The world’s best orienteers were back in the fast shoes, as the Orienteering World Cup Round 2 began this Wednesday with a sprint in Czechia.
Today’s race was the first international sprint race this year and was held in the historic centre of Česká Lípa, which presented the athletes with completely different challenges compared to the World Orienteering Championships in Switzerland three weeks ago.
The sprint courses featured several tricky, short legs around an old castle and garden leading to many athletes losing important seconds.
Ralph Street (GBR) kept cool through the 4,0 kilometer men’s course and won by 14 seconds with Gustav Bergman (SWE) in second and Yannick Michiels (BEL) in third – just one second after Bergman.
That’s Ralph Street’s first ever World Cup win.
Three other nations occupied the subsequent positions as Matthias Kyburz (SUI), Tomas Krivda (CZE) and Tim Robertson (NZL) came in fourth, fifth and sixth respectively with just one second separating them from each other.
In the women’s class Natalia Gemperle (SUI) sat in the leader’s chair for more than three hours due to her fast race and early start time.
It was only the last starter Tove Alexandersson (SWE) who could beat her. The 19-time world champion lost time in the beginning of the 3,6 kilometer course, but managed to win by 35 seconds after an impressive finish.
Sara Hagström (SWE) who shared the world cup lead with Alexandersson before today’s race was third, nine seconds slower than Gemperle.
Elena Roos (SUI), Denisa Kosova (CZE) and Ida Agervig Kristiansson (DEN) made up the rest of the top 6.
Find results, GPS-tracking and maps at IOF LIVE
World Cup Round 2 continues tomorrow with a Sprint Relay also held in central Česká Lípa.
The TV-broadcast begins at 17.00 CEST (UTC +2) and the relay begins 15 minutes later.
Top 6 results
Women
- Tove Alexandersson、瑞典十四19
- Natalia Gemperle, Switzerland +0:35
- Sara Hagström, Sweden +0:44
- Elena Roos , Switzerland +0:52
- Denisa Kosova, Czechia +0:53
- Ida Agervig Kristiansson, Denmark +1:02
Men
- Ralph Street, Great Britain 14:30 minutes
- Gustav Bergman, Sweden +0:14
- Yannick Michiels, Belgium +0:15
- Matthias Kyburz, Switzerland +0:25
- Tomas Krivda, Czechia +0:26
- Tim Robertson, New Zealand +0:27
Photo: World Cup Round 2, Czechia