Ojanaho, who triumphed in his qualifying heat yesterday, delighted the home crowd as he completed the course in a time of 23min 47sec, over a minute quicker than silver medallist Audun Heimdal of Norway.

Swedish competitor Simon Imark came through to take the bronze medal, edging out Frenchman Mathieu Perrin.

Simona Aebersold of Switzerland took the women's honours as she clocked 23:15 to finish at the summit of the podium.

The Swiss athlete, who also reigned supreme in her qualification race on the first day of action, was 1:14 faster than her nearest challenger as she sealed a dominant victory.

Linnea Golsater of Sweden did enough for the silver medal, while Finland added another medal to their collection thanks to Veera Klemettinen's bronze.

Sprint action takes centre stage when the event in the Finnish city resumes tomorrow.

Long distance races are scheduled for Friday (July 14) before the Championships conclude on Saturday (July 15) with the team relay events.

The junior event comes just days after the conclusion of the Senior World Championships in Estonian city Tartu, where Sweden won four out of a possible nine gold medals.