World Orienteering Championships: Simone Niggli’s 18th gold
Posted on | July 14, 2012 | Category: News
The stage was of course set for a new Simone Niggli triumph, in front of a huge home crowd within a year of giving birth to twins and after winning three European Championship golds two months ago. And so it turned out, 36.5 seconds faster than her closest challenger, Maja Alm from Denmark.
Simone did not have a perfect qualifying race but she showed great skill, strength and determination this afternoon, on a perfect summer day beside the lake in Lausanne. After a short TV interview she ran back through the applauding crowds, looking just as thrilled as when she won her first international gold medal several years ago.
Early leader in the race was the Chinese runner Shuangyan Hao, who occupied the big red settee, set aside on the stage behind the finish line for the current race leader, for more than 12 minutes. The Danish runner Signe Klinting took over for a short while before Maja Alm, picked by many to take a medal today, took her place.
The silver and bronze placings were in doubt right to the end, with Sweden’s Helena Jansson and last starter Annika Billstam both in contention, but Maja Alm hung on to second place and it was Billstam who took the bronze, almost 8 seconds slower than Alm.
Leading results – women
1. Simone Niggli SUI 15.43.7
2. Maja Alm DEN 16.20.2
3. Annika Billstam SWE 16.28.0
4. Helena Jansson SWE 16.30.2
5. Rahel Friederich SUI 16.33.1
6. Venla Niemi FIN 16.39.4
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