EOC 2016: No surprises at LongQ

Daniel Hubmann, Magne Daehli and Miloš Nykodým, in the Men class, and Svetlana Mironova, Heidi Bagstevold and Natalia Vinogradova, in the Women class, were the fastest in the Long Distance Qualification. They won their respective heats and will be the last to start tomorrow, in the first forest Final of the European Orienteering Championships 2016.

After two intense “city races”, the EOC 2016 attention turned out to the forest. Bilá Voda hosted the third day of competition, with a program fully dedicated to the Long Distance Qualification, in which 114 male and 73 female competitors, spared for three heats each, fought for a place in the Final A (i.e. tried to get one of the 17 best times in every heat).

The final results in the Women class were the first to be known, after Nicole Scalet finishing her race in the 17th position in the heat A and getting the desired stamp in her passport to the big final. In the same heat, Svetlana Mironova, Russia, reached a 3:25 win on the Finnish Merja Rantanen, with another athlete from Finland, Anni-Maija Fincke, being third. The two first places in the heat B were occupied by Norwegian athletes. Heidi Bagstevold achieved the best time, 27 seconds faster than Anne-Margrethe Hausken Nordberg. The British Hollie Orr got the third place. The heat C was hardly contested, with the first four within less than one minute. The winner was another Russian, Natalia Vinogradova, with Tove Alexandersson, Sweden being second, and the Swiss Sabine Hauswirth finishing third.

Switzerland is the most represented team in Final A

As for the Men class, the Swiss Daniel Hubmann won the heat A, being the only able to break the 70 minutes barrier. European Champion in 2014, Hubmann reached a 1:14 win on his team mate Andreas Kyburz, second placed. Johan Runesson, Sweden, was third. Magne Daehli, Norway, won the heat B, with a 20 seconds advantage on Baptiste Rollier, Switzerland, second ranked. The Swedish Martin Regborn was the third placed, finishing 2:11 after Daehli. Running home, Miloš Nykodým was the heat C’s winner, after a tight fight with four other competitors. Fredrik Bakkman, Sweden, and Karl Godager Kaas, Norway, were second and third, respectively. Portugal won't be present in the Final A. Today, Pedro Nogueira was the best Portuguese representative, in the 27th position. Tiago Romão was 30th in his heat and Manuel Horta was disqualified.

There will be 52 athletes in tomorrow’s Women Final A, representing 14 countries. Russia, Switzerland, Finland, Norway and Sweden qualified all their six athletes. Great Britain and the Czech Republic will also be strongly represented by five athletes each. Gold medalist in Palmela, two years ago, Judith Wyder, Switzerland, didn’t take part in the Qualifying heats and Svetlana Mironova, silver in EOC 2014, seems to be ready to a well desired upgrade. In the Men Final A, the 51 qualified athletes will be representing 16 countries. Switzerland, with seven athletes, is the most represented team, followed by Sweden, Norway and Finland. The Czech Republic will have five athletes in the decisive long race.

Results

Men

Heat A

1. Daniel Hubmann (Switzerlan) 1:09:43 (+ 00:00

2. Andreas Kyburz (Switzerland) 1:10:57 (+ 01:14)

3. Johan Runesson (Sweden) 1:11:30 (+ 01:47)

(…)

30. Tiago Romão (Portugal) 1:33:17 (+ 22:20)

Heat B

1. Magne Daehli (Norway) 1:10:25 (+ 00:00)

2. Baptiste Rollier (Switzerland) 1:10:45 (+ 00:20)

3. Martin Regborn (Sweden) 1:12:36 (+ 02:11)

(…)

mp Manuel Horta (Portugal)

Heat C

1. Miloš Nykodým (Czech Republic) 1:11:07 (+ 00:00)

2. Fredrik Bakkman (Sweden) 1:11:34 (+ 00:27

3. Karl Godager Kaas (Norway) 1:11:45 (+ 00:38)

(…)

27. Pedro Nogueira (Portugal) 1:34:20 (+ 23:13)

Women

Heat A

1. Svetlana Mironova (Russia) 55:41 (+ 00:00)

2. Merja Rantanen (Finland) 59:06 (+ 03:25)

3. Anni-Maija Fincke (Finland) 59:27 (+ 03:46)

Heat B

1. Heidi Bagstevold (Norway) 52:43 (+ 00:00)

2. Anne-Margrethe Hausken Nordberg (Norway) 53:10 (+ 00:27)

3. Hollie Orr (Great Britain) 53:55 (+ 01:12)

Heat C

1. Natalia Vinogradova (Russia) 52:25 (+ 00:00)

2. Tove Alexandersson (Sweden) 52:44 (+ 00:19)

3. Sabine Hauswirth (Switzerland) 53:15 (+ 00:50)

Complete results, maps, photos and further information at http://www.eoc2016.cz/en/.

Joaquim Margarido