World Championships bronze for Sweden – Switzerland superior

On Sunday, the World Steering Championships finish in Switzerland. Albin Riedeveldt started the men’s relay with a strong first leg. He stayed in the tight group all the way and moved into third place, twelve seconds behind the leading Latvia.

Gustav Bergmann, who went on to win World Cup gold in both 2019 and 2021, took charge and got into the thick of it straight away. But at the end of the half, the Swede lost his nerve. Bergman appeared to be struggling and turned to Emil Svensk for third place, 2.21 behind the leading Switzerland.

– it was hard. I didn’t have much left in my legs. When I came here on the last lap I was smoking hot,” Gustav Bergmann told SVT Sport after his stretch.

“Difficult and annoying”

Host country Switzerland took a big lead heading into the closing stage as Matthias Kiebors, the dominant middle distance winner, continued to close in. But both runner-up Finland and third-placed Sweden beat the Swiss.

World Cup king Mattias Kipors was still able to cross the finish line as the gold medalist 57 seconds ahead of Finland. Emil Svenske was keen to save the bronze medal for Sweden and in the end he only had 14 seconds to take the silver.

– It was difficult and difficult, just as we expected. I did the best I could anyway, so it was good to keep my composure, says Emil Svenske, third leg player, after the race.

You’re all doing some solid stretching, but what are you missing to get the gold?

-I think everyone might simply need to have a little better day. We’re running at our base level, it seems, and doing good stretching along the way, so we’re in good shape. “But they are also ahead of us,” Emil Svensk said.

After two consecutive golds, it will be a bronze medal, which pleases the team.

-We did our best and now we stand here with a bronze medal. “We can be happy about that,” Gustav Bergmann said.

Cut: Hear from Bergman, Ridefeldt and Svenske about the bronze