WOC Long Distance: Tove Alexandersson retains women’s title

WOC Long Distance: Tove Alexandersson retains women’s title

Tove Alexandersson, Sweden ran a near-perfect race in difficult terrain on the Long Distance today, with only Sprint champion Maj Alm, Denmark able to come anywhere near challenging her time.

Alexandersson was not able to run the Sprint Final due to a heavy cold, but she was back to top form today. “It was a good race and I was fighting all the way,” she said. “I am very satisfied with the race and the gold. I was really prepared for the Sprint, and it was tough mentally to have to stay in bed instead of running the Sprint Final. I am so happy I could focus on the orienteering today and that my body felt good.”

For Maja Alm this was far and away her best result in a forest race, although she has shown on many occasions that she is a very good runner and navigator in forest terrain. Three days of sprint racing appeared not to have affected her performance. Natalia Gemperle, Russia proved yet again that she is becoming one of the strongest and most consistent performers at world level in taking the bronze today, 5.36 down on Alexandersson.

No-one else was really close to challenging the medal places, the nearest being the vastly experienced Norwegian Anne Margrethe Hausken Nordberg, 2.20 down on bronze medal time.

The course had a very long first leg with several route choice alternatives. On several legs there was the chance to take a longer route including tracks and paths as an alternative to going more directly through the physically hard terrain, undulating and often ‘green’ with quite a lot of marshland. Many competitors made mistakes, including Helena Jansson, Sweden who lost 4 minutes on one leg. Towards the end there was a spectator passage, followed by a small loop with 2 controls before the finish.

Leading results – women’s Long Distance

1. Tove Alexandersson SWE 1:19:10
2. Maja Alm DEN 1:20:42
3. Natalia Gemperle RUS 1:24:46
4. Anne Margrethe Hausken Nordberg NOR 1:27:06
5. Elena Roos SUI 1:27:13
6. Emma Johansson SWE 1:27:27