The Danish team, made up of Emma Klingenberg, Tue Lassen, Soren Bobach and Maja Møller Alm, led from the start on their way to posting a time of 1 hour 54sec as Norway and Russia followed them across the line in second and third respectively.

A total of 32 countries took part in the race, each represented by a team of two men and two women.

Switzerland’s men, Martin Hubmann and Matthias Kyburz, gradually closed the gap on the Danish runners over the second and third laps, with Alm starting the final lap just a single second ahead of Judith Wyder.

Alm had already beaten Wyder, last year's world champion, in yesterday's individual sprint qualification races in Forres, and she continued her excellent form to carry her team to victory by a comfortable margin of one minute 21 seconds.

A poor choice of route by Wyder in the middle part of the course saw her lose time, before Norway's Anne Margrethe Hausken Nordberg and Russia's Galina Vinogradova sprinted past her in the final few hundred metres to claim the silver and bronze medals.

The race was preceded by the Opening Ceremony, with the Nairn Pipe Band accompanying the athletes as they paraded through the race arena on The Links.

The World Championships action returns to Forres tomorrow for the individual sprint final. 

All six of Great Britain’s athletes have qualified for the showdown with Kristian Jones recording the fastest time.

The Swansea Bay Orienteering Club member won his 3.7 kilometres heat in a time of 11min 44sec, w15 seconds quicker than last year’s world champion, Søren Bobach of Denmark.

Reigning British champion Charlotte Ward, of Humberside and Lincolnshire Orienteers, marked her World Championships debut by completing her 3.5km course in third place.

Ward’s time of 13:49 saw her finish four seconds behind nine-time World Championship gold medallist Minna Kauppi of Finland, while her teammates Alice Leake and Ruth Holmes are through to the final as well, both placing 13th in their heats.

Athletes from Sweden, Switzerland, Denmark, Finland and Norway also qualified comfortably, as did Scotland's Murray Strain and fellow countryman Scott Fraser, a former world silver medallist, fifth and seventh in their respective heats.



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