Harland, the Olympic bronze medallist in Athens in 2004,  left herself too much to do to repeat the feat at this event.

 

Starting in 23rd place after four events, Harland scorched through the field in the cross country climbing 16 places to finish seventh overall.

 

With Spence and Livingstone finishing 12th and 18th respectively that was enough for them to finish second behind Poland. Hungary took the bronze medals.

 

"We came here to win a team medal and we've done that," said Harland.

 

"We're a new team and so gold in the European's and silver in the World Championships is a first great year together."

 

Spence, the European bronze medallist, was disappointed not to finish higher after starting the run in fifth place. "It's a great result for the team, but I set myself the goal of finishing in the top eight individually, so 12th is not good enough for me," she said.

 

Commenting on the team's performance, national performance director Jan Bartu said: "It's a fantastic ending to a very difficult day. The teams are now much closer together than before Athens with five teams challenging for the gold medal.

 

"The girls deserved their medal because they really kept fighting all day, and this is the key characteristic of this new team."