Returning to the same area as the previous day’s Long, Team GB were greeted by a radical change in the weather, with warm sunshine replacing the rain. The dry conditions and the prospect of fast head-to-head relay racing would make for exciting spectating on this forested hill, close to Banska Bystrica.

Finlay Todd and Grace Molloy were the lead-out runners for the two M/W18 teams, with Eilidh Campbell also making the most of the opportunity to pit herself against the other first leg runners in her W16 class. Eilidh had a solid run, with only one or two small mistakes, meaning a respectable top 10 finish and this rounded off a promising debut in a GB vest, with much to take away for the future from this experience.

Meanwhile, in the men’s race, Finlay had lost contact with the pack, following an error costing him a couple of minutes, but by managing to keep his form for the remainder of the run, he left Alastair Thomas with the prospect of fighting for a podium position on the second leg. This he duly did, pulling back several places and handing over to Freddie Carcas with the team in 9th. Freddie then had his best run of the weekend and was only kept off the podium by a strong finish from the Austrian and Norwegian 3rd leg runners, ending up 8th and less than a minute from glory.