Tove Alexandersson

Tove Alexandersson

Tove Alexandersson at the Junior World Orienteering Championships 2010
Personal information
Birth name	Tove Malin Frida Alexandersson
Born	(1992-09-07) 7 September 1992 (age 32) Borlänge, Dalarna County, Sweden[1]
Sport
Sport	Orienteering Ski orienteering Skyrunning Ski mountaineering Trail running SkySnow
Club	Stora Tuna OK Alfta-Ösa OK
Medal record Representing  Sweden Women's orienteering World Championships 2016 Strömstad–Tanum Middle 2016 Strömstad–Tanum Long 2017 Tartu Middle 2017 Tartu Long 2017 Tartu Relay 2018 Riga Mixed sprint relay 2018 Riga Long 2019 Østfold Long 2019 Østfold Middle 2019 Østfold Relay 2021 Doksy Sprint 2021 Doksy Mixed sprint relay 2021 Doksy Middle 2021 Doksy Relay 2021 Doksy Long 2022 Triangle region Mixed sprint relay 2022 Triangle region Knock out sprint 2023 Flims-Lax Middle 2023 Flims-Lax Relay 2024 Edinburgh Sprint 2024 Edinburgh Knock out sprint 2012 Lausanne Middle 2012 Lausanne Relay 2013 Vuokatti Middle 2013 Vuokatti Long 2014 Trentino–Veneto Sprint 2014 Trentino–Veneto Long 2018 Riga Sprint 2018 Riga Relay 2023 Flims-Lax Long 2011 Savoie Relay 2014 Trentino–Veneto Middle 2014 Trentino–Veneto Relay World Games 2013 Cali Middle World Cup 2014 WC Overall 2015 WC Overall 2016 WC Overall 2017 WC Overall 2018 WC Overall 2019 WC Overall 2021 WC Overall 2022 WC Overall 2023 WC Overall 2013 WC Overall European Championships 2016 Jeseník Middle 2016 Jeseník Long 2018 Ticino Sprint 2018 Ticino Long 2021 Neuchâtel Sprint 2022 Rakvere Relay 2016 Jeseník Relay 2018 Ticino Middle 2022 Rakvere Long 2012 Falun Relay 2014 Palmela Middle Junior World Championships 2009 Trentino Middle 2010 Aalborg Middle 2011 Wejherowo Relay 2012 Kosice Sprint 2012 Kosice Middle 2011 Wejherowo Middle 2012 Kosice Relay 2011 Wejherowo Long Women's ski-orienteering World Championships 2011 Tänndalen Sprint 2013 Ridder Sprint 2013 Ridder Sprint Relay 2015 Hamar/Løten Sprint 2015 Hamar/Løten Relay 2017 Krasnoyarsk Sprint 2017 Krasnoyarsk Middle 2017 Krasnoyarsk Relay 2019 Piteå Sprint 2019 Piteå Long 2013 Ridder Relay 2019 Piteå Relay 2019 Piteå Middle 2013 Ridder Long Junior World Championships 2009 Dalarna Long 2009 Dalarna Middle Skyrunning World Championships 2018 Kinlochleven Sky Ski mountaineering World Championships [a] 2021 La Massana Combined 2021 La Massana Individual 2021 La Massana Vertical European Championships 2024 Flaine Individual World Cup 2021 Combined Trail running World Championships 2023 Innsbruck Up and Down SkySnow World Championships 2024 Tarvisio Vertical 2024 Tarvisio Classic 2024 Tarvisio Combined

Tove Alexandersson (born 7 September 1992) is a Swedish foot orienteer, ski orienteer, skyrunner, trail runner, ski mountaineer and skysnow runner. Alexandersson has won gold medals at world championships in five different sports plus a silver medal in a sixth sport, and has won a total of 21 gold medals at the World Orienteering Championships, making her the second most successful orienteer in history by number of gold medals at World Championships, behind Simone Niggli-Luder. Alexandersson holds the record for the number of gold medals in a row at the World Orienteering Championships, winning 11 in a row between 2018 and 2022.^[2]

In addition to her success in orienteering, Alexandersson has excelled in multiple other sports. Alexandersson has won 10 gold medals at the World Ski Orienteering Championships, and in 2018, she won the Sky Marathon event at the Skyrunning World Championships, in her second skyrunning race ever. In 2021, she won the combined discipline at the World Championships of Ski Mountaineering, and in 2023 she won a silver medal in the up and down discipline at the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships. In 2024 Alexandersson won all three events in the SkySnow World Championships in her first such event ever. She competes for Stora Tuna OK in orienteering and Alfta-Ösa OK in ski orienteering.^[3]

Orienteering

Tove Alexandersson in 2016

Junior World Championships

Alexandersson became Middle Distance Junior World Champion in orienteering in 2009.^[4][5] 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 World Orienteering Championships, 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^[6] and the gold medal in mixed sprint relay.^[7]

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.

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.^[2]

By winning gold medals both in the sprint and in the knock-out sprint at the 2024 World Orienteering Championships in Edinburgh, she has won 21 gold medals in the world orienteering championships.^[8][9]

She also won the Venla Relay in 2018 together with Julia Gross, Anna Mårsell and Magdalena Olsson.^[10]

World Championship results

Year
	Age	Forest events			Urban events
		Long	Middle	Relay	Sprint	Knockout Sprint	Sprint Relay
2011	18	—	—	Bronze	—	—	—
2012	19	—	Silver	Silver	—	—	—
2013	20	Silver	Silver	4	—	—	—
2014	21	Silver	Bronze	Bronze	Silver	—	—
2015	22	4	—	—	—	—	—
2016	23	Gold	Gold	5	—	—	—
2017	24	Gold	Gold	Gold	—	—	—
2018	25	Gold	DSQ	Silver	Silver	—	Gold
2019	26	Gold	Gold	Gold	—	—	—
2021	28	Gold	Gold	Gold	Gold	—	Gold
2022	29	—	—	—	6	Gold	Gold
2023	30	Silver	Gold	Gold	—	—	—
2024	31	—	—	—	Gold	Gold

Orienteering World Cup

Alexandersson won the Orienteering World Cup nine times in a row from 2014 to 2023 (there was no World Cup in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic).^{[11][12][13][14][15][16]}

European Orienteering Championships

Year
	Age	Forest events			Urban events
		Long	Middle	Relay	Sprint	Knockout Sprint	Sprint Relay
2012	19	4	5	Bronze	—	—	—
2014	21	16	Bronze	—	—	—	—
2016	23	Gold	Gold	Silver	—	—	—
2018	25	Gold	Silver	—	Gold	—	—
2021	28	—	—	—	Gold	—	—
2022	29	Silver	14	Gold	—	—	—
2023	30	—	—	—	Silver	—	Gold
2024	31	Gold	4	Bronze	—	—	—

Ski orienteering

She won a gold medal in the sprint distance at the 2011 World Ski Orienteering Championships in Sweden. In 2015, she once again won the women's World Ski Orienteering Championships sprint distance event.^[17] Alexandersson is one of the few orienteers who participates in both ski orienteering and the more popular foot orienteering. Alexandersson has been dominant in ski orienteering in recent years; at the championships in Russia 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 (Ski-O, Foot-O Middle and Long and Foot-O Sprint).^[18]

Skyrunning, Trail running and SkySnow

In 2017 Alexandersson took a surprise victory in the 29 kilometer Limone Extreme SkyRace with a margin of 12 minutes ahead of established skyrunning specialists, and despite taking several downhill running falls that required medical attention to arms, hands and legs.^[19]

In September 2018 Alexandersson won a gold medal in the Sky discipline of the biennial Skyrunning World Championships held on the Ring of Steall Skyrace course at Kinlochleven in Scotland. She won by more than seven minutes, setting a new course record by 19 minutes on the demanding and technical 29 km (18 mi) course with about 2,500 m (8,200 ft) of climb.^[20] 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."^[21]

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.^[22] 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.^[23] A few days later she won the 43K Fjällmaraton race, again with a new course record.^[24] In October Alexandersson won the Skyrace des Matheysins in France.^[25] 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 she had a huge lead after the first day, but performed increasingly less well over the next three days to finish fourth overall.^[26]

In October 2021 Alexandersson won the KM de Chando in Switzerland, where the runners ascend 2,000 vertical meters to the top of Illhorn.^[27]

In June 2023 Alexandersson took a silver medal in the 2023 World Mountain and Trail Running Championships World Championship in the Up and Downhill Mountain class.^[28]

In March 2024 Alexandersson participated in the first World Championships of the running discipline SkySnow which consists of running on snow at high altitude wearing micro crampons. She had never competed in this sport but nevertheless won all three gold medals up for grabs: Vertical, Classic and Combined.^[29]

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. She said that she intended to participate in five world cup competitions plus the upcoming European Championships.^[30] 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.^[31][32] 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.^{[33][34][35][36][37]}

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. 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.^[38][39]

In 2024 Alexandersson won the individual race in the European Championships of Ski Mountaineering.^[40]

Awards

Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal

Tove Alexandersson was awarded the Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal in early December 2019.^[41]

Jerring Award

During Svenska idrottsgalan in January 2020, she received the Jerring Award. She was also awarded "Swedish Sportswoman of the Year 2019".^[42][43]

H. M. The King's Medal

Alexandersson received the H. M. The King's Medal for outstanding contributions to orienteering, ski orienteering and skyrunning in 2022.^[44]

Notes

1. Ski Mountaineering World Championships are held odd years and European Championships even years

References

1. "Tove Alexandersson" (in Swedish). tovealexandersson.se. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
2. Berkeley, Geoff (30 June 2022). "Carter Davies wins women's orienteering sprint title as Alexandersson falters". www.insidethegames.biz. Inside the Games. Retrieved 6 July 2022.
3. "IOF Eventor - Tove Alexandersson".
4. "JWOC 2009 ITA. Trentino, Italy, 5-12 July 2009". International Orienteering Federation. Archived from the original on 23 March 2012. Retrieved 14 July 2011.
5. "JWOC 2010 DEN. Aalborg, Denmark, 4-10 July 2010". International Orienteering Federation. Archived from the original on 23 March 2012. Retrieved 14 July 2011.
6. "World Orienteering Championships 2018 Sprint Final Results" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 August 2018. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
7. "World Orienteering Championships 2018 Sprint Relay Results" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 August 2018. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
8. "Tove Alexandersson vinner 20:e VM-guldet". svt.no (in Swedish). 12 July 2024. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
9. "World Ranking - Sprint. Final". IOF Eventor. 12 July 2024. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
10. Carl-Magnus Långkvist (18 June 2018). "Finländska segertorkan fortsätter – Alexandersson förde Stora Tuna till första Venlasegern på över 30 år" (in Swedish). Yle. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
11. Mårten Lång (30 September 2017). "Toves fjärde raka seger i världscupen" (in Swedish). Svensk orientering. Archived from the original on 1 January 2018. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
12. "Tove Alexandersson vann totala världscupen" (in Swedish). SVT Sport. 4 October 2018. Retrieved 7 October 2018.
13. "Dubbla svenska segrar i sista världscuploppet" (in Swedish). Göteborgsposten. 7 October 2018. Retrieved 7 October 2018.
14. "Tove Alexandersson unbeatable in World Cup". IOF. 29 September 2019. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
15. "World Cup -> Standings". International Orienteering Federation (IOF). 2 October 2021. Archived from the original on 5 October 2021. Retrieved 5 October 2021.
16. "Alexandersson secures ninth World Cup-title, as men's fight tightens". International Orienteering Federation (IOF). 5 October 2023. Archived from the original on 6 October 2023. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
17. Peter Jonsson (11 February 2015). "Tove Alexanderssons revansch – guld" (in Swedish). SVT Sport. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
18. "Athlete details - IOF World Ranking".
19. "Limone Extreme 2017 Summary and Images – Migu Run Skyrunner World Series". Ian Corless. 24 October 2017. Archived from the original on 1 January 2018. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
20. Bryon Powell (16 September 2018). "2018 Ring of Steall Skyrace Results". iRunFar. Archived from the original on 16 September 2018. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
21. Bob Smith (15 September 2018). "Kílian Jornet and Tove Alexandersson clinch skyrunning titles with Steall wins". Grough. Archived from the original on 16 September 2018. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
22. "Limone Extreme 2018 Race Summary and Images". Ian Corless. 13 October 2018. Archived from the original on 19 October 2018. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
23. Lundmark, Fredrik (25 July 2020). "Fjällmaraton – seger och banrekord av orienteringsstjärnan". SVT Nyheter (in Swedish). Sveriges Television. Archived from the original on 27 July 2020. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
24. Jämtland, P4 (1 August 2020). "Tove Alexandersson slår nytt banrekord under fjällmaraton". Sveriges Radio (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 31 October 2020. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
25. Fred Bousseau (19 October 2020). "Skyrace des Matheysins, les orienteurs étaient trop forts !" (in French). Trails Endurance. Archived from the original on 1 November 2020. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
26. "GTC- STAGE 4 / AMERICAN DREAM". Golden Trail Series. 1 November 2020. Archived from the original on 2 November 2020. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
27. "Egli et Alexandersson remportent la 10e édition des KM de Chando" (in French). Canal9. 19 September 2021. Archived from the original on 6 October 2021. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
28. 2023 World Mountain Running Championships Up and Down Results: U.S.'s Murphy and Uganda's Chemutai Win Big in Innsbruck
29. "Sweden, Italy and Germany top the SkySnow World Championships medal count". International Skyrunning Federation. 9 March 2024. Archived from the original on 15 April 2024. Retrieved 15 April 2024.
30. "Alexanderssons nya utmaning – skidalpinism". Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). 18 November 2019. Archived from the original on 19 November 2019. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
31. Work hard, love what you do and have the best team around you. The receipt for success 👊 Happy to win my first @ismf_world_cup
32. ISMF WORLD CUP 2021 - MARMOTTA TROPHY (ITA)
33. "Ranking "ISMF Championship" for Comapedrosa Andorra -> SprintRace-SENIOR". ISMF. 2 March 2021. Archived from the original on 7 March 2021. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
34. "Ranking "World Ranking" for Comapedrosa Andorra -> RelayRace-Women". ISMF. 3 March 2021. Archived from the original on 7 March 2021. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
35. "Ranking "ISMF Championship" for Comapedrosa Andorra -> VerticalRace-Long". ISMF. 4 March 2021. Archived from the original on 7 March 2021. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
36. "Ranking "ISMF Championship" for Comapedrosa Andorra -> IndividualRace-Long". ISMF. 6 March 2021. Archived from the original on 7 March 2021. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
37. "Ranking for 2020/2021 ISMF World championship, WOMEN combined ranking". ISMF. 6 March 2021. Archived from the original on 7 March 2021. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
38. "Madonna di Campiglio WC - Change in the ranking of the Sprint race". International Ski Mountaineering Federation. 26 March 2021. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
39. "Hård kritik mot ISMF efter diskningen av Tove" (in Swedish). Andersson, Andreas. 29 March 2021. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
40. "EUCH flaine individual senior" (PDF). dataskimo.org. 8 January 2024. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 January 2024. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
41. "Bragdguldet 2019 till orienteringsstjärnan Tove Alexandersson" (in Swedish). SVT Sport. 3 December 2019. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
42. "Alexandersson drottning av Globen – krönte kvällen med Jerringpriset" (in Swedish). SVT Sport. 27 January 2020. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
43. David Hjorter (27 January 2020). "Tove Alexandersson vinnare av Jerringpriset". Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). ISSN 1101-2412. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
44. "Medaljförläningar 28 januari 2022". kungahuset.se. Monarchy of Sweden. Retrieved 21 August 2024.

External links

• Tove Alexandersson at the International Orienteering Federation
• Tove Alexandersson at World of O
• Tove Alexandersson at FIS (cross-country)
• Tove Alexandersson at ITRA

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Hanna Öberg	Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal 2019	Succeeded by Armand Duplantis