New Sprint World Champions are Megan Carter Davies, Great Britain and Kasper Harlem Fosser, Norway at the end of two fascinating and eventful races in Vejle, Denmark. Favourite Tove Alexandersson was beaten into 6thplace today, having made two mistakes on the course. Fosser won by an impressive margin: 16 seconds.
Great Britain won women’s bronze too; Alice Leake, an experienced competitor who had not run the previous two races, was 18 seconds slower than Carter Davies, and the two were separated by Switzerland’s Simona Aebersold, who was 6 seconds behind the winner. “I was focusing on taking the right route choices and having an error-free run,” Carter Davies said afterwards, “and I made no real mistake”. That was not the case for Tove Alexandersson today, and starting fourth from last she was clearly under pressure and made two route execution errors, one early on and one towards the end.
Yannick Michiels, Belgium, a very consistent top-level sprinter over recent years, took the men’s bronze after Kris Jones, Great Britain was disqualified for mispunching – he missed control 12. Gustav Bergman, Sweden ran a very steady race to take the silver medal 8 seconds quicker than Michiels, but no-one could match Fosser’s form today – he was supreme throughout despite just recovering from injury and missing the Knock-Out Sprint as a result.
The arena was as usual buzzing with excitement, and extra fun was provided by a water splash that all competitors had to pass through – 5-6 steps through water several cm deep. A warm and sunny day was perfect for spectators.
So ends the 2022 World Championships, the first ‘Sprint WOC’ ever and the first WOC to include a Knock-Out Sprint. The next WOC is a forest version in Switzerland in July next year, followed by the next Sprint WOC in Edinburgh, Scotland in 2024.
Leading results, Sprint Final
Women
- Megan Carter Davies GBR 14:22
- Simona Aebersold SUI 14:28
- Alice Leake GBR 14:40
- Andrine Benjaminsen NOR 14:41
- Elena Roos SUI 14:46
- Tove Alexandersson SWE 14:51
Men
- Kasper Harlem Fosser NOR 13:56
- Gustav Bergman SWE 14:12
- 亚尼克•贝尔20分
- Håvard Sandstad Eidsmo NOR 14:25
- Aston Key AUS 14:34
- Ralph Street GBR 14:36
所有照片:油田/威利am Hollowell