Tove Alexandersson crushed the other runners on the last stretch. A one-minute margin at the switch grew steadily in the final stretch to over five minutes (5.10) before the surprise Czech Republic finished.
Lina Strand and Sara Hagström had then given Alexandersson a good starting position in the opening stages.
— Lina and Sara gave me a fantastic starting position and had both done a really good race, says Alexandersson.
Revenge
For the orienteering star, who is used to collecting gold, it was a welcome success after a less than successful EC in Estonia so far. It was indeed silver in the long distance last Thursday, but only after some serious hurdles.
And in Saturday’s intermediate distance, she finished first in 14th place.
— Orienteering is very demanding in the sense that you have to be at your best. Physically, in terms of orientation and so the head must be at its best. It requires an incredible amount of focus and you have to be in the moment and completely present all the time, says Alexandersson and continues:
— It’s not possible to be there 365 days a year and you can’t control it yourself all the time.
Hagström decisive
Sara Hagström paved the way for Sweden’s gold by cracking the field on the second leg and bringing the Swedish first team into the lead. While the other favorite nations ran away, the Swedes took it cautiously, took no risks and were accurate in their orientation.
– We had followed the first stretch and heard that there was bombing out there and that people came in scattered showers. So we Swedes said to each other at the starting line and it would be the orientation that decides and made a plan after that. It paid off, says Hagström.
Hagström was able to hand over to Alexandersson a minute before the second-placed Czech Republic.
Hagström took over from Lina Strand, who was fourth after the first stretch.