Norwegian double double in the JWOC long distance
Norway dominated the long distance event at today's Junior World Championships, taking first and second in both events. Olav Lundanes took out his second title, whilst Siri Ulvestad was the womenÃÂs gold medallist.
Stephan Kodeda (Czech Republic) set the pace for much of the day after posting a time of 77 minutes early on. It was a long time before it was even challenged, but after several increasingly strong approaches, Magne Daehli was the first to make deep inroads into the time. He built on his lead as the course went on and was over three minutes clear by the time he finished.
Simon Uppill generated a lot of local excitement by being close to the leaders throughout. A good finish saw him in second place when he finished, but by then Lundanes was clearly in front at the intermediate controls. He stretched his lead over the later part of the course, going from 40 seconds ahead at the second radio to two and a half minutes at the end, and that was more than enough for the win. Daehli was second, whilst Christian Bobach (Denmark) came in right at the end to take the bronze medal from Uppill, who was fourth. Kodeda finished fifth.
The Norwegians were in front early through Mali Nielsen (who finished 14th). She was headed, first by Alena Trapeznikova (Russia) and then Sara Wurmli (Switzerland), but Ulvestad, who started in midfield, took a clear lead and never looked like losing it. Her closest challenger was her teammate Kine Hallan Steiwer, who ran a good final section but fell 26 seconds short.
A Norwegian trifecta looked possible for a while when Silje Jahren came in third, but that was spoilt by Heini Saarimaki, who never quite looked like winning but was close enough to take the bronze medal. Vanessa Round led at the first radio and ran well enough thereafter to finish on the podium in sixth place, another excellent result for the locals.
Stephan Kodeda (Czech Republic) set the pace for much of the day after posting a time of 77 minutes early on. It was a long time before it was even challenged, but after several increasingly strong approaches, Magne Daehli was the first to make deep inroads into the time. He built on his lead as the course went on and was over three minutes clear by the time he finished.
Simon Uppill generated a lot of local excitement by being close to the leaders throughout. A good finish saw him in second place when he finished, but by then Lundanes was clearly in front at the intermediate controls. He stretched his lead over the later part of the course, going from 40 seconds ahead at the second radio to two and a half minutes at the end, and that was more than enough for the win. Daehli was second, whilst Christian Bobach (Denmark) came in right at the end to take the bronze medal from Uppill, who was fourth. Kodeda finished fifth.
The Norwegians were in front early through Mali Nielsen (who finished 14th). She was headed, first by Alena Trapeznikova (Russia) and then Sara Wurmli (Switzerland), but Ulvestad, who started in midfield, took a clear lead and never looked like losing it. Her closest challenger was her teammate Kine Hallan Steiwer, who ran a good final section but fell 26 seconds short.
A Norwegian trifecta looked possible for a while when Silje Jahren came in third, but that was spoilt by Heini Saarimaki, who never quite looked like winning but was close enough to take the bronze medal. Vanessa Round led at the first radio and ran well enough thereafter to finish on the podium in sixth place, another excellent result for the locals.