Clear win for Sweden in women´s relay

8. 7. 2021

Swedish women relay team (Risby, Hagström, Alexandersson) was the fastest in the unique terrain of sandstone towers and formations in the landscape area of Kokořínsko. They finished more than two minutes and a half ahead of silver Switzerland (Roos, Hauswirth, Aebersold). The dramatic fight for the bronze medal ended up for Norway (Olaussen, Steiwer, Benjaminsen) who beat the Neutral Athletes from Russia and the Czech Republic in the last loop of the third leg.

After the first leg, the Swiss athlete Elena Roos ran away from the rest of the starting field. She gained a 36-second lead over second Swede Lisa Risby. “I really like this terrain and I was really looking forward to competing here. I know I’m quite physically strong so I could choose a longer route choices to avoid climbing and push hard,” said after the finish Roos. After the first leg, ten teams stayed in contact with a loss of up to two minutes. During the second leg, the group pursuing Switzerland tore apart, and gradually runners from Sweden, Switzerland and the Czech Republic were in the front of the race. Sabine Hauswirth made several mistakes during her course and let the Swedish Sara Hagström get a clear lead. “It was super fun, it is what I dreamed of when we were training. It was like a maze, finding those small paths was so cool,” said a happy Swedish runner in the finish. Tove Alexandersson started the last leg 3:39 ahead of the second Simona Aebersold from Switzerland. Czechia losing 3:50 after a great performance by Denisa Kosová was in the third position. Sweden and Switzerland clearly maintained their gold and silver positions during the third leg, Alexandersson won 2:33 in front of Aebersold. After a huge mistake by the Czech athlete Jana Knapová, the battle for bronze changed into a drama for the home crowd. In the end, the Norwegian athlete Andrine Benjaminsen was the fastest, finishing in the third position, 7:01 behind the winners.

  1. Sweden (Lisa Risby, Sara Hagström, Tove Alexandersson)
  2. Switzerland (Elena Roos, Sabine Hauswirth, Simona Aebersold)
  3. Norway (Marie Olaussen, Kamilla Steiwer, Andrine Benjaminsen
  4. Neutral Athletes from Russia (Anastasia Rudnaya, Tatiana Ryabkina, Svetlana Mironova)
  5. Czech Republic (Adéla Indráková, Denisa Kosová, Jana Knapová)
  6. Poland (Ewa Gwozdz, Hanna Wisniewska, Aleksandra Hornik)