Sweden lead sprint relay from start to finish
The world fastest legs sprinted through the streets of Doksy. The Swedish relay team Alexandersson, Svensk, Bergman and Hagström confirmed their dominance over the rest of the starting field and confidently reached for gold. Teams of Switzerland, Norway, the United Kingdom, Denmark and the Czech Republic competed for other precious medals. Only at the very last leg after the mistake of the Swiss team, did the Norwegians advance to the silver medal, just in front of the country of the Helvetic Cross.
A total of 26 teams stood at the start of the sprint relay, which literally flew through the alleys and parks of Doksy and ensured a very interesting race for the spectators. Although Doksy, compared to Terezín, is not such an orienteering demanding terrain, the race offered a number of interesting choices, which have been changing the positions of the teams until the end of the race. The organizers prepared 3.7 km for women with an elevation gain of 54 m and 20 controls, whereas for men 4.3 km, with an elevation gain of 62 meters and 23 controls. Twenty-two-time World Championship medalist Tove Alexandersson managed to pull a decisive nineteen-second lead ahead of Simona Aebersold from Switzerland in the finish of the first leg, which her teammates kept until the finish. Thanks to Emil Svensk and Gustav Bergman on the second and third legs, Sweden kept the leading position. Joey Hadorn and Martin Hubmann successfully kept the Swiss team on the second place. After more than an hour of racing, Sara Hagström reached the last control with a twenty-six second lead secured the title of the World Champions for Sweden. In the end, she was followed by the Norwegian competitor Andrine Benjaminsen, who managed to get three seconds ahead of Swiss Elena Roos in the last part of the race.
Winners:
- Sweden
- Norway
- Switzerland
- Denmark
- Czech Republic
- Great Britain
