After a few promising results in the young classes, Cæcilie Christoffersen moved up to the senior Elite group in 2012. Since then she becomes one of the strongest prospects in the MTB orienteering world. Representing the new generation of athletes in this challenging and demanding discipline, the Danish displays her motivation to face the next challenges with determination and ambition.
I would start by asking you about
yourself. Who is Cæcilie Christoffersen?
Cæcilie Christoffersen (C. C.) -
I’m a 24 years old student, studying Human Physiology with
side-subject in math. I'm interested in all kind of sports. You will
always find me with some creative stuff. I like to make things by
myself. I also like to be a girl with a big G - always dressed up...
I admire Jolanda Neff, she is pretty cool. She really manages her
bike and all the skills and technically parts at the World Cup. My
motto is "A day without training is a day without meaning".
I'm dependent of training. If I’m having a day without training,
I’m restless!
How did MTB Orienteering come to
your life? Was there a particular moment, a “click”, when you
said to yourself: “That's it, MTBO is my sport!” or it was just a
kind of, let's say, opportunity?
C. C. - First time I tried orienteering
I was 8 years old. My mother was tired of running in the narrow
streets, and tried Orienteering. And almost without realising it, we
were also regularly going Orienteering. I have been running to get
part of the Danish National Team until I was 20 and then I started to
decide between running and biking. I started MTBO at my boarding
school and that opened my eyes to a new sport. I was having some
problems with my ankle, and then it got so bad that I couldn’t run
and I decided to bike instead, so the bike won. Since that decision I
have been training most of the days on the bike. At the start off my
carrier on the bike I was thinking how it can ever be more fun than
running a really technical course. I was thinking that it was too
easy to ride on the tracks but I got my eyes up for the fun part
about riding on tracks and control the bike under my body. So now I
preferred to ride my bike.
What do you see in MTBO that makes
it so special?
C. C. - The special thing about
MTBO is the combination of map and bike. You have to have full
control over the bike, and besides that you have to use your brain
and make decisions. I think that’s what is most special about our
sport.
We could see you performing quite
well in France and achieving your best results in the World Cup so
far. Did you expect it?
C. C. - I didn't know what I
should have expected for France. I knew I was in good shape, but
still I hadn’t expected these results. In the Long I didn’t make
any mistakes, but in the Middle Distance I made some small mistakes,
and that makes it much more exciting to see how it will be in the
World Championships in Portugal.
How was your preparation in the
winter season and, particularly, to this event?
C. C. - My training this winter
has been quite good, quality and lots of strength training, to get a
good power to my legs. My training has been structural and it has
made my shape become one step higher than last year. I had planned a
little peak for the World Cup, so to see these good result is a sign
that I'm on the right way.
How do you rate the World Cup
overall?
C. C. - The terrains were quite
nice, hilly and technically in the vineyards, but I'm not satisfied
with the way the French people make the map in the vineyards where it
was too difficult to see the orange tracks. This was really bad
mapping. I think the organisation did it well, but they could have
been nice to get some more information just some days before the
race. But overall I think they did it well.
The next big challenge is the World
MTB Orienteering Championships. Can you feel already some good
vibrations about that? (Please explain)
C. C. - I’m getting excited
about the World Championships because I'm in good shape. So the
butterflies in my stomach are getting bigger and bigger. I'm ready
for some good races.
What kind of event are you
expecting?
C. C. - I know that Portugal is
used to organise big events and I know that the quality will be
perfect, and I think it will be even better than the European
Championships last year, which means that it will be fantastic.
Tell me, please, about your goals.
Is there a particular distance where your possibilities are bigger
than the others? Who will be your main adversaries?
C. C. - My goals aren't that
big, I want to do it better than last year. I hate to be
disappointed, so this year I have been quite realistic about my
goals, hoping for top-20 placings.
How do you evaluate the current MTBO
moment in your country? And worldwide?
C. C. - In our country we try to
get new people to try MTBO. There are a lot of mountain bikers in
Denmark but we hope to get some of them into the MTBO world and get
them to love this fantastic sport. We are having good opportunities
for the sport, every year there is a cup from April to October with
17 races and in the winter it's possible to get on map one time a
week. I'm also coach in our club and in the summertime we are having
trainings every week.
Is there a key to call people's
attention on MTB Orienteering and its beauty?
C. C. - As I said earlier, it
could be though MTB to MTBO.
If you had the power, would you
change something in the MTB Orienteering current rules?
C. C. - Not really.
Would you like to share with us your
biggest dream?
C. C. - My biggest dream is to
win the World MTB Orienteering Championships in one of the distances.
Joaquim Margarido
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