Two or three things I know about it...

1. Laura Scaravonati (GS Forestale) achieved last weekend the 38th Italian title of her career so far, both in Foot orienteering and MTB orienteering. On the hills of San Daniele del Friuli, she performed in the best way, reaching the National MTB orienteering title in Middle Distance. Laura took the lead in the first control and did a very consistent race, winning with the time of 46:07. Marina Rainer (Villach Team) from Austria was second with more 2:07, while Milena Cipriani (Panda Valsugana) took the third position with a time of 50:09. To the Garmin.it blog [HERE] Laura said: “On Saturday I arrived in the area quite early and I tried to understand a little the terrain and Sunday I felt really good. I had very strong sensations during the warm-up and I knew I could push hard the whole race and so it was. The course didn't hide particular dangers that we sometimes found in Middle races. I didn't have a single hesitation in the map reading and also the ride off tracks allowed me to correct any navigational mistakes. I took my 38th Italian titles since I started practicing this sport; it doesn't seem real.”

2. The Swedish FootO League kicked off last weekend with the first two races – Sprint and Long Distance - being held in Brösarp, in the region of Skåne. Both stages scored for the IOF World Ranking Event. Along with a Middle Distance course, on Friday, the two stages were EOC observation races, attended by almost two hundred Elite runners, mostly from Sweden, but also from Norway, Russia, Austria, Czech Republic, Italy and Great Britain, among other countries. In two really tight fights, Gustav Bergman won the Middle (with less 6 seconds than Albin Ridefelt) and the Sprint (Emil Svensk being second at 3 seconds). Albin Ridefelt was first in the Long, also here with a short win of 6 seconds over William Lind. In the Women class we had three winners for as much stages. Sara Hagström was faster 1 second than Lina Strand in the Middle, Tove Alexandersson won comfortably the Sprint with 17 seconds over (again) Lina Strand and Emma Johansson got a close victory of 3 seconds over Alva Olsson, second. See results and maps at http://news.worldofo.com/2016/04/11/swedish-league-eoc-observation-races-maps-results/.

3. At the forthcoming IAAF World Race Walking Team Championships Rome 2016 on 7-8 May, women will be able to participate in the senior 50km race walk event. This is one of the most recent developments in sport, approaching men and women. And what about Orienteering? Are there too many differences between men and women, requiring some changes? Not that many, I believe, but still… Over the last year there has been some debate amongst the international orienteering community regarding the IOF winning time for the women’s long distance event, and whether it should be extended or not. However, the majority of these debates have been informal, over a variety of social media platforms, with not many international women elite athletes taking part. Now, the IOF Foot-O Athletes’ Commission has been putting together a survey on the topic, which will be sent out to all female elites (junior and senior) who have run an IOF Foot-O event since 01-01-2015 and that will be open from Wednesday April 20 until Sunday May 2 23:59 (CET). The Commission considers that, before the survey is carried out, it would be interesting to host a discussion of the possible reasons behind - and implications of - altering the long distance winning time, and has prepared a document with some discussions on this topic. Please see the information document for further details at http://orienteering.org/athlete-survey-estimated-winning-time-for-womens-long-distance-events/.

4. After two competitions of the Unofficial European Cup in Trail Orienteering ECTO 2016, held in Portugal, the updated standings are now published. The winner of last year’s ECTO, Erik Stålnacke (IFK Göteborg) from Sweden is in the lead with 70 points, after his victory in the first stage and the 9th place in the second stage. Marco Giovannini (OK Trzin) from Italy is second with 67 points, thanks to his victory in the second day and a less good performance in the TempO stage (11th position). In third position ex-æquo, with 63 points, we can see Remo Madella (VIVAIO) from Italy (2n placed in the TempO stage) and Martin Fredholm (OK Linné) from Sweden (3rd position in the PreO stage). The best portuguese in this special board are Edgar Domingues (COC) and João Pedro Valente (CPOC) with 43 points each. You may check the full results of the Unofficial European Cup in Trail Orienteering ECTO 2016 after the two first stages at http://orienteering.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/ECTO-2016-standing-after-2-Rounds.pdf.

5. The team that will represent Great-Britain at the World Trail Orienteering Championships 2016, to be held in Sweden from 22nd to 27th August, has been selected. The names in the Open PreO class are John Kewley (MDOC), Ian Ditchfield (MV) and Nick Barrable (SYO); Tom Dobra (UBOC) will join them for the TempO. The Open Relay Team will be selected in Sweden. For the Paralympic PreO class, Dick Keighley (WIM), Peter Roberts (EBOR) and John Crosby (NATO) got the passport to Strömstad. Unfortunately John Crosby is unable to travel so there will not be a team for the Paralympic Relay. Anne Braggins will be the Team Leader. More to know at https://www.britishorienteering.org.uk/site/trailo/news.

Joaquim Margarido