The 24-year-old from Konnerud was, on paper, one of the biggest favorites in the opening distance of the World Ski Orienteering Championships in Ramsau, Austria. But he didn’t dare to think about the World Championship gold until he approached the finish line.

“I knew I had run a relatively good race, but you don’t get split times in ski orienteering like in cross-country skiing, so it wasn’t until I approached the stadium that I realized it would be enough for gold,” Jørgen Baklid told Langrenn.com after the victory on Wednesday afternoon.

“The race was overall very good, but the conditions were quite challenging with a lot of downhill sections, and the snowmobile tracks were difficult to see because it was snowing heavily. So, I was a bit uncertain already at the first control point, but I regained my composure and got control. From there onwards, the race went very well without any significant technical mistakes, and I feel like my form is good,” Baklid said about his own performance.

Read also: Baklid winner at the World Ski Orienteering Championships sprint in Ramsau

Can Relax Now

Even though Baklid is the reigning world champion in two out of four events, he admits that nerves were high when he started the opening event this morning.

“The World Championship is the big goal of the season, so this means a lot. This has been on my mind for a long time, so delivering on day one feels very satisfying. Now, I can ease off on the nerves and enjoy the rest of the championship. I don’t think it will be a disadvantage. Starting first in tomorrow’s pursuit is also a nice bonus,” Baklid told Langrenn.com, adding:

“I did say that I would be satisfied with one gold but was aiming for four, so I’ll just have to try for the rest now.”

Read also: Sweden dominates the World Ski Orienteering Championships sprint in Ramsau

Next up is the pursuit on Wednesday, middle-distance on Friday, and mixed relay on Saturday, and Baklid is looking forward to how the conditions will be for the rest of the week.

“The biggest challenges today were definitely the fact that due to the weather, a lot of the race was conducted outside of the marked trails. This was because the trails, especially the snowmobile tracks, were hard to see inside the forest due to heavy snowfall, and also because of some mild weather which allowed us to float quite well on top of the snow outside the trails,” Baklid elaborated.

“So it became a bit of ‘chaos’ in ski orienteering, not the traditional type where you mostly follow the trails and navigate on them. Now, it was more about straight-line skiing and keeping control of the direction along with the trails and some vegetation.”

You can follow the competitions live through our streaming service SC Play, with English commentary.

WATCH HERE ON SC PLAY

Today’s pursuit is the longest distance of the World Championships races, and the winning times are expected to be around 50-60 minutes.

START LISTS

World Ski Orienteering Championships – Program and broadcast times with links to SC Play

Tuesday, January 23 – Sprint 11:30 – 14:10 CET
Wednesday, January 24 – Pursuit – 11:50 – 14:20 CET
Friday, January 26 – Middle distance – 13:00 – ~16:00 CET
Saturday, January 27 – Mixed relay – 13:00 – ~13:50 CET

On ProXCskiing.com, we will continuously report on the competition. If you want to watch the competitions live, you can do so on our streaming service, SC Play, with all competitions broadcast with English commentary. SC Play is included in the ProXCskiing.com membership.