Last weekend saw a pretty intense battle between a small group of nations under the “Nordic” banner.

As part of a festival of Multisports, the Elite had a chance to showcase their skills over the Sprint Distance.

For the women, it was not only a runaway victory for Alberte Kjær Pedersen, but also a clean sweep on the podium for the host nation as Anne Holm claimed silver and Sif Bendix Madsen came home for the bronze.

Kjær has had a wonderful couple of weeks, with her supreme 5k performance to become Danish champion on the weekend before this race. Arriving at the venue, she was most definitely the race favourite  but we all know that the smallest error can be amplified to become a major mistake in a matter of seconds with the combination of swim / bike / run and a couple of transitions thrown in to the mix.

From the start, Kjær and Holm worked together. Managing a small but decisive breakaway in the swim, they were locked together out on the bike course, building the lead that they had over Bendix Madsen, who ended up in no-man’s land for the entire bike course.

Into T2 and Kjær, confident now with her running and having recovered from the niggling injury that had kept her back, just let go and stormed away to take an easy victory.

After the race, she explained, “To dejlige dage med gode oplevelser til både dansk og nordisk mesterskab i triathlon lørdag og DM mix-relay søndag. Når man som atlet er så priviligeret at få muligheden for at køre stævner på hjemmebane, skal det nydes. Stemningen fra de mange velkendte tilskuere og atleter samt venner og familie var fantastisk.

Weekenden var fyldt med triathlonkonkurrencer i Fredericias gader, og det var skønt at prøve at køre både det nordiske og det danske senior mesterskab lørdag. Jeg vandt titlen som både dansk mester og nordisk mester, hvor mit venstre lår (ENDELIG) ville som jeg. Jeg mærkede en markant forbedring, hvilket er en kæmpe lettelse.I dag stod den på mix-relay med Henrik Klemmensen,  og Emil Deleuran. Vi klarede det meget godt, da vi til slut kunne tage titlen i tæt opgør mod Ganløse.

Jeg vil gerne sige stor tak til Fredericia Idrætsfond, for at støtte min vej mod OL i Tokyo 2020, det er jeg utrolig taknemmelig for. Derudover vil jeg gerne takke de frivillige som gjorde et stort stykke arbejde! Håber det bliver gentaget til næste år!

Two lovely days of good experiences for both Danish and Nordic Championship in triathlon Saturday and DM Mix-Relay Sunday.

When you as an athlete are so privileged to have the opportunity to race events in your home country, it should be enjoyed. The atmosphere created by the many well-known spectators and athletes as well as friends and family was amazing.

The weekend was filled with triathlon races that filled the streets in Fredericia and it was great to try to run both the Nordic and Danish Senior Championship Saturday. I won the title as both Danish and Nordic Champion. My left thigh (finally) would like me. I felt a marked improvement, which is a huge relief.

Today we had the mixed relay with Henrik Klemmesen and Emil Deleuran. We did very well when we finally could take the title in close showdown against Ganløse.

I would like to say a big thank you to Fredericia sports, to support my path to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, for which I am extremely grateful. In addition, I would like to thank the volunteers who did a great job! Hope it will be repeated next year!”

Still a bit cold and with wetsuits at the ready, the Elite Men were now ready to race.

The men’s race unfolded in a similar way, with Andreas Schilling and Henrik Klemmesen breaking away on the swim and creating just enough of a gap ahead of Emil Holm to enable them to double-up on the bike and maintain that lead all the way to T2. Holm was unable to catch the leaders and this left the door open for the highly experienced Schilling to use his run pace to take him all the way to gold.

The local crowds were delighted as this is Schilling’s city. Klemmesen, also from the host city, came home for silver, comfortably ahead of Holm as the Danes made it a clean sweep for the men as well as the women.

After the race, the silver medal-winner was buzzing with delight, “Wuhu! 2nd at the Nordic Championships on home soil. A breakaway with Andreas Schilling on the swim & bike resulted in a solid lead coming into transition two. Finished off with second fastest run of the day as well, so overall a great day. Proud that I was able to get back up and light the fire after some tough experiences lately.”