Aussies crack top-30 at Cross Country Junior World Championships

It’s been a great start for the Australian Cross Country Team competing at the 2022 Nordic World Junior and U23 Championships in Lygna, Norway.

For the first time in almost two decades, two Australian athletes have recorded top-30 results at the World Junior Championships. The last athletes to achieve this result were Olympians Esther Bottomley, who finished 21st in the Sprint, and Ben Sim who finished 25th in the 30km, back in 2003.

However on the first day of competition in Norway, both Hugo Hinckfuss and Rosie Fordham recorded top-30 results. Beijing 2022 Olympian Hinckfuss placed 27th in the Men’s Junior 30km Freestyle Mass Start in 1.18:38.1, and Fordham placed 30th in the Women’s 15km Freestyle Mass Start in 42:47.6. Zana Evans placed 51st and Lile Murnane 61st.

Fordham said she was really excited to have already achieved her major goal of the event.

“My goal for the championships was to get a top 30 result so it feels great to have done that in the first race,” she said.

“I felt like I paced the race really well and just kept moving up in the field which gave me a lot of confidence in the later stages.

“It was awesome to have enough left in the tank to sprint all the way to the line and come away with a 30th place finish.

“It’s been great here in Norway so far, so good to catch up with the rest of the Australian team after being in the US since August.”

The Australian U23 athletes competed in their first event overnight, in the 10km and 15km Classic events.

In the Women's 10km, Phoebe Cridland finished 52nd and Tuva Bygrave 57th. In the Men’s 15km, Beijing Olympian Lars Young Vik was the strongest finisher in 46th place, followed by Bentley Walker-Broose in 56th and Fedele De Campo in 59th.

The U20 Junior athletes will return to the course tonight in their respective 5km and 10km Classic events, followed by the Sprint events on Saturday and Sunday.

See all results HERE