High-altitude training is not common in orienteering. National team manager Håkan Carlsson explains why:
We have the knowledge, but are a little less professional because we have less money in our sport. It costs a lot to go to high altitude, which has meant that we do not have the same opportunities as other endurance sports.
Charging in the mountains
Tove Alexandersson has the financial opportunity. That's why she has been living in the Austrian Imsel, just outside Innsbruck, for some time, and can have high-altitude training as a natural part of her preparation for the championships. Håkan Carlsson says that the combination of high-altitude training and that she feels good in Imsel are success factors for her.
After the World Cup in Idre on the Midsummer weekend, she went directly to Obergurgl, a town in Austria that is located at an altitude of 1,900 meters. Therefore, she will come to Kuopio full of red blood cells.
It has been good. I like to charge in the mountains. I hope it will be able to top my form a bit extra, says Tove Alexandersson, who the day before the World Championship had not received a message that the charging had an effect:
I hope it will feel good. I have not tested so much in the last few days to save myself for the World Championship. The hope is that I will be in good shape.
Gold record
In connection with the upcoming World Championship competitions in Kuopio, Tove Alexandersson can become the world's best orienteerer of all time. Simone Niggli, from Switzerland, took 23 World Championship gold medals between 2001 and 2013. Tove Alexandersson has 21 World Championship gold medals today and three World Championship races are at stake in Finland.
Apart from Tove Alexandersson, only Hanna Lundberg, 22, in the Swedish team has been on high-altitude training before this World Championship. She is considered to be Swedish orienteering's great future name and is now doing similar training as Alexandersson.
Before 2022, I started testing high altitude and discovered that I responded well to it. I needed to raise myself physically and get an extra boost. I believe in the setup, says Hanna Lundberg, who is now free from the injury that stopped her from the World Cup in Idre.
Orienteering
World Championship: 21 gold, 7 silver, 3 bronze
European Championship: 10 gold, 3 silver, 4 bronze
Ski orienteering
World Championship: 10 gold, 3 silver, 2 bronze
European Championship: 6 gold, 3 silver, 4 bronze
Skyrunning
World Championship: 1 gold
Ski mountaineering
World Championship: 1 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze
Other: Jerring Prize 2019, Svenska Dagbladets gold medal (Bragdguldet) 2019.
Competition program
Tuesday, July 8: Middle distance, qualifying.
Wednesday, July 9: Middle distance, final
Thursday, July 10: Long distance, final
Saturday, July 12: Relay
