POM 2015: Gernot Kerschbaumer and Minna Kauppi won WRE stage

Gernot Kerschbaumer and Minna Kauppi were the big winners of the Portugal O' Meeting 2015's WRE stage. Unquestionable triumphs in both cases, in a Long Distance course that was, above all, a big party for about two thousand participants.

In a perfect morning for Orienteering, the magic and green painted forest of Vagos Dunes received the queen stage of the Portugal O 'Meeting 2015 for Long Distance course scoring for the IOF's World Ranking. 1859 athletes answered the call, facing a huge test of technical demand and asking, in addition, for physical performances at the highest level.

With a consistent performance, combining a high pace with a clean race, the Austrian Gernot Kerschbaumer (OK Pan Kristianstad) was at his best, accomplishing the 17.9 km and 32 controls of his course in 1:26 11 being the big winner in the Men Super Elite class. The Swedish Albin Ridefelt (OK Linné) and the Finnish Aaro Asikainen (Kalevan Rasti) fought intensively for the immediate positions with Ridefelt to reach the second place with a time of 1:27:18, against 1:27:20 of Asikainen. Baptiste Rollier (Swiss O-Team) threatened the podium places, but a bad performance next to the very end turned out to leave him in the fifth place, with the Russian Valentin Novikov ending up in the fourth place.

Minna Kauppi demolishing

Repeating the victory of the first day of POM 2015, the Finnish Minna Kauppi (Individual FIN) was absolutely demolishing today, winning by far the Women Elite class. The Finnish athlete took 1:11:43 to make the 12.7 km and 26 controls of her course, leaving at distant 3:37 her compatriot Saila Kinni (Tampereen Pyrintö). Galina Vinogradova (Russia) was the third placed, with 1:16:10, ahead of Catherine Taylor (OK Linné) and Yulia Novikova (Russia).

Alasdair McLeod (Clydeside Orien) was again the great winner in the Men Elite class, this time by a closer margin than the two previous days. The British spent 1:30:28 against 1:30:37 of the Finnish Aleksi Niemi (Tampereen Pyrintö), with the Russian Evgeny Popov (Russia Ural) being ranked third, at distant 4:39 from McLeod. As for the best Portuguese athletes in the major classes, the story of the opening stage repeated, with Manuel Horta to take precedence in the Men Super Elite class, staying in the 52nd position with more 17:50 than the winner. In the Women Elite class, Raquel Costa finished in the 60th place, 25:19 behind Kauppi and Tiago Martins Aires was the 13th placed, at 16:06 from McLeod. The three portuguese athletes are from GafanhOri.

Results

Men Super Elite

1. Gernot Kerschbaumer (OK Pan Pan Kristianstad) 1:26:11

2. Albin Ridefelt (OK Linné) 1:27:18 (+ 01:07)

3. Aaro Asikainen (Kalevan Rasti) 1:27:20 (+ 01:09)

4. Valentin Novikov (Russia) 1:28:19 (+ 02:08)

5. Baptiste Rollier (The Swiss-Team) 1:28:23 (+ 02:12)

6. Kiril Nikolov (Kalevan Rasti) 1:29:01 (+ 02:50)

7. Martin Hubmann (The Swiss-Team) 1:29:26 (+ 03:15)

8. Robert Merl (Austrian O-Team) 1:29:28 (+ 03:17)

9. Scott Fraser (interlopers) 1:29:49 (+ 03:38)

10. Severi Kymäläinen (Tampereen Pyrintö) 1:30:11 (+ 04:00)

Women Elite

1. Minna Kauppi (Individual FIN) 1:11:43

2. Saila Kinni (Tampereen Pyrintö) 1:15:20 (+ 03:37)

3. Galina Vinogradova (Russia) 1:16:10 (+ 04:27)

4. Catherine Taylor (OK Linné) 1:17:07 (+ 05:24)

5. Yulia Novikova (Russia) 1:17:10 (+ 05:27)

6. Ida Marie Næss Bjørgul (Halden SK) 1:17:29 (+ 05:46)

7. Eva Jurenikova (Halden SK) 1:17:42 (+ 05:59)

8. Riina Kuuselo (OK Linné) 1:18:22 (+ 06:39)

9. Venla Niemi (Individual FIN) 1:19:41 (+ 07:58)

10. Sofia Haajanen (Individual FIN) 1:20:02 (+ 08:19)

Men Elite

1. Alasdair McLeod (Clydeside Orien) 1:30:28

2. Aleksi Niemi (Tampereen Pyrintö) 1:30:57 (+ 00:29)

3. Evgeny Popov (Russia Ural) 1:35:07 (+ 04:39)

4. Ludwig Ljungqvist (IKHP) 1:35:38 (+ 05:10)

5. Michael Olejnik (SNO) 1:37:12 (+ 06:44)

6. Jonas Egger (Swiss O-Team) 1:37:15 (+ 06:47)

7. Tobias Henriksson (OK Trian) 1:38:10 (+ 07:42)

8. Johan Strand (GMOK) 1:40:15 (+ 09:47)

9. Philipp Müller (Post SV Dresden) 1:41:03 (+ 10:35)

10. Richard Robinson (OK Ravinen) 1:41:25 (+ 10:57)

The final day of the Portugal O 'Meeting 2015 will be held tomorrow, again in Vagos Dunes, and it will consist in a Long Distance stage, but this time in the "chasing start" system. The accumulated time of the first three days of the event will allow to draw up a start list that takes into account the actual time difference between the athletes, so the first to arrive in the Men Super Elite, Women Elite and Men Elite classes will be, really , the big winner of the POM 2015. Baptiste Rollier will be the first to start in the Men Super Elite class, having to manage a leadership of 2:34 and 3:51 under Aaro Asikainen and Valentin Novikov, respectively. In the Women Elite, the advantage of Minna Kauppi is a bit more comfortable, standing at 3:05 and 7:46 on Catherine Taylor and Galina Vinogradova. Finally, in Men Elite, Alasdair McLeod will leave with a lead of 15:25 on Michal Olejnik and 17:48 on Jonas Egger.

For further information, please consult the POM's webpage, at www.pom.pt/en/.

Joaquim Margarido