Today’s Sprint was a success story for Aston Key, Australia and the Swiss athlete Eline Gemperle, in two very fast and tight races in Aarhus, Denmark. Gemperle’s winning margin was 3 seconds, whilst Key ended with a convincing lead of 13 seconds.
The race was held in a complex area of flats and houses, with some height differences. Especially in the arena, which was superb for spectators who had a superb sloping grass viewing area above the finish, with the spectator passage also clearly viewable beyond it. Race times were very fast from the start, but times at the spectator point kept being bettered, so there was excitement all the way with a lively and knowledgeable commentary and pictures from the course on the big screen.
In the women’s race Isa Envall, Sweden held the lead for a long time but eventually had to settle for fifth, the third of three from Sweden in the top six. Fiona Bunn, Great Britain held on to the fastest arena passage time to the end, but a mistake in the second half pushed her down to ninth. Silver medallist in both 2018 and 2017, the Czech athlete Tereza Janosikova, was in sixth place this year.
Men’s race medal winners Photos: Malin Fuhr
The men’s race was in the end dominated by the Australian Aston Key, who apart from a slow start had a faultless run. Just as in the women’s race, there were three Swedes in the top six with one getting the silver medal. The pace was set by the very first runner, Tino Polsini from Switzerland who clocked just over 13 minutes, but he ended 22nd whilst being only 44 seconds behind the winner!
Tomorrow the tempo changes, the Long distance taking place in a tough and hilly forest, used also for the Junior World Championships back in 1995. Follow the action live on www.jwoc2019.dk.
Leading results, Sprint
Women
- Eline Gemperle SUI 12:18
- Tilda Ostberg SWE 12:21
- Grace Molloy GBR 12:32
- Alva Sonesson SWE 12:36
- Isa Envall SWE 12:37
- Tereza Janosikova CZE 12:38
Men
- Aston Key AUS 12:20
- Samuel Pihlstrom SWE 12:33
- Guilhelm Elias FRA 12:34
- Axel Granqvist SWE 12:39
- Georg Groell AUT 12:40
- Gustav Runefors SWE 12:41