Violet Feliciano was the big
surprise of the Spanish Orienteering Championships CEO 2013. In her
first season in the Elite class, the athlete from Alicante achieved
two individual titles and a second place in the Relay race. These
results were the perfect pretext for a very interesting conversation
that you can see here and now.
In the end of the Spanish
Championships, you got back home with two gold medals and one silver
medal on your chest. Did you expect this?
Violeta Feliciano (V. F.) - I
was really surprised, because I didn’t expect to come home with
such good results in my first year in the Elite class, and even less
in the Sprint and Middle distances, which were the two races I least
believed in. Actually, my main goal was the Long Distance because it
has always been my favourite distance, but I made a big mistake at
one control and lost a place in the podium. Although after this first
race I felt a little demotivated, I knew I was fit and if I ran more
self-confident, I could do much better and even be in the top three.
Eventually, this change of mind wasn’t bad at all... (laughs)
Where is the secret of such good
results?
V. F. - Like in any sport, I
guess the secret lies in the effort to train every day and in the
will to improve. I wasn't very happy with my results as a Junior, so
this year I decided to change my way of seeing orienteering and I setted less demanding goals. I didn’t want any pressure or having to
prepare for any Championship in particular, I just wanted to enjoy
running and that was what I did. I started to care more about my diet
and started feeling good with training. Of course, I also have to
thank my coach Jesús Gil, who has prepared all my trainings and
helped me to achieve these good results.
It was particularly exciting to
watch the end of Relay race and the way you comforted Alicia [Gil],
who had just lost the sprint for Anna Serralonga. Can you tell me,
really, what did you feel at that moment?
V. F. - This year I knew it
would be very difficult to win the Relay because my teammates, Alicia
and Esther Gil, for some reason, hadn’t been able to train enough
and weren’t very well physically, but even so we wanted to do well
and win. When I saw Alicia and Anna punch the last control so close I
remembered my first Relay in Elite class, in 2010, where Catalonia
also beat us for a few seconds. It's one of the things that make this
sport so exciting, that everything can always happen and nothing is
decided until the end . Although I would have liked to win, I'm very
happy with the effort that my teammates made and I'm very happy too
for the Catalan Berta, Annabel and Anna.
Now that you're starting in the
Elite, can you tell me how everything's happened?
V. F. - I started pretty
soon, I think when I was eight, at school. At first, I also did other
sports like basketball, football or athletics, but immediately I
became more interested in orienteering. Just 10 years ago I went to
my first Spanish Orienteering Championship and I remember that I bet
with my father that, if I won, he would give me a videogame console.
I don’t know if it was the will to win the bet, but finally I won
the two races and when I came home my father had to buy the video
game console. Since that day he hasn’t bet anything with me any
more. (laughs)
What do you find in this sport
that makes it so special?
V. F. - Orienteering is an
amazing sport, where body and mind are closely linked. Having a good
physical shape isn’t enough, but also good skills with the map are
required. This makes it so exciting, because a few seconds of mistake
or a bad route choice can make the difference.
Can you mention the best moment
of your career until now? And the worst?
V. F. - I’ve got a lot of
good memories from all these years doing orienteering, but regarding
the physical shape, my best moment could be now. And I'd say I did my
worst seasons during my last two years, as a Junior.
How can you get the time for your
studies and, nevertheless, being in such a good shape?
V. F. - I study German
Translation and Interpretation at university and I'm in my second
year. That’s a degree that requires much time and work because it
has a very practical approach, so I haven’t got much free time
apart from time I spend in trainings. Moreover, the classes are
always in the evening and therefore I only have time in the morning
to do all my class works and to train. I’ve been training alone for
more than two years because the training group of my club always
trains in the evening. It's a bit hard to train alone, especially in
winter, but if you’ve got will and motivation, it isn’t so
difficult. Same with time management, if you want to get something
you have to find time from anywhere to combine all.
When you look around you and you
see Anna and Marc Serralonga, Biel, Pol and Ona Rafóls, the “Spanish
Bomb Kids”, Annabel, Esther, Roger Casal and many others, how do
you feel amongst this Elite?
V. F. - I have to say that
this year some of the best Spanish orienteers have gone abroad or
aren’t in their best shape for several reasons. I think this also
affected the Championships' level in the Elite class, especially in
the case of women class, who unfortunately are always fewer in
number, but still I'm very happy to be competing with the best
Spanish orienteers of the moment, because they have always been my
reference and now have become my rivals.
Is there an athlete that you
follow as an example, of which you are a fan?
V. F. - I consider myself
quite lucky for growing up in a club which has brought on great
orienteers like Esther Gil, Roger Casal or Antonio and Andreu
(Bomb-kids), from whom I’ve learned a lot and I have always had as
a reference. I think that they and many other Spanish orienteers have
become where they are thanks to the effort and will to improve,
despite the limited resources that we have at our disposal. That has
a great merit and I think that all of them are the best example of
how to become a good athlete.
Because of your studies, I know
that you will fail the WOC. How do you feel about it?
V. F. - The fact that I'm not
going to the WOC is something that I decided earlier in the season.
This year I wanted to give priority to my studies and learning the
German language because I think it’s very important for my future.
I have a contract of employment in Austria for the beginning of June,
so I won’t be available for the dates of the WOC. It’s a pity
that I can’t go to Finland because now I feel quite good
physically, but it's my first year as an Elite runner and I still
have many years to go to a World Championship.
I
can't resist asking you the following, since within a couple of days
Portugal receives the first stage of the Iberian Championship and we
cannot see, among the entries in the Elite class, the overwhelming
majority of great athletes from Spain, including Violet. When the two
federations agreed to take forward the new model, putting an end to
Selections, what did they do to the Iberian Championships?
V. F. - Sincerely I preferred
the Iberian Championship model we had before, because it was much
more exciting than now. It's a shame that now Spanish and Portuguese
federations can’t afford to select national teams because it has
reduced excitement to the competition. Although this new model also
has advantages, such as the Championship being decided in two
different terrains, or any participant having a chance to win. I
think that the main problem of this new model is that people consider
this event as a competition of the National League like any other and
if you live far away, as in our case for example that we live in
Alicante, we have to consider our assistance because the next week we
have another competition of the National League, which also takes us
a long way from home.
With
the Spanish Championship overcome and without a goal in sight to the
WOC, how will the rest of the season be?
V. F. - My main goal this
season was the Spanish Championship, but within two months we also
have the Spanish University Championship, where there is also a high
level and I’d also like to get good results. Beyond that, there are
some National League races before summer. Then I'm going to work to
Austria and later I’m going to Munich to do an Erasmus semester in
September. So from now on, I will have to start looking for a German
club to keep on competing there.
All orienteers cherish a dream.
Will you share yours with us?
V. F. - Well, now I don’t
have any goal because as I said, this year my priority is to improve
my German, but next year, when I come back to Spain, I hope to keep
on competing in the Elite class and start thinking about the next
WOC.
[Photo: Germán Giménez]
Joaquim Margarido
