AOM 2015: McLeod and Mironova, the big winners

With the dispute of the Long Distance course at Playas del Portil, this morning, the Andalucia O' Meeting 2015 is over. The absence of Daniel Hubmann allowed to open the range of candidates to the victory in the Men Elite class, with Scott Fraser winning the Long Distance stage and Alasdair McLeod to call him the victory in this edition of AOM. In the Women Elite, Svetlana Mironova showed why she was the big favourite, winning everything there was to win.

It was under a bright sun and blue sky, in a great atmosphere, that came to the end in Punta Umbría, the Andalucia O' Meeting 2015. Organized by Sun-O, city of Punta Umbría, Spanish Orienteering Federation and International Orienteering Federation, the event scored for the Spanish Foot Orienteering League 2015, offered two stages counting for the World Rankings and had the participation of eight hundred and fifty athletes, overall.

After an intense and exciting day, with two stages scoring to the World Rankings, the Long Distance course that closed the AOM 2015's competitive program promised great fight in the Men Elite class. The Swiss Daniel Hubmann announced his abandonment from the Meeting after the Middle Distance WRE yesterday and the struggle for the final victory was more fierce than ever. With the great pretenders showed to each other at the same level, it was no surprise that we could see a very hard fight, with just twelve seconds separating the top four athletes in the stage. The British Scott Fraser (TuMe) was the winner, with 1:07:00 for the 15.0 km and 37 controls of his course. The Latvian Edgars Bertuks (TuMe), with more 5 seconds, and the British Alasdsair McLeod, with more 9 seconds, closed the podium by this order. Overall, McLeod turned out to be the great beneficiary, concluding with a total time of 1:41:32 for the set of two stages (Middle Distance + Long Distance) and taking the victory in the Andalucia O' Meeting 2015 overall. Edgars Bertuks and Scott Fraser, with more 0:19 and 1:27, respectively, than the winner, concluded in the immediate positions. Sixth placed in the stage with a time of 1:09:30, the Portuguese Tiago Martins Aires (GafanhOri) would complete his presence in the AOM 2015 with an extraordinary 5th place, with more 7:10 than the winner.

In the Women Elite class, the Russian Svetlana Mironova (KooVee) was once again unstoppable, winning with a time of 58:56 for 10.9 km and 27 controls of her course. The Finnish Marttiina Joensuu (SK Pohjantähti) and Heini Saarimäki (Angelniemen Ankkuri), with more 1:36 and 1:38, respectively, concluded by this order in the immediate positions. Overall, Mironova was the winner with a total time of 1:33:49, against 1:35:40 of Saarimäki and 1:36:01 of Joensuu. The Portuguese Raquel Costa (GafanhOri), 9th ranked in the Middle Distance stage, was disqualified due to “mp”. One last word to the Portuguese Manuel Dias (Lisbon OK), who joined to the first place of yesterday's stage, a second place in the Long Distance held today, winning the M60 class.

Final Results

Men Elite

1. Alasdair McLeod (Clydeside Orienteers) 1:41:32

2. Edgars Bertuks (TuMe) 1:41:51 (+ 00:19)

3. Scott Fraser (TuMe) 1:42:59 (+ 01:27)

4. Douglas Tullie (TuMe) 1:45:17 (+ 03:45)

5. Tiago Aires (GafanhOri) 1:48:42 (+ 07:10)

6. Tomas Dlabaja (Rajamäen Rykmentti) 1:48:50 (+ 07:18)

7. Pavel Shestakov (KooVee) 1:49:45 (+ 08:13)

8. Murray Strain (Interlopers) 1:49:48 (+ 08:16)

9. Tiago Gingão Leal (GD4C) 1:51:11 (+ 09:39)

10. Miguel Reis e Silva (TuMe) 1:51:42 (+ 10:10)

Women Elite

1. Svetlana Mironova (KooVee) 1:33:49

2. Heini Saarimäki (Angelniemen Ankkuri) 1:35:40 (+ 01:51)

3. Marttiina Joensuu (SK Pohjantähti) 1:36:01 (+ 02:12)

4. Marte Narum (Nydalens SK) 1:40:14 (+ 06:25)

5. Siri Ulvestad (Nydalens SK) 1:41:00 (+ 07:11)

6. Léa Vercellotti (Maximus Madrid) 1:45:20 (+ 11:31)

7. Ruth Holmes (Southern Navigators) 1:48:35 (+ 14:46)

8. Violeta Feliciano Sanjuan (Colivenc) 1:50:27 (+ 16:38)

9. Sarah Rollins (Southern Navigators) 1:51:04 (+ 17:15)

10. Anette Juveli (Konnerud IL) 1:51:14 (+ 17:25)

Full results and further information at http://andaluciaomeeting.com/.

[Foto: Andalucia O Meeting / facebook.com/AndaluciaOMeeting]

Joaquim Margarido