Athletes of the FISU World University Championship Ski Orienteering visited Jahodova Louka Arena for the first time, where the mixed sprint relay took place this Friday the 25th of February. The race held a lot of excitement. No one could predict which team would finish first. The standings were changing for each leg.
The Norwegian team led until the 4th leg when the Russian teams took over, closely followed by the Swedish and Swiss teams. In the 5th lap, the second Russian team lost time, allowing the Swedish and Swiss teams to climb higher on the scoreboard. Even though we witnessed a massive race for 3rd place between the Swiss, Norwegian, and second Russian teams in the last, all the teams retained their positions from the last changeover.
Despite the intense competition, the event was in a good mood. The Swiss team performed a joy dance celebrating their results. And although the Slovakian-Hungarian team finished last, they received one of the biggest applauses. Everyone was cheering for them and making a Mexican wave when completing the race.
1st place; Russian Federation 1: Olesia Riazanova, Artemii Dorma 49:12
2nd place; Sweden 1: Klara Yngvesson and Rasmus Wickbom 49:58 (+00:46)
3rd place, Switzerland 2: Noel Boos and Eliane Deininger 50:43 (+01:29)
The last competition day held a lot of challenges for the participants: The course was very demanding, full of shortcuts, and even the snow was falling during the race. The 2022 FISU World University Championship Ski Orienteering reached its catharsis by the end of the last race, when there was only a slight difference between the gold and the silver medalist in both categories. Spectators stayed excited about the rankings until the very last moment.
The Swiss team won half of the medals and Lithuania appeared among the medalists for the first time.
Medalists, Women:
- Eliane Deininger, SUI 42:46
- Alina Niggli, SUI 42:46 (+00:00)
- Judita Traubaite, LTU 42:55 (+00:09)
Medalists, Men:
- Nicola Müller, SUI 47:23
- Gustaf Wickbom, SWE 47:24 (+00:01)
- Jørgen Baklid, NOR 48:07 (+00:44)
The flower ceremony and the medal ceremony took place at Eduard Arena.
The closing ceremony was held at Astoria Hotel. Ondřej Vodrážka and Dušan Vystavěl thanked all the people who made it possible to organize this event, with a special thank to the Japanese team being the only nation out of Europe. Mr. Kemal Tamer officially declared the event to be closed.
Full results, photos, GPS etc. can be found at the WUSOC Live page
By: WUSOC Team, J ulianna Király and Dušan Vystavěl
Photos: Tomas Bubela