Great Britain take Silver in the Mixed Sprint Relay at the World Orienteering Championships, Denmark. ????
Sunday saw the first race of the World Orienteering Championships, the Mixed Sprint Relay. Taking place in the complex old city centre of Kolding Denmark, the route choice involved railway and river as well as narrow streets, alleyways, and backyards.
The GB team of Charlotte Ward, Ralph Street, Kris Jones, and Megan Carter-Davies was going into the Championships as one of the strong contenders for a medal, especially after a good performance in World Cup 1, where the team was also hit by illness.
Charlotte Ward (GB) ran a confident and strong first Leg handing over to Ralph Street (GB) in 3rd place. The race was already thought to be both physically and navigationally challenging but during the second Leg, several of the international teams made an unexpected error that cost 30-45 seconds. Ralph however demonstrated his strong navigational skills to not follow the pack but make his own route choice which saw him hand over to Kris Jones (GB) in 2nd place.
Kris Jones (GB) who showed exceptional performances on the track last year, ran a great leg to hand over to Megan Carter-Davies (GB) in 1st place, with World Champion Tove Alexandersson (SWE) starting close behind. Alexandersson once again demonstrated her usual strength and speed, and although Megan kept her within sight for a good proportion of the course, she finished well ahead after the final forking.
This is the first Relay medal won at the World Championships since 2008 and hopefully the start of a great Championship.
Sprint Relay results
1. Sweden (Lina Strand, Max Peter Bejmer, Gustav Bergman, Tove Alexandersson)
2. Great Britain (Charlotte Ward, Ralph Street, Kris Jones, Megan Carter Davies) + 1.02 ????
3. Norway (Ane Dyrkorn, Lukas Liland, Kasper Fosser, Andrine Benjaminsen) + 1.41
4. Switzerland + 1.47
5. Denmark + 1.49
6. France + 1.52
Results and more can be found at IOF LIVE.
Congratulations to the GB team…Charlotte Ward, Ralph Street, Kris Jones, Megan Carter-Davies.
Fantastic result! Well done, and very well deserved.
----
The next event is the Knock-Out Sprint on Tuesday (28 June), with a qualification in the morning and quarter-finals, semi-finals, and finals in the afternoon.
The Knock-Out Sprint event saw Megan Carter-Davies bring home a silver medal in the recent World Cup 1, behind Alexandersson (SWE), and will also have GB Ralph Street, Kris Jones, and Charlotte Ward joined by GB Jonathan Crickmore and GB Grace Molloy.
Follow the competition at IOF LIVE - Knock-Out Sprint
The Individual Sprint will take place this Thursday (30 June).
----
All photo credits: IOF / William Hollowell