Gold for Sweden and Norway at the exciting EOC relay
The tough, dense terrain in Estonia had already created exciting long and middle distances in the previous days, and Sunday’s relays were no exception.
The Swedish women won by a large margin and Norway’s men defended their EOC gold from 2018.
The heavy rain from yesterday was gone and the sun was shining when the 41 teams in the women’s class lined up for the start at 10.05.
They got off to a dramatic start when two of the favorite teams, reigning champions SUI 1 and NOR 1, lost time at the first controls and ended up with most of the relay catching up to the leading pack. FIN 1’s Miia Niittynen benefited from a short fork at the end of leg 1 and entered the exchange first with NOR 2 and DEN 1 on his tail.
But the three leading teams all lost time in the difficult first controls on stage 2, paving the way for SWE 1 with Sara Hagström and CZE 1’s Adela Finstrlova to pass and build a decisive lead. Hagström kept his cool all the way through the leg and was a minute ahead of Finstrlova at the change, with Finland 2 four minutes behind in third.
Tove Alexandersson then ran a perfect third leg for SWE 1 and extended the lead to CZE 1’s Tereza Janocikova to more than five minutes at the finish line – and thus won the EOC Relay together with Lina Strand and Sara Hagström.
Janocikova ran her third leg all alone and held off her opponents to secure a silver medal – the first ever EOC relay medal for the Czech Republic’s women – with Vendula Horcickova and Adela Finstrlova.
Behind them, SUI 1 and NOR 1 were back in business for the bronze medal match. Saturday’s middle distance champion Simona Aebersold looked set to build a decisive lead during her run, but a long fork and a small mistake towards the end opened the door for Andrine Benjaminsen to take bronze with teammates Ane Dyrkorn and Marie Olaussen.
Nervous start
The 52-team men’s relay also got off to a nervous start, with Saturday’s middle-distance champion Albin Ridefelt losing time at the first controls for SWE 1. However, SWE 2 with Henrik Johanneson had a great run, creating a 20-second gap to NOR 1, SWE 3 and LTU 1 at the first exchange.
Kasper Fosser quickly took over the lead for NOR 1 and after running close to SWE 2 and SWE 3 he ran a minute ahead of them on the last loop before the changeover. Florian Howald ran alone most of the distance, keeping SUI 1 in fourth place and in contention for medals.
Eskil Kinneberg, who was also part of Norway’s 2018 EOC Relay Gold Team, never looked back, avoiding mistakes and extending Norway’s lead all the way to the finish line to win with Magne Daehli and Kasper Fosser.
Behind Kinneberg, SWE 2 (Emil Svensk) and SWE 3 (Max Peter Bejmer) fought for the silver medal with SUI 1’s Matthias Kyburz.
Bejmer took his own route to the final control which proved to be the fastest, securing silver medals for Sweden 3 and with Matthias Kyburz 10 seconds behind for Swiss bronze.
Watch web TV, GPS tracking and results on IOF LIVE.
The relays concluded the European Championships in orienteering and four exciting competition days, with challenging terrain and great races to follow.
The EOC also served as World Cup Round 2 – with Tove Alexandersson and Kasper Fosser now in the lead ahead of the World Cup Finals in Davos, Switzerland 1-3 October. Go to the WC standings.
Photos: Donatas Lazauskas