1. Across Europe, the weekend opens full of events promising lots of fun and excitement. A little
more than two months to the World MTB Orienteering Championships,
Portugal organizes the Iberian Championships in this discipline,
being in contest the Middle Distance and Long Distance titles in
M17, M20, M Elite, M40, M50 and M60 classes. In the Men Elite class
it's expected tight fight in both races, with Davide Machado and João
Ferreira leading the Portuguese “army” against Angel Garcia and
David Toll Clos ahead of the Spanish collective. The races will take
place in the West region, in the municipalities of Torres Vedras and
Cadaval, with organization of the Clube Português de orientação e
Corrida and Académico de Torres Vedras, and may be followed at
http://www.atv.pt/actividades/evento/5/886.
In the Moscow region is going to take place the Russian MTB
Orienteering Championships, with the presence of the country's best
athletes. Olga Shipilova Vinogradova, Tatiana Repina, Svetlana
Poverina, in the Women and Dmitiy Kuzmin, Grigory Medvedev and Anton
Foliforov, in the Men, are just a few of the 84 Elite athletes who
will fight for the Sprint (on Saturday) and Middle Distance (on
Sunday) titles. Both races score for the IOF World MTBO Ranking.
Everything to follow at http://rufso.ru/.
2. Looking
now on Trail Orienteering, it's going to take place in Finland
another edition of FinTrailO. To meet intense challenges, 61 athletes
from four countries will be present in Muurame and Jyväskylä, in
the center of the country, for three stages - a TempO and two PreO -
set by Lauri Kontkanen, Lauri Mäkinen and Esko Junttila. On the eve
of the European Trail Orienteering Championships, Jari Turto, Marit
Wiksell, Erik Stålnacke, Martin Jullum, Ola Jansson, Martin Fredholm
or Anna Jacobson are just some of the big names entered for the event
with the thought of winning. For more information, see the event page
at http://www.muuramenrasti.fi/fintrailo-2016/.
Finally, we head to Italy where the Italian Foot Orienteering
Championships of Sprint and Middle Distance will take place. Scoring
for the World Rankings, the races attract to Canal San Bovo and
Calaita, in the Trentino region, 113 athletes in the Elite classes.
Giacomo Zagonel and Lia Patscheider defend their sprint titles
achieved in 2015, while Riccardo Scalet and Christine Kirchlechner
are seeking to keep their Middle Distance titles. The event is
organized by GS Pavione. All information at
http://www.gspavione.it/it/pagina/italian-orienteering-championships.
3. Tove Alexandersson, Sweden
and Matthias Kyburz, Switzerland are heading the World Cup standings
after Round 1, just completed in Poland. Alexandersson was the
overall women’s winner last year whilst Kyburz was number two in
the men’s list. Alexandersson was second in last weekend’s Middle
Distance race, after her compatriot Helena Jansson, and third equal
in the Sprint. She leads the standings by 20 points with Maja Alm,
Denmark in second place. Third and fourth places in the standings are
occupied by athletes who appear to have made a good recovery from
injuries that hampered their performances last year. Judith Wyder,
Switzerland won the Sprint in Poland and seems stronger than ever
after having bad back strain in 2015. Helena Jansson in fourth place
has got over many of the foot problems she has been suffering. The
two Swiss stars who dominated the World Cup last year, Daniel Hubmann
and Matthias Kyburz, have set out where they left off. Although
neither featured amongst the top six in the Middle race on Saturday,
they were separated by just one second at the top of the Sprint
leader board. Olav Lundanes, Norway is in third place in the current
standings. The full rankings can be seen at
http://ranking.orienteering.org/WorldCup.
4. One week before the MTB
Orienteering World Cup first round in Guebwiller, Alsace, France, the
Team Elite MTBO, that brings together the best French specialists in
this discipline, has just published the 2016 Newsletter's first
issue. Especially dedicated to their many fans, the Newsletter begins
to offer a certainty on its editorial: “We have in our hearts the
will to shine at home.” Getting to know all the athletes who are
part of the group and reliving the early months of the year, from
training in Fontainebleau and Guebwiller to “home” competitions
or abroad, in Portugal, are also tips for interesting reading in this
publication which can be seen at
http://team-elite-mtbo.e-monsite.com/medias/files/newsletter-1-copie.pdf.
Joaquim Margarido
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