The award ceremony offered plenty to see and hear for the audience who had gathered to follow the event.
However, the spotlight was on the winning team, IFK Göteborg (Malin Agervig-Kristiansson, Simona Aebersold, Sara Hagström, Sanna Fasth), who received a new trophy designed and crafted by artist Juha Menna and donated by Kaukametsäläiset.
The Gothenburg team took home two prizes as they were also handed the previous trophy, ‘Venlan avaimet’ (Venla’s Keys), for the years 2017-2024. Under warm evening sunshine, a total of 25 teams were awarded prizes at the event.
The prizes were provided by Tom Design, Lumonite and Pirtin Kehräämö. The prizes were presented by Petri Paukkunen, Vice-Chair of Kaukametsäläiset, Antti Ekonoja, Chair of the Finnish Orienteering Federation’s Club Parliament, and Heini Utunen, Regional Mayor of the South Savo Regional Council. The Best Orienteering Coach award, presented by the Orienteering Coaches Association, went to Tampereen Pyrintö coaches Kari Jussila and Petri Kuusinen.
As Janne Kinnunen, Mayor of Mikkeli, said in his greeting, ‘Summer in Mikkeli offers plenty of experiences.’ The Venla Relay awards ceremony was one of those experiences.
Text: Virva Korpinen
Photo: Samu Romo
Translation: Irma Gynther-Karppinen