SkiO World Cup: Jorgen Backlid on track for third overall victory

Norway’s Jorgen Backlid, the overall winner for the past two years, tops the men’s rankings with three gold medals at the world championships. Sweden’s Magdalena Olsson leads the women’s standings with 85 points.

Olsson missed the 2023 season due to family reasons, but returned to full strength this season, winning two of three individual races at the recent World Championships in Austria. Her closest challenger is Norwegian Anna Ulbensoen, who won the middle race at the world championships and was fifth overall last year. A very consistent athlete Linda Lindqvist (Sweden) took her third place. Elin Schagerström, another member of the Swedish team, improved significantly from last year in 9th place among the top six.^th From last year to now 4^th.

The strength of the Swedish women’s team is evidenced by the fact that they have five players in the top 10. Norway has two of hers, Estonia, Finland and Switzerland each have one of hers.

Norway has the strongest men’s team, with five teams in the top ten. Sweden has two teams, while Bulgaria, Finland and Switzerland have one each. Apart from the best backlid, the most impressive performance came from Swiss athlete Nicolas Müller, who, apart from his personal performance at the championships,^n.d. Tracking and Intermediate, 6^th Sprint), and contributed greatly to Switzerland’s bronze medal in the sprint relay.he is currently 2 years old^n.d. Standings after 9th place finish^th Last year’s spot.

Third place is occupied by Finland’s Niklas Ekström, who was third overall in 2023. First-year senior Teodor Mo Helseth is off to a very promising start and is now in his sixth year.^th In the standings. He won the middle distance and mass start races at last year’s Junior World Championships.

This is a two-round World Cup, with the final round to be held in Estonia from February 23-25, once again featuring sprint, pursuit and middle-distance races.

Top rankings after World SkiO Championships

woman

1. Magdalena Olsson SWE 280 points
2. Anna Urbensoen NOR 195
3. Linda Lindqvist SWE 173
4. Erin Shagerstrom SWE 163
5. Frieda Sandberg SWE 137
6. Maria Hoskari FIN 113

male

1. Jorgen Backlid NOR 300
2. Nicola Muller SUI 200
3. Niklas Ekström FIN 155
4. Stanimir Belomadev BUL 153
5. Henrik Fredriksen Aas NOR 141
6. Theodor Mor Helseth NOR 123

A complete list of current positions is available at https://ranking.orienteering.org/WorldCup/WorldCup?wcup=skio&.