deal warmer today. The snow became a bit slushy in parts in the meadows, and in general skiing was a lot harder and the courses included a lot of ascent and descent. The estimated winning time was exceeded by 3 minutes in the men’s race, but Magdalena Olsson’s good form was emphasized by finishing almost 3 minutes quicker than the EWT.

In the Junior World and European Youth championships it was Long Distance (mass start) day. Olle Ilmar Jaama, Estonia (M20) won his second gold medal of the championships. All medal-winners are listed below.

Tomorrow is a rest day, and on Friday the Middle Distance race is scheduled, but in view of the current weather forecast the starts will be earlier, and TV transmission is expected to begin at 11.35. More news on this will appear tomorrow. Follow all the action on IOF-TV!

Leading results – Pursuit

Women: 9.2 km / 285 m climb