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Forth Valley Orienteers star Grace Molloy turned in the performance of her life to anchor the Great Britain team to the gold medal in the relay at the Junior World Orienteering Championships in Denmark last weekend.

Hopes were high within the team camp after last year’s fourth place finish and Grace – a double bronze medallist from earlier in the week in the sprint and long disciplines – was joined by Thames Valley’s Fiona Bunn, silver medallist in the middle distance, and Inverness speedster Megan Keith on her JWOC debut. Megan handed over in fourth place after a strong finish, just 21 seconds off the race lead, and Fiona moved up to second, handing over to Grace a minute behind leaders Russia.

The FVO runner opted for the left path route on the first major decision of the final leg but a poor execution saw her caught by the third-placed Swedish athlete who in turn made a positional error on the next leg.

Grace was then surprised to see Russian race leader Viktoria Kalinina arrive at the 11th control at the same time but from the opposite direction – and showing signs of fatigue.

Taking the lead at this point, Grace re-entered the spectator area for the first time with a 10-second lead to the roars of the large British crowd and went on to win by 14 seconds.

The 19-year-old said: “This is the culmination of a dream. Ever since I got my first GB call-up at 15, the goal was always to win a major championship medal. I’ll remember this day for a long time.”