The ladies’ long distance over 12.9 kilometers and 20 controls in Põlula, just over eleven miles east of the Estonian capital Tallinn, became an even medal battle after several runners missed their forest orientation.
It was clear early on that Finland’s Venla Harju would take European gold, her first in her career, after she ran in a time of 1.29.52.
“I’m shocked, I can’t believe it’s true,” she says in the victory interview in SVT.
After a strong finish, Tove Alexandersson finished second, 17 seconds slower than Harju, and took the silver. Finland’s Marika Teini took bronze.
Sara Hagström, Lina Strand and Johanna Öberg finished fourth, fifth and sixth respectively.
Tove Alexandersson was responsible for a miss at the beginning of the race which contributed to her not running fast enough to take gold.