Home Silver! Czech Women Storm the Relay Podium as Bergman and Svensk Steal the Men’s Race
World Cup Round 3 – Relay, 9 August 2026
The relay is the race the fans wait for – head-to-head battles, lead changes you can see with your own eyes, and an arena that erupts with every passage. Sunday in Martínkov delivered all of it, and the loudest roar of the whole week came when Lucie Dittrichová ran into the finish chute to seal a home silver medal for the Czech women.
Women: Norway control, Czechia celebrate
Norway’s first team was the benchmark all day. Victoria Hæstad Bjørnstad set the fastest opening leg, Marie Olaussen extended the advantage, and Pia Young Vik brought it home in 1:42:32 — a win without a single wobble.
Behind them, the Czech women ran the relay of their lives. Denisa Králová handed over fourth, just 21 seconds down. Tereza Rauturier, bronze medallist from the long distance, moved the team up to second with the fourth-fastest leg of the day. And then it was up to Dittrichová, fresh from her middle distance bronze, to defend the medal position against a charging Swedish team. She never blinked, crossing the line 1:47 behind Norway and 37 seconds clear of Sweden’s Sanna Fast – silver for the Czechs, and a home podium in the most spectator-friendly discipline of them all.
Sweden took bronze, while the result of the day behind the podium belonged to Simona Aebersold. Starting the last leg 13th after a difficult Swiss second leg, the winner of both the long and the middle produced an astonishing time of 33:00 – the only sub-34 anchor leg – and hauled the Swiss all the way up to fourth, 59 seconds short of the medals. Denmark completed the top five, and the second Czech team of Lucie Semíková, Markéta Muličková and Jana Peterová crossed eighth overall.
Men: a Swedish masterstroke on the last two legs
The men’s race turned into a demonstration of Swedish depth. Anton Johansson came back 17th, a minute and a half down — and then Gustav Bergman ran the fastest second leg of the field (29:06) to lift his team into fourth. That set the stage for Viktor Svensk, the long distance champion, who started 38 seconds behind leading Norway and simply ran everyone down. His 28:48 was the fastest leg of the entire day, and Sweden won in 1:28:56, thirteen seconds ahead of Kasper Harlem Fosser running for Norway. Finland, anchored by Olli Ojanaho, took bronze.
The Czech men made the arena believe for a long time. Jakub Chaloupský handed over fifth, 17 seconds off the lead, and although Daniel Bolehovský lost ground on the second leg, middle distance champion Tomáš Křivda attacked once more. His 30:13 was the third-fastest anchor leg, lifting the home team back to fifth at +2:06 – within sight of the medal fight until the closing kilometres. In the second Czech team, Martin Roudný thrilled the home crowd with the second-fastest opening leg before the second Czech team eventually finished 13th across the line.
A fitting finale to the racing week
The relay capped a week the home team will not forget. The qualification set the stage, the brutal long distance brought Rauturier’s bronze in the heat, Saturday’s middle gave Czechia Křivda’s gold and Dittrichová’s bronze – and the relay added a team silver in front of a packed arena. It is no coincidence that the biggest crowds of the week came on relay day: with every runner passing through the arena and the battles unfolding in plain sight, the atmosphere in Martínkov was electric from the first mass start to the last finisher.
For Sweden, Svensk leaves with two golds and a silver; for Switzerland, Aebersold’s individual double and heroic anchor leg confirmed her as the outstanding woman of the round. But for the thousands of Czech fans on the hillsides, this Sunday belonged to Králová, Rauturier and Dittrichová.
