Those who access Elena Roos' personal webpage – www.elenaroos.ch/
-, easily understand that her main goals for the season lived in a
presence in the European Championships, in the Czech Republic, and
the qualification to join the national team of Switzerland and run
the Sprint in the World Orienteering Championships, in Strömstad.
Now that both goals are achieved, we seek to better know the athlete
and realize how far is she able to go in the next months.
You've just been appointed for the
first time ever to represent Switzerland in the World Orienteering
Championships. This is the peak of a career still short so far but
already full of successes. How did it all start?
Elena Roos (E. R.) - Differently
from many other runners, I’m not from an “orienteering-family”.
I started with orienteering at the age of 11, after participating in
an orienteering summer camp. The main point with this camp was that I
always was homesick, and my mother convinced me to choose a summer
camp where I had to go, to learn to stay away from home, and this
camp was the shortest one... (laughs). But I really enjoyed it and
when I came home I started with the trainings and competitions in the
club from my region.
What do you see in Orienteering that
makes it so special?
E. R. - I really love the
combination of physical, technical and mental performance. I like to
train physically to get as fast as possible, but the challenge is
that 'faster' doesn’t mean also 'better' in orienteering, because
you need to find the controls and to keep cool and concentrated in
your head. I also really like the fact that, every time we are at the
start, we get another challenge ahead, with different kind of courses
and different types of terrain.
What memories do you keep from your
first steps in Orienteering? Was there a moment that you can set as
really important, from which you gave yourself, “body and soul”,
to Orienteering?
E. R. – When I was 15 years
old I got selected for the first time to represent Switzerland at the
EYOC. Before that, I didn’t know what these competitions were and
as a “Ticino-Girl” (from the south/italian part of Switzerland) I
was also scared to participate at this event with only
German-speaking Swiss runners. But it was a really nice EYOC and from
then I got hungry for more. And I realized that the other Swiss are
also nice (laughs).
What are your major skills as a
competitor? And what are the major lacks?
E. R. - I've always been best
in the Sprint distance, and that because I think I’m quite good in
seeing the fastest route choices, taking fast “right-left”
decisions and seeing small passages. My major lack is the mental
part, to stay really focused during the whole forest competition
without losing the flow, and to perform at my best during an
important competition.
Is there an athlete that you
particularly admire and that is a source of inspiration? What this
athlete has that you would like to have, but you (still) don't?
E. R. - As a swiss runner, of
course I admire Simone Niggli. I’m really impressed about her
constancy to perform at high level during a whole year and over many
years. That’s something that I don’t manage yet, my season has
lots of ups and downs…. A source of inspiration for me is also my
boyfriend Florian Howald. With hard work, physically and mentally, he
managed to come back and to perform at his best at the European
Championships after breaking his leg in January.
In the recent European
Championships, it was possible to see you achieving some nice results
and, more recently, you got the third place in the Sprint stage of
Norsk O-Festival. How do you evaluate your shape currently?
E. R. - My physical shape
improved a lot this year. I got faster in sprint and I improved also
the endurance for longer distances. I think it's the result of some
years of good training, but the main reason for my good performances
is my technical and mental work during the winter, together with a
sport psychologist.
How did you receive the news about
representing Switzerland in the World Orienteering Championships?
E. R. - I wasn't that happy with
my selection races in Sweden and Norway, and I was quite nervous
about the selection. But I hoped that my results at the European
Champs also count. We got the information on Sunday evening, soon
after we came home from Scandinavia. In the beginning of the year I
set as highest goal to run the WOC sprint, but I knew that it would
be difficult and a lot of work would be need! I’m really happy to
achieve this goal!
How do you prepare for the WOC in
the upcoming weeks?
E. R. - First, I will stay three
weeks in Engadin (swiss mountains) for good training. Now, I will
reduce the amount of forest orienteering sessions and increase the
amount of sprint and hard-surface training to get faster. In the
beginning of August we will have a WOC pre-camp with the Swiss Team,
to train sprint in relevant terrain.
What kind of event are you waiting?
What are your biggest fears?
E. R. - I've never been at WOC
before, so it will be an unforgettable event anyway. I hope that it
will be a big event with good and demanding courses, and also many
spectators. My biggest fear is to be unable to perform at my best
because of being too nervous… But I still have almost two months to
work on that!
What would be a good result for you?
E. R. - It’s my first time at
WOC and I won’t focus on a result, because it’s difficult to say
what is possible and I have no experience with this big event. I will
concentrate more on how I will run and on my own performance and
then we'll see! At the European Championships, I've seen that, with a
good race, a top10 position is possible!
And after Strömstad? Would you like
to share with us your biggest dream?
E. R. - In May 2018
there will be the European Orienteering Championships in my home
region, Ticino (Switzerland). A big dream is to win a Medal in front
of my family and my fans.
Joaquim Margarido
