Christine Schaffner from Switzerland proved to be the fastest and most durable in the long distance competition in the Mountain Bike Orienteering World Championships. Schaffner, 27, won the gold after a tight time-struggle with Russian Ksenia Tchernykh.

– The race took a lot more time than expected. Not even men could have completed the course in 85 minutes, which was the ideal time, she stated after the competition.

Ingrid Stengård from the host country, Finland, took the bronze medal.

The men’s long distance developed into a duel between Mika Tervala and Ruslan Gritsan. In the end the Finn, Tervala, won the gold with a margin of 48 seconds over the Russian.

– I was slightly nervous in the first part of the competition. The course was fairly easy, so I became a little over-confident, and because of that I started to make mistakes, 38-year-old Tervala stated.

The bronze was taken by Matti Keskinarkaus from Finland. Keskinarkaus, like Gritsan, is better known as a ski-orienteer, and his experience at world championship level showed in the over-long competition.

– If there had been one more loop, I would have won, Keskinarkaus laughed after his marvellous rise in the latter part of the course.

Story: Sami Suodenjoki