In the forests of Tikkala, Swedish teams are aiming for their fifth consecutive victory in the Venla Relay.<\/p>\n
The lowest odds in the winner\u2019s betting pool belong to IFK G\u00f6teborg, champions in both 2022 and 2023. Last year, multiple world champion Tove Alexandersson<\/strong> brought Stora Tuna OK to victory with a stunning anchor leg. Kalevan Rasti Is Ready to Surprise<\/strong><\/p>\n It\u2019s been 15 years since a Finnish club last won the Venla Relay \u2014 that victory came in 2009 in the forests of Kyt\u00e4j\u00e4, when Tampereen Pyrint\u00f6 took the title. Kalevan Rasti came close to victory last year but had to settle for the second place. Still, Pajunen is quick to assign the favorite\u2019s role to IFK G\u00f6teborg. Kalevan Rasti\u2019s first team includes a new face: junior world champion Elisa Mattila<\/strong>, who replaces Miia Niittynen.<\/strong> In Mikkeli, Elisa Mattila will run the second leg, followed by Marika Teini<\/strong>\u2014also selected for the World Championships\u2014and Ida Haapala<\/strong> as the anchor, another Finnish national team runner.<\/p>\n Young Espoon Suunta Team Chasing a Top-10 Finish<\/strong><\/p>\n Among the Finnish teams, Espoon Suunta\u2019s young squad also has strong potential for a top-10 result.<\/p>\n \u201cOur team\u2019s average age is 21. Each of us wants to enjoy the Venla Relay and have fun. We\u2019re aiming to run our best individual races and see where that takes us,\u201d says Hanne Hilo,<\/strong> a two-time European Youth Champion.<\/p>\n \u201cOur club will organize the Jukola Relay in 2028, so we won\u2019t be able to compete that year. Until then, we\u2019ve got several chances to chase top results in the Venla Relay.\u201d<\/p>\n Espoon Suunta\u2019s first team includes Anni Jantunen,<\/strong> Swiss runner Siana Senn, Liisa Raasakka<\/strong>, and Hanne Hilo.<\/p>\n Text Markku Leinonen<\/p>\n Translation Sari Parkkinen<\/p>\n Photo Sari Ursin<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In the forests of Tikkala, Swedish teams are aiming for their fifth consecutive victory in the Venla Relay. The lowest…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":194,"featured_media":2878,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[98],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2889","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ajankohtaista-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jukola.com\/2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2889","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jukola.com\/2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jukola.com\/2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jukola.com\/2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/194"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jukola.com\/2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2889"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/jukola.com\/2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2889\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2951,"href":"https:\/\/jukola.com\/2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2889\/revisions\/2951"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jukola.com\/2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2878"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jukola.com\/2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2889"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jukola.com\/2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2889"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jukola.com\/2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2889"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nTheir first team, wearing bib number 4, features Malin Agervig-Kristiansson,<\/strong> Swiss star Simona Aebersold, Sara Hagstr\u00f6m,<\/strong> and Sanna Fasth.<\/strong>
\nEven G\u00f6teborg\u2019s second team is strong enough to contend for victory, with Norwegian Ingrid Lundanes<\/strong> anchoring the relay.<\/p>\n
\nThis time, Stora Tuna\u2019s chances are slimmer.
\n\u201cWe lost Marie Olaussen<\/strong> from last year\u2019s team. She\u2019ll be replaced by Ronja Hugg.<\/strong> Our goal is to place in the top ten,\u201d said Magdalena Olsson<\/strong>, who will run the second leg for the team.<\/p>\n
\nPyrint\u00f6 is again among the top Finnish contenders this year. Their lineup includes Lotta Karhola, Venla Taulavuori, Anni Haanp\u00e4\u00e4,<\/strong> and Venla Harju,<\/strong> who has been selected for Finland\u2019s World Championship team in Kuopio.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cWe have a strong team again this year,\u201d assures head coach Jere Pajunen<\/strong>, originally from Mikkeli.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cThey\u2019ve got an incredibly deep and high-level squad \u2014 enough to form several competitive teams.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nThe opening leg will be run by 24-year-old French runner Cecile Calandry,<\/strong> who had a strong performance in Kauhava last year, coming in 12th at the first exchange.
\n\u201cShe\u2019s a reliable starter. We\u2019ve trained in eastern Finnish terrain with the team, so Cecile has a good feel for the Tikkala forest type,\u201d Pajunen adds.<\/p>\n