Tove Alexandersson (born 7 September 1992) is a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

orienteer Orienteering is a group of sports that require navigational skills using a map and compass to navigate from point to point in diverse and usually unfamiliar terrain whilst moving at speed. Participants are given a topographical map, usually a ...

, ski orienteer, skyrunner and

ski mountaineer Ski mountaineering (abbreviated to skimo) is a skiing discipline that involves climbing mountains either on skis or carrying them, depending on the steepness of the ascent, and then descending on skis. There are two major categories of equipmen ...

. She has won a total of 17 gold medals at the

World Orienteering Championships The World Orienteering Championships (or WOC for short) is an annual orienteering event organized by the International Orienteering Federation. The first World Championships was held in Fiskars, Finland in 1966. They were held biennially up to 2 ...

and 10 gold medals at the

World Ski Orienteering Championships The World Ski Orienteering Championships (Ski-WOC) is the official event to award the titles of World Champions in ski orienteering. The World Championships is organized every odd year. The programme includes Sprint, Middle and Long Distance compe ...

. In 2018, she won the Sky Marathon event at the

Skyrunning World Championships The Skyrunning World Championships are skyrunning competitions held for the first time in 2010 and organised by the International Skyrunning Federation. The second edition was held in 2014 and thereafter the championships have taken place on a bien ...

, in her second skyrunning race ever. In 2021, she won the combined discipline at the

World Championships of Ski Mountaineering The World Championships of Ski Mountaineering are biannually held ski mountaineering competitions. History The events were originally sanctioned by the International Council for Ski Mountaineering Competitions (ISMC). The first official world ma ...

. She competes for Stora Tuna OK in orienteering and Alfta-Ösa OK in ski orienteering. Alexandersson holds the record for the number of gold medals in a row at the

, winning 11 in a row between 2018 and 2022.

Orienteering

WOC Middle Distance Tove Alexandresson 3

Junior World Championships

Alexandersson became Middle Distance Junior World Champion in orienteering in 2009. She was 16 years old at the time, running against competitors up to four years older than her. She maintained her Middle Distance title in both 2010 and 2012, with two further gold medals in the sprint and in the relay, two silvers, and one bronze in the long distance.

World Orienteering Championships

After her success as a junior prodigy Alexandersson took several years to achieve her gold medal, receiving only silvers and bronzes in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015 despite being one of the favourites. She made her breakthrough in 2016, a season which saw her take #1 in the world ranking as well as dominate in the Orienteering World Cup and the

, where she won both individual forest titles. In 2017 she continued to dominate at the 2017 World Orienteering Championships in Estonia, where she won all forest classes (Middle, Long and Relay). In the 2018 WOC she won the silver medal in sprint and the gold medal in mixed sprint relay. In the 2019 WOC she won the gold medals in the long and middle distances and also participated in the winning Swedish relay team together with Lina Strand and

Karolin Ohlsson Karolin Ohlsson (born 29 August 1991) is a Swedish orienteering competitor who competes internationally. She became world champion in the sprint relay in 2018. Personal life Ohlsson was born in Stockholm, and works as a silversmith in Stockholm ...

. In the 2021 WOC she won gold in all five events, and became the first person to win five gold medals in a single championship. Alexandersson set a record for the number of gold medals in World Orienteering Championships in a row won, winning eleven in a row for four years between 2018 and 2022, before finally coming sixth place in the sprint at the 2022 World Orienteering Championships following several errors. She also won the Venla Relay in 2018 together with Julia Gross, Anna Mårsell and Magdalena Olsson.

World Championship results

Orienteering World Cup

Alexandersson won the Orienteering World Cup eight times in a row from 2014 to 2022 (there was no World Cup in 2020 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

European Orienteering Championships

Ski orienteering

She won a gold medal in the sprint distance at the 2011

in Sweden. In 2015, she once again won the women's World Ski Orienteering Championships sprint distance event. Alexandersson is one of the few orienteers who participates in both ski orienteering and the more popular

foot orienteering Foot orienteering (usually referred to as simply Orienteering or FootO for short) is the oldest formal orienteering sport, and the one with the most "starts" per year. Usually, a FootO is a timed race in which participants start at staggered in ...

. Alexandersson has been dominant in ski orienteering in recent years; at the championships in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

in 2017 she won three gold medals. In December 2018, Alexandersson became the first athlete to be ranked #1 in three separate disciplines by the

International Orienteering Federation The International Orienteering Federation (IOF) is the international governing body of the sport of orienteering. The IOF head office is located in Karlstad, Sweden. The IOF governs four orienteering disciplines: foot orienteering, mountain bi ...

(Ski-O, Foot-O Middle and Long and Foot-O Sprint).

Skyrunning

In 2017 Alexandersson took a surprise victory in the 29 kilometer Limone Extreme SkyRace with a margin of 12 minutes ahead of established

skyrunning Skyrunning is a sport of mountain running up to or exceeding where the minimum average incline is 6% over the total distance and at least 5% has an incline of 30% or more. The climbing difficulty does not exceed II grade UIAA. Poles, crampons and ...

specialists, and despite taking several downhill running falls that required medical attention to arms, hands and legs. In September 2018 Alexandersson won a gold medal in the Sky discipline of the biennial

held on the

Ring of Steall Skyrace Skyline Scotland is a set of annual skyrunning races which take place on consecutive days in the mountains around Kinlochleven in Lochaber. The main races are the Mamores VK, the Ring of Steall Skyrace, the Ben Nevis Ultra and the Glen Coe Skyli ...

course at

Kinlochleven Kinlochleven () ( gd, Ceann Loch Lìobhann) is a village located in Lochaber, in the Scottish Highlands and lies at the eastern end of Loch Leven. To the north lie the Mamores ridge; to the south lie the mountains flanking Glen Coe. The village ...

in Scotland. She won by more than seven minutes, setting a new course record by 19 minutes on the demanding and technical course with about of climb. Said Alexandersson: "I did not have a big expectation of this race because I am new to skyraces but it was a nice day for me. It was a fantastic course and it feels amazing to be world champion." In October 2018 Tove Alexandersson triumphed for the second year in a row in the Limone Extreme SkyRace, this time by a margin of nine minutes. This was Alexandersson's third skyrunning race ever, and she remained undefeated. In July 2020 Alexandersson won the Salomon 27K Fjällmaraton race in Sweden with a new course record. A few days later she won the 43K Fjällmaraton race, again with a new course record. In October Alexandersson won the Skyrace des Matheysins in France. A week later Alexandersson missed victory in a skyrunning race for the first time ever. In the four-day stage race Golden Trail Championship in the

Azores ) , motto =( en, "Rather die free than subjected in peace") , anthem= ( en, "Anthem of the Azores") , image_map=Locator_map_of_Azores_in_EU.svg , map_alt=Location of the Azores within the European Union , map_caption=Location of the Azores wi ...

she had a huge lead after the first day, but performed increasingly less well over the next three days to finish fourth overall. In October 2021 Alexandersson won the ''KM de Chando'' in Switzerland, where the runners ascend 2,000 vertical meters to the top of Illhorn.

Ski mountaineering

In November 2019 Alexandersson stated that she would limit her ski orienteering competitions during the upcoming winter, in order to practice

ski mountaineering Ski mountaineering (abbreviated to skimo) is a skiing discipline that involves climbing mountains either on skis or carrying them, depending on the steepness of the ascent, and then descending on skis. There are two major categories of equipmen ...

. She said that she intended to participate in five world cup competitions plus the upcoming European Championships. Her best result that year was a fifth place finish, but the European championships was cancelled due to the Coronavirus pandemic. In February 2021, into her second season of Ski mountaineering, Alexandersson won her first World Cup race, following four second place finishes. In March 2021, Alexandersson participated in the World Championships in La Massana, Andorra, becoming the combined world champion, and placing second in the individual event, third in the vertical event, fourth in the sprint event and fifth in the team relay representing Sweden. Alexandersson would have won the ISMF World Cup Ski Mountaineering overall title in 2021, had she not missed the prize-giving ceremony following the sprint race, held at the world cup final in

Madonna di Campiglio Madonna di Campiglio (german: Sankt Maria im Pein) is a village and a ski resort in northeast Italy. It is a ''frazione'' of the ''comune'' of Pinzolo. The village lies in the Val Rendena at an elevation of above sea level, and has approximat ...

. She had finished fifth in the race and, due to a misunderstanding, she was under the impression that only the top three athletes were to attend the ceremony. The mistake resulted in Alexandersson's disqualification and as a consequence the overall title was instead awarded to French competitor Axelle Mollaret, while Alexandersson had to settle for second place.

Awards

Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal

Tove Alexandersson was awarded the Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal in early December 2019.

Jerring Award

During Svenska idrottsgalan in January 2020, she received the Jerring Award. She was also awarded "Swedish Sportswoman of the Year 2019".

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Alexandersson, Tove 1992 births Living people Swedish orienteers Female orienteers Foot orienteers Ski-orienteers World Orienteering Championships medalists World Games silver medalists Competitors at the 2013 World Games Swedish sky runners Skyrunning World Championships winners Swedish female long-distance runners World Games medalists in orienteering Sportspeople from Dalarna County 20th-century Swedish women 21st-century Swedish women Junior World Orienteering Championships medalists