It all started in a field on the edge of Tampere in Finland on 29th July 2001. I know because I was there. We didn't really know what a sprint was then, and this wasn't really a sprint as we would now know it.
Men
Jimmy Birklin
SWE
10:55.9
0%
Pasi Ikonen
FIN
11:06.1
1.7%
Jörgen Olsson
SWE
11:09.7
2.1%
4
Juha Peltola
FIN
11:10.1
2.3%
5
Jamie Stevenson
GBR
11:18.0
3.5%
6
Mikhail Mamleev
RUS
11:19.8
3.7%
22
Steve Hale
GBR
11:50.4
8.4%
Women
Vroni König-Salmi
SUI
10:54.9
0%
Johanna Asklöf
FIN
11:00.5
0.9%
Simone Luder
SUI
11:01.9
1.1%
4
Jenny Johansson
SWE
11:05.4
1.7%
5
Reeta Kolkkala
FIN
11:09.5
2.3%
6
Marie-Luce Romanens
SUI
11:19.7
3.8%
13
Sarah Rollins
GBR
11:52.4
8.9%
19
Hannah Wootton
GBR
12:12.9
11.9%
Map
The best I can find is a link via World Of O:
Details
As I said at the time:
The first event of the week was the Sprint. This was a last-minute addition to the program, and nobody seemed really sure what it was meant to be. Most people seemed to be expecting a Park race, but the event was in a wooded area. The most controversial aspect was that competitors were given a map and allowed to train in the forest beforehand. Course planning turned out to be roughly equivalent to an Orange course, despite the fact that the area had intricate contour detail. Spectators were allowed anywhere on the main path network, although most stayed within about 100 metres of the start/finish. I wandered out to the edge of the map and found a bizarre control site. I now have what may be an extremely valuable photograph of the new World Champion, Vroni Konig of Switzerland, punching a control on the corner of the toilet block at Tampere Greyhound stadium.
Back at the finish we had the first sighting of the massive TV screen and results board that will forever be a symbol of the week. The screen was the size of a double-decker bus, but then that is effectively what it was, since it came complete with its own driving cab. The results board was almost as big. The crowd spent most of its time watching the screens, which unfortunately meant they had their backs to the finish run-in, and so there was often very little noise and cheering even for the home runners.
