Gold, silver and bronze for Sweden

On the men’s side, the Swede made two podium finishes: Jonatan Gustafsson took the silver medal, while Emil Svenske took the bronze. But it took a photo finish to distinguish between the two medalists.

Three Swedish women reached the finals when the knockout race was to be decided at the European Commission in Vicenza, Italy: Hanna Lundberg, Sarah Hagström and Tove Alexandersson.

After initially being a unified final team, Tove Alexandersson pulled away from the others at the third check. She made a smart choice of route and gained a few meters of distance from the remaining runners. The distance that kept turning into the goal.

– I felt physically strong today, it was easy to run. I may not have chosen the perfect route all the time, but physically it felt very easy. “I feel good and then it becomes fun to run,” she told SVT.

Switzerland won silver and bronze at the hands of Elena Ros and Natalia Gemperl. Hannah Lundberg placed fourth and Sarah Hagstrom placed fifth. Sixth was Victoria Haystad Bjørnstad from Norway.

On the men’s side, there were double Swedish medals. But it took a photo finish to distinguish between the two medalists.

It was a tight and nerve-wracking final where it took a fast race to separate the finalists. After a hesitant start, Swiss Matthias Kipors advanced. Englishman Ralph Street led in the middle of the race, but the Swiss came back and entered the race and was also the fastest to reach the finish line. Jonatan Gustafsson and Emil Svensk competed for bronze and silver, and only after the photo finish did it become clear that it was Jonatan Gustafsson who took the silver.

– I felt a bit of waiting and waiting at the beginning, then there was a drag in the middle of the track and then it was the drive to the finish line. There were many who read at the end, and the path choices were a little different. It’s really fun, a good final track and it’s fun to stand here with a medal, he tells SVT.

Ralph Street finished fourth while Ricardo Rankan finished fifth. Isac von Krusenstierna ran sixth.

Women’s Sprint Knockout Results:
1. Tove Alexandersson (Sweden) – 6:38.7
2. Elena Ros (Switzerland) – 6:42.3
3. Natalia Gemberl (Switzerland) – 6:46.8
4. Hanna Lundberg (Sweden) – 6:50.9
5. Sarah Hagstrom (Sweden) – 6:57.4
6. Viktoria Histad Bjørnstad (Norway) – 7:05.8

Men’s Sprint Knockout Results:
1. Matthias Kipors (Switzerland) – 5:51.2
2. Jonathan Gustafsson (Sweden) – 5:53.1
3. Emil Svensk (Sweden) – 5:53.2
4: Ralph Street (Great Britain) – 5:53.5
5. Ricardo Rancan (Switzerland) – 6:01.0
6. Isaac von Krusenstierna (Sweden) – 6:11.9