Middle distance gold for Sarina Jenzer and Albin Ridefelt
OLOMOUC – Albin Ridefelt from Sweden was the only one to break the dominance of continental runners in today’s middle distance race of the 19th World University Orienteering Championships 2014 which took place in Protivanov. The Swiss Sarina Jenzer took the gold amongst women.
A typical continental terrain rich in vegetation details suggested a tough battle mainly among the Swiss and the home Czech team. But all the theoretical assumptions were trashed by the flawless effort of Albin Ridefelt from Sweden who defeated all the challengers by a comfortable 36 seconds margin. “The first half of the course was quite fast, then the forest thickened and one had to slow down and check all the details carefully – and I managed to do this almost perfectly,” the new University World Champion said. Silver medal goes to the French Lucas Basset, an early starter Jan Petržela from the Czech Republic took the bronze after a long-time lead in the finish.
The women race was nearly a walkover for Sarina Jenzer. “I made a half-minute mistake when I found a men’s control instead of mine,” she told after the race. In spite of this slip, the Swiss competitor managed to win with an impressive 48 second margin ahead of Iveta Šístková from the Czech Republic. After yesterday’s sprint, another medal had to be shared by two runners – this time the bronze one, won jointly by the French Lea Vercelotti and Gøril Rønning Sund from Norway.
The 19th World University Orienteering Championships is to be concluded tomorrow with the relay race which will take place tomorrow in the same area in Protivanov. Will the Swedes, Czechs, French and Swiss prove their strength, or will there be an unexpected end of the Championships?
Results:
Women (5,4 km, 50 m climbing)
1. Jenzer Sarina SUI 30:48
2. Šístková Iveta CZE 31:36
3. Vercelotti Lea FRA 31:42
Sund Gøril Rønning NOR 31:42
5. Kemp Emily CAN 31:47
6. Ohlsson Karolin SWE 31:57
Men (6,9 km, 75 m climbing)
1. Ridefelt Albin SWE 31:44
2. Basset Lucas FRA 32:20
3. Petržela Jan CZE 32:32
4. Andersson Rasmus SWE 32:38
5. Král Vojtěch CZE 32:41
6. Huber Raffael SUI 33:05
Please find complete results and more information about the Championships at http://www.wuoc2014.cz.