Norwegian Arno Grønhovd retained his first-day lead to win the O class in Czechia today, and Michael Johansson, Sweden retained the P class title by a tiny margin over his compatriot Ola Jansson.
For a long time it seemed that the Italian Michele Cera was on course for the big victory, but a mistake shortly before the end left the door open for Grønhovd, and Cera had to be content with bronze. Silver medallist was the German Bjarne Friedrichs. All three had the same total points score after two days, but Grønhovd was best by a long way at the timed controls.
By contrast, Johansson and Jansson differed by just 3 seconds in total times of just under 400 seconds! They had the same points score. Jansson was more successful on Day 1 and Johansson on Day 2, very marginally the better. Both have accumulated many medals in TrailO over the years, with Jansson having more because he started in the sport somewhat earlier. Vladislav Vovk, Ukraine with four points fewer took bronze.
Individual winners of the Day 2 competition were Anne Straube, Germany (O) and Jana Kostova, Czechia (P).
The competition was held in a long valley bordered by huge sandstone cliffs, with athletes staring far up into the sky, it seemed, to see and judge the position of some of the flags. The last five controls were around the edge of the arena, visible to the spectators.
Tomorrow is Relay day, with 3-person classes for both Open and Physically Challenged.
Leading overall results
Open
- Arno Grønhovd NOR 67 points + 197 seconds
- Bjarne Friedrichs GER 67 + 332
- Michele Cera ITA 67 + 330
- Laura Eliza Lapina LAT 66 + 161
- Antti Rusanen FIN 66 + 202
- Pinja Mäkinen FIN 66 + 202
Physically Challenged
- Michael Johansson SWE 61 + 391.5
- Ola Jansson SWE 61 + 394.5
- Vladyslav Vovk UKR 57 + 343.5
- Alejandro Aguilar Lara ESP 56 + 176
- Jana Kostová CZE 56 + 241
- Hana Doležalová CZE 55 + 254.5
Photo: WTOC2023 Media