After the Switzerland,
Sweden, Finland and Denmark's dominance on the first two days of the
European Youth Orienteering Championships EYOC 2013, the last day
allowed to add the names of Russia and the Czech Republic to the set
of the big winners. Individually, Sara Hagstrom won everything there
was to win and she is, undeniably, the “queen” of these
Championships. Succeeding the Czech Republic, Finland was the winner overall.
The 15th edition of the European Youth
Orienteering Championships EYOC 2013 came to the end this morning, in
Vale Benfeito, Óbidos. An edition marked by the excellence of maps
and terrains, an organization attentive and fully available to the
362 athletes from 32 countries presents, overcoming moments of
enormous significance and value to the participants and, last but not
least , warm weather and bright sunshine, to put even more colour and
life on everyone's faces.
Eagerly awaited, the Relay ended the
Championships with an atmosphere of party and joy. Involving a total
of 92 teams spread over four levels of competition, the courses were
marked by the uncertainty about the winner until the final second,
involving some surprising twists and a couple of unexpected results.
In terms of twists, the most fantastic was led by Sweden in W18
Class, while the biggest surprise was eventually carried by Hungary,
silver medallist in the W16 Class. As for the Portuguese, again, the
last day of doesn't add something substantive in terms of results,
and the M16 team achieved the best result, finishing in 12th
position.
Russia wins
Starting by “waves”, according to
each class of competition, the M16 Class was the first to show a
winner today. With a very strong beginning, the Russia team took over
the race right in the first round and never dropped it. Big star of
the two previous days of the Championships, the Finnish Olli Ojanaho
still managed to shorten the gap by more than two minutes in the
final leg, but Aleksandr Pavlenko managed well the advantage,
reaching the Finnish in the lead.
“It was fantastic , like a dream.”
These were the first words of Pavlenko, the man who had the privilege
to offer Russia its only gold medal in these Championships. Admitting
that to win the race was in the plans of the Russians, Pavlenko
praises the excellent teamwork, “against a very strong Finland,
which further enhances our result.” Concluding with a particular
reference to its course and how was it to deal with the pressure of
knowing Ojanaho behind him, the Russian said: “I tried to do my own
race and forget about everything else. Into the forest, it was just
me, the map and the course.”
The most confortable victory
In the W16 Class, it moved to the Czech
Republic rather what happened to Russia in Men's Relay M16. By
registering the fastest times in the two first legs, Tereza Cechova
and Barbora Vyhnálková offered a comfortable advantage to Barbara
Vavrysová, that the she knew intelligently manage, and even expand
it up to more than five and a half minutes late on Hungary, in what
was the most advantaged victory of the journey.
Barbara Vavrysová that in the end was
absolutely overjoyed: “It was my first presence on a EYOC and this
victory is awsome”, she says. Although a comfortable advantage to
manage on the last leg, the athlete assumes that “I had to win , I
had to do this for me and for my teammates.” And she adds: “This
was our goal , the goal of the Czech Republic and I am very happy to
have been realized.” But this is just the beginning of a career
that expects full success: “Me and my colleagues will certainly the
opportunity to participate more often in EYOC and this gold medal
gives us the strength to think of new triumphs in the future.”
The best ending for Sweden
Starting for the third leg in a
disadvantage agains the powerful teams of Switzerland and Russia, the
Swedish team had in Sara Hagstrom a real talisman. After the
victories of last Friday and yesterday that earned her the European
titles of Sprint and Long Distance, the Swedish athlete eventually
turn the result, making a 'full' of gold medals and becaming the
biggest star of these Championships. Sara Hagstrom impressed all who
had the chance to follow closely this EYOC 2013, either by their
physical and technichal capabilities, both for their winning
attitude, being a name to hold in the future and which the
Orienteering can have much to expect for.
Between screams of satisfaction and
many greetings from opponents and teammates, Sara confesses that this
was “a tasteful victory.” The athlete confesses to be “very
confident when I left for my course, knowing beforehand that the
Relay would be different from what I did before. The only strategy to
follow was to do my race and not think about my opponents; the key to
victory would be in there.” With Russia out of the race early in
the last leg due to a huge mistake by Marina Trubkina, the struggle
was confined to Swedish and Swiss: “While recognizing that the
silver nedal would already be great, when I went to the last 'loop' I
decided to take the risk and I ended up putting the pressure out of
my side.” By the end she knew how to manage her course and this win
is actually a lock with gold key of the Championships that, in this
Class, couldn't have been more successful.
Narrow victory for Finland
Finally the M18 Class, the one where
the most tough dispute was and where the uncertainty as to the winner
took longer to unravel. Finland, France, Norway and Switzerland have
managed to stay together during the first two legs, ending the course
for solving in favour of two Nordic countries, with Finland
surpassing Norway at the end and getting the gold with an advantage
over than one minute.
Responsible for the decisive leg, the
Finnish Aleksi Niemi lived with this victory “a time of great
excitement and joy”, especially after the frustrating course
yesterday in which he made “a huge amount of mistakes”, he says.
Seeking to develop his course “by thinking only on my job and
forgetting the others" the Finnish athlete acknowledges that
this victory “means a lot to me and to my country.”
Results
W16
1 Czech Republic 1:19:27
2 Hungary 1:24:55
3 Denmark 1:26:52
4 France 1:29:24
5 Finland 1:29:34
6 Lithuania 1:32:58
M16
1 Russia 1:18:59
2 Finland 1:20:54
3 Switzerland 1:23:15
4 Latvia 1:24:18
5 Hungary 1:26:12
6 Great Britain 1:26:55
W18
1 Sweden 1:20:14
2 Switzerland 1:20:34
3 Russia 1:25:55
4 Poland 1:29:50
5 Hungary 1:30:17
6 Norway 1:31:17
M18
1 Finland 1:30:03
2 Norway 1:31:20
3 Switzerland 1:33:25
4 Sweden 1:33:30
5 Belgium 1:38:57
6 Italy 1:39:32
See full information at
http://eyoc2013.fpo.pt/.
Joaquim Margarido
[Sponsorized by Orievents
and EDP renewals]
