World Cup Round 3 Results: Grace Molloy storms the podium with a second place finish in the Knock-out sprint

The final battle took place in the town of Uster, Switzerland beginning with the Individual Sprint on Friday, the Mixed Sprint Relay on Saturday and the Knock-out Sprint on Sunday, with 227 athletes competing representing 32 countries across the races.  

Athletes heading to the races were expecting flat fast terrain with the headline result for Great Britain being Grace Molloy’s silver medal in the Knock-Out Sprint.

Sprint results

Qualification for the Knock-Out Sprint was taken from the results of Friday’s Individual Sprint race, where on a chilly day in Uster, athletes were thrown into a fast-paced sprint in the northeast end of the host city.

In contrast to the technical European Championships, the focus was on speed and route choice. GB's top performers, Grace Molloy and Freddie Carcas, finished 21st and 25th in their respective classes.

Sprint results

All images credited to Robert Lines

Relay results

Day two of the World Cup final round in Switzerland delivered high-energy action with the Mixed Sprint Relay. Planners set up a course packed with forked legs and variations, demanding sharp focus as athletes battled head-to-head at high speed. Great Britain’s best-performing team, Grace Molloy, Freddie Carcas, Eddie Narbett and Cecilie Andersen, secured 11th place. GB finished as the 7th nation.

Relay results 

Knock-out Sprint results

From the Individual Sprint the top 36 athletes qualified through to Sunday’s Knock-Out Sprint finals with the quarters, semis and finals all held on Sunday afternoon, with both Grace Molloy and Freddie Carcas making it through to the final rounds.

The athletes were met with both technical and intricate courses, the quarter- final consisting of a three-way butterfly forking, while the semi-final featured a runners’ choice with athletes choosing between three different course designs.

Freddie Carcas finished 6^th in his quarter-final, meaning his competition ended there, alongside some high-profile athletes, but Grace Molloy finished in 3^rd, qualifying for the semifinal.

In the semi-final, a slip and fall by Grace saw her narrowly finish in 3rd, which would have seen her eliminated, but a successful appeal against a recent rule change where athletes were not allowed to hold on to barriers, saw Grace promoted to the final, due to one of the athletes ahead of her not following this rule.

The final also featured a challenging course with forking at the first control, a leg through an underground parking garage and several controls in buildings with artificial barriers and taping.

In a race where Simona Aebersold quickly moved to the front of the field, her route choice at the decisive penultimate control saw her coming in first, but with the fast-running Grace Molloy right behind her in second place, her best international result to date. 

What an amazing finish to the competition!

Knockout sprint results

Full results