European TrailO Championships: Relay victories for Ukraine and Finland

The final event of the Championships, the Relay, produced victory for Ukraine in the P (Physically Challenged) class and home nation Finland, the defending champions, in the O (Open) class.

In the O class, silver medals went to Denmark and bronze to Norway. Teams of three (up to 2 teams per nation) competed in quite hilly and rocky terrain with a lot of contour detail close to a large recreational area, which became filled with local people on a sunny afternoon after most of the event was conducted on a cool and cloudy morning.

Competitors in wheelchairs in the P class got help from the organisers on the steeper paths along the course. Here the victors Ukraine were challenged most closely by Sweden (silver) and Spain (bronze). Ukraine won silver at the last World TrailO Championships Relay in Portugal in 2019.

So ends a technically challenging championships; the courses and organization were much appreciated by all. The next major TrailO events are a ‘pre-WTOC’ for the 2004 World TrailO Championships (WTOC) in the Czech Republic, and this year’s WTOC in Poland in July.

Leading results – Relay

P Class

  1. Ukraine (Iryna Kulykova, Vladyslav Vovk, Valerii Lytvynov)
  2. Sweden (Inga Gunnarsson, Ola Jansson, Michael Johansson)
  3. Spain (Miguel Angel Garcia Grinda, Juan Emilio Montero Sánchez, Alejandro Aguilar Lara)
  4. Czech Republic, 5. Poland, 6. Finland

O Class

  1. Finland (Pinja Mäkinen, Petteri Hakala, Antti Rusanen)
  2. Denmark (Tobias Biering, Maria Krog Schulz, Johanne Biering)
  3. Norway (Arno Grønhovd, Geir Myhr Øien, Sondre Bråten)
  4. Sweden, 5. Italy, 6. Slovakia