The Swedish Armed Forces Are The Adventure Racing World Champions

• Number of teams: 109

• Participant nationalities: 36

• Bicycle boxes to be transported: 440

• Number of Men: 312

• Number of Women: 124

• Youngest participant:16 (racing with his dad)

• Oldest participant: 76

They completed the epic 840km Expedition Africa course through the Kouga region of Eastern Cape in a time of 118 hours 33 mins 26 seconds. Along the way, they beat 106 teams from 30 nations on the start line with them.

The team comprises John Karlsson, Malin Hjalmarsson, Oskar Svärd and Per Vestling, and for all of the group, it is a second world title. Vestling won the title in 2011 (with the Thule Adventure Team in Tasmania) and came out of adventure racing retirement to join SAFAT. The other three team members were all on the winning team in 2021 in Spain.

The team opened up a significant lead on the 5th day of racing on a challenging 124km cycle ride through the Kouga Mountains. They completed the final 32km coastal trekking stage overnight before reaching the finish line on the morning of day 6 of the race.

Some of the final checkpoints were in the Sand River Dune Fields, and with the finish line only a short distance away, the team became lost in the night. They were searching amongst the dunes in the dark and battling with strong winds while going around in circles. “You think the checkpoint is over the next dune and the next,” said team captain John Karlsson. “I think we looked over every dune! Then I said we had to do something different and told the guys to imagine we were navigating on the ocean, to think in another way. We found the checkpoint, but it was after searching for 3 hours.” The team then decided to stop and wait for daylight before continuing, despite not knowing how close the next squad was to them.

Combined with an injury to Malin Hjalmarsson’s foot and their exhaustion and lack of sleep, the final stage was a slow one, and the team took 14 hours instead of the expected 7!

Adventure Racing World Champions

The morning finish did mean there was a large crowd waiting to cheer them on from the last checkpoint at the Cape St. Francis lighthouse, and the wife and children of Per Vestling ran to hug him. He and Oskar Svärd cried as they walked along the beach and into a noisy and joyous finish line reception at Cape St. Francis Resort. More tears were on the finish line stage, and Adventure Racing

World Series CEO Heidi Muller greeted the team. She said to the crowd that they were great champions and incredible human beings. Hjalmarsson joked that the team “was enjoying the course so much we spent an extra night out there.”

I Am A World Champion

Team captain John Karlsson addressed the excited schoolchildren who welcomed the team. “When I was small, I dreamed of being a world champion, and now I AM A WORLD CHAMPION! It shows you all that you can follow your dreams and achieve what you want if you work hard.”

Choking back his emotions, Oskar Svärd said, “This is what we worked together for all year. It feels so good now. It’s the best feeling.” The team has had to overcome extreme weather, suffering temperatures of 30C+ one day and icy conditions the next. Coping with heavy rains that caused the cancellation of a canyon stage towards the end of the race. Hjalmarsson said, “We had a hard time in the heat and were jumping in every stream to cool down. At one point, John rolled in the mud and was all brown!”

Sand dunes, savannah and semi-desert

The team has coped with all of the challenges of the 840km Expedition Africa course. Trail running and mountain biking along the coast, over mountain ranges, and through dunes, savannah and semi-desert. They paddled the rapids of the Fish River and raced day and night to reach the finish line.

The team wins a cash prize and free entry to the next Adventure Racing World World Championship, which will be held in Ecuador in November next year.