Leandersson added World Championship gold to his two European crowns with a time of 13 min 12.1sec, finishing narrowly ahead of Switzerland’s Martin Hubmann in second and fellow Swede Jerker Lysell in third.

"I had quite a good race with only a few small mistakes," said Leandersson.

"I felt tired at the end because of racing for the third day in a row."

Pre-race favourite Yannick Michiels, who was highly tipped to win Belgium’s first ever World Championship medal, finished fifth, losing precious seconds near the end of the course after he tripped while jumping a fence.

British hopes were high before the race, with the men’s team including Midlothian-based Scott Fraser, a former World Championship sprint silver medallist, as well as Edinburgh-based Murray Strain, and Swansea Bay Orienteering Club’s Kristian Jones, who won his qualification race on Friday (July 31).

Although there were no medals, all three British men put in steady performances to finish in the top 20, with Jones the best placed in eighth, only 7.5 seconds shy of bronze.

There was a shock shortly before the start of the women’s race when it was announced that two of the favourites for the title - the reigning champion Judith Wyder of Switzerland and last year’s silver medallist Tove Alexandersson of Sweden - would not be running due to injury.

This left Alm as the clear favourite after her commanding performance for the Danish team in yesterday’s sprint relay in Nairn, and she didn’t disappoint, winning by a comfortable margin of just under 40 seconds with a time of 13:32.5.

Ukraine’s Nadiya Volynska was second, while Russia’s Galina Vinogradova won an extremely close battle for the bronze medal, with only 2.6 seconds separating third from sixth.

"A second gold medal in two days is crazy and unreal," said Alm.

"I was feeling good physically, and the map and course were what I was expecting.

"Hopefully Denmark can continue our run of success over the rest of the week."

Great Britain’s Charlotte Ward, of Humberside and Lincolnshire Orienteers, had put in a strong performance on her World Championship debut in the qualification race on Friday (July 31), finishing third in her heat.

She was again the best of the British women in the final, finishing in 17th position, ahead of team mates Alice Leake and Ruth Holmes. 

Following a rest day tomorrow, the World Orienteering Championships continues on Tuesday (August 4) when the middle race takes place in Darnaway Forest.



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