It was the girls who did clearly the best when Sweden started the orienteering world championships with a victory in the sprint relay.
Lina Strand was first out and fixed a 17 second lead before it was time to switch to Max Peter Bejmer who lost a bit on his distance before he sent out Gustav Bergman on the penultimate distance.
Chasing Great Britain, however, took in second by second and when it was time for Tove Alexandersson to take over, she did so as second, a few seconds behind the British.
- It was tough.
I started well but lost a little in the middle of the stretch when I became a little too passive, says Bergman.
"You never know"
But after a good choice of route by Alexandersson at the beginning of the last leg, Sweden was back in the lead and then there was no talk at all about the matter.
In the end, Sweden won by more than a minute.
An eternity of time in a sprint relay.
- You always go out to make a good race as possible and you never know what will happen so you can never relax, says Alexandersson and continues:
- I did not know that the gap was so big so I just kept running.
Fourth straight
The World Cup gold was Sweden's fourth straight in the sprint relay and for Alexandersson it was her tenth straight World Cup gold medal.
- Winning as a team together with the others feels fantastic fun, they had done such a good job before me so then it is inspiring to go out and do a good race when the teammates fought for every meter, she says.