Portuguese Orienteering Blog: TrailO

TrailO 5 Days of Italy 2016
Remo Madella is the winner

After a hard fight along five challenging days, Remo Madella was the overall winner of TrailO 5 Days of Italy 2016. In an event where the balance was the common denominator, Emil Kacin and Krešo Keresteš got the immediate positions.

Castello Tesino and Cinte Tesino hosted the last stages of TrailO 5 Days of Italy 2016, in which participated 52 competitors from 12 different countries. The event offered two PreO stages, two TempO stages and one TrailO Relay stage, with the sum of all correct answers being the main factor to find the event’s winner. A quick look on the results lets to realize how balanced were all stages, with the doubt regarding the winner to be solved on the last stage only.

With four wrong answers in the first stage, Remo Madella (Vivaio ITA) could improve his results in the second stage – getting there the Italian Championships gold in TempO – and shortening the distance to the lead. After that, he performed quite well in the TrailO Relay and got the third place twice in the last stages, PreO and TempO ones. Krešo Keresteš (OK Trzin SLO) and Emil Kacin (OK Azimut) got one victory each in the two opening stages, both scoring for the Unofficial European Cup in Trail Orienteering 2016, keeping top positions until the last journey. There, Madella was slightly faster and accurate, finishing with 99 points, against 98 from Kacin and 96 from Keresteš. One last word to Lars Jakob Waaler (Porsgrunn Orienteringslag NOR) and Antonin Forst (MatFyz Praha CZE) that won the fourth and fifth stages, and for the Slovenian team (Krešo Keresteš, Emil Kacin and Marco Giovannini), the TrailO Relay’s winners.

Results

Stage #3

TrailO Relay

1. SLO (Marco Giovannini, Emil Kacin, Krešo Keresteš) 529 seconds

2. NOR (Ole-Johan Waaler, Martin Aarholt Waaler, Lars Jakob Waaler) 562 seconds

3. ITA (Remo Madella, Stefano Galletti, Alessio Tenani) 699 seconds

4. NOR/GBR (Sigurd Daehli, Wydar Taxth Loland, Charles Bromley Gardner) 758 seconds

5. CZE (Antonin Forst, Lenka Forstova, Libor Forst) 762 seconds

Stage #4

PreO

1. Lars Jakob Waaler (Porsgrunn Orienteringslag NOR) 23/23 points (9 seconds)

2. Sigurd Daehli (Loten Orienteringslag NOR) 23/23 points (10 seconds)

3. Remo Madella (Vivaio ITA) 23/23 points (11 seconds)

4. Martin Aarholt Waaler (Porsgrunn Orienteringslag NOR) 23/23 points (12 seconds)

5. Emil Kacin (OK Azimut SLO) 23/23 points (18 seconds)

6. Markéta Šimková (Sportovní klub Los Mělník CZE) 22/23 points (20 seconds)

7. Wydar Taxth Loland (Hisoy Orienteringsklubb NOR) 22/23 points (21,5 seconds)

8. Charles Bromley Gardner (British Army Orienteering Club GBR) 22/23 points (25 seconds)

9. Antonin Forst (MatFyz Praha CZE) 22/23 points (32 seconds)

10. Mateja Keresteš (OK Trzin SLO) 22/23 points (78 seconds)

Stage #5

TempO

1. Antonin Forst (MatFyz Praha CZE) 381 seconds

2. Lars Jakob Waaler (Porsgrunn Orienteringslag NOR) 396 seconds

3. Remo Madella (Vivaio ITA) 403 seconds

4. Emil Kacin (OK Azimut SLO) 420 seconds

5. Zoltán Miháczi (Tipo Orienteering Club HUN) 425 seconds

6. Dušan Furucz (Farmaceut Bratislava SVK) 445 seconds

7. Sigurd Daehli (Loten Orienteringslag NOR) 450 seconds

8. Alessio Tenani (Gruppo Sportivo Forestale ITA) 476 seconds

9. Martin Aarholt Waaler (Porsgrunn Orienteringslag NOR) 496 seconds

10. Alberto Grilli (Punto Nord ITA) 498 seconds

TrailO 5 Days of Italy 2016

Overall standings

1. Remo Madella (Vivaio ITA) 99 points (205,5 seconds)

2. Emil Kacin (OK Azimut SLO) 98 points (158 seconds)

3. Krešo Keresteš (OK Trzin SLO) 96 points (150 seconds)

4. Libor Forst (MatFyz Praha CZE) 96 points (188 seconds)

5. Lars Jakob Waaler (Porsgrunn Orienteringslag NOR) 96 points (232 seconds)

6. Alessio Tenani (Gruppo Sportivo Forestale ITA) 95 points (184 seconds)

7. Sigurd Daehli (Loten Orienteringslag NOR) 95 points (289 seconds)

8. Zoltán Miháczi (Tipo Orienteering Club HUN) 94 points (107 seconds)

9. Martin Aarholt Waaler (Porsgrunn Orienteringslag NOR) 92 points (135,5 seconds)

10. Marco Giovannini (OK Trzin SLO) 91 points (158 seconds)

Complete results, maps, solutions and further information at http://www.trailo2016.it/.

[Photo archive]

Joaquim Margarido

European Trail Orienteering Championships 2016
Two gold medals for Ola Jansson

When the second day of the PreO competition came to an end in Vápenná and the European Champion in the Paralympic class was known, the name of Ola Jansson didn’t surprise anyone. The athlete with more medals than anyone else in the challenging discipline of Trail Orienteering once again didn’t fail at the decisive moments, winning his third individual gold in the last four editions of the European Trail Orienteering Championships and the first gold ever in the TrailO Relay.

Born 50 years ago in Björklinge, 90 km north of Stockholm in Sweden, Ola Jansson has always been interested in sport. A big fan of Cross Country Skiing in his youth, he always aimed for a good race and even ran the Stockholm Marathon. However he devoted most of his sporting career to Floorball, until 2006 when a serious injury in his left knee forced him to stop. At that time Orienteering had already come into his life, and in 1998 he made contact with TrailO. “I was no longer able to run in forests and it made me look to TrailO” he says, adding that the fascination of this discipline has to do with “the challenge of interpreting the terrain through the map-reading.”

Ola Jansson has been tremendously effective in international TrailO competitions so far, winning more gold medals than anyone in both European and World Championships. Those who share a daily routine with him know that he often reacts badly to pressure and can be very nervous, but the person we see while competing is a completely different Ola, particularly at the decisive moments when nerves of steel are the most important requirement for success. “I relish the extra tension that builds up on the second day, when the races are generally decided”, Ola confesses. That’s maybe why we could see him at his highest level in the last and decisive leg of the TrailO Relay that opened ETOC 2016: “I was looking forward to the Relay and I wanted to see how able I would be in handling this new format. I felt motivated to do the last leg and be part of the deal at the last station – a spectator station – although the pressure was increased by knowing that I needed to get it right to win the gold.” And he did it! “It was fun to win a Relay as a team; there, you need to support and encourage each other”, he says.

It was gold again for Ola in the PreO, and he recalls the most impressive moments during the two-day competition: “It was all difficult, and especially hard to read and solve all the slopes and stones in the quarry on the second day”, he remembers. Ola also left some words for the ETOC organisers: “The maps were really good and the terrain was fun, demanding a good standard of map-reading; a bit of a shame with problems in the results of the Relay, but in general the organising work and the information was good.”

The 2016 World Trail Orienteering Championships on home ground is the next big challenge and Ola Jansson can’t wait for it. “I’m looking for fine summer weather, fun courses and challenging map-reading”, says Ola. The goal is, as always, the gold, but… “I’ll be satisfied if I take a medal”, he adds, listing the names of his major opponents: “Michael Johansson, Vladyslav Volk, Jana Kost’ova, Søren Saxtorph …” and others. The last words goes to his biggest dream: “Right now I don’t exactly have a dream, but we never know if I’ll have some soon…”

Text and photo: Joaquim Margarido

[See the original article at http://orienteering.org/etoc-two-gold-medals-for-ola-jansson/. Published with permission from the International Orienteering Federation]

5 Days of Italy 2016
Golden weekend for Keresteš and Kacin

The Slovenians Krešo Keresteš and Emil Kacin were the winners of the TrailO 5 Days of Italy 2016's two first stages, last weekend, in Conca del Tesino, Trentino. Susy De Pieri and Remo Madella were the best Italians, getting the national titles of PreO and TempO, respectively

PreO course with a set of 23 controls and two timed stations with four tasks overall, the first stage of the TrailO 5 Days of Italy 2016 took place last Saturday in Pieve Tesino, at Tesino Golf Club “La Farfalla”. Scoring for the Unofficial European Cup in Trail Orienteering 2016 and, simultaneously, for the Italian PreO Championships 2016, the course was setted by Daniele Danielli, having the participation of 45 competitors from twelve different nations. The Slovenian Krešo Keresteš (OK Trzin) was the only one to finish the race without errors, both in the course and in the timed stations. World Champion in 2007 (Kiev, Ukraine), Keresteš got a one point win on the Slovakian Jan Furucz (Farmaceut Bratislava), second placed. Libor Forst (MatFyz Praha), Czech Republic, was third with 21 points and 99 seconds, six seconds ahead of the Croatian Ivica Bertol (OK Vihor). Zoltán Miháczi (Tipo Orienteering Club), Hungary, has the fastest and the most accurate in the timed stations but missed three controls and got the fifth position. Susy De Pieri (Eridano Adventure ASD) finished sixth with 20 points and was the best Italian competitor, reaching the national title in PreO.

Scoring for the Unofficial European Cup in Trail Orienteering 2016 and, also, for the Italian TempO Championships 2016, the competition on the second day was planned by Renato Bettin and offered six timed stations with five tasks each to the 46 competitors gathered in Cinte Tesino, Monte Mezza. The winner was another athlete from Slovenia, Emil Kacin (OK Azimut), with three wrong answers and 399 seconds overall. Kacin got a 19 seconds win on the Italian Remo Madella (Vivaio), thus reaching the Italian TempO gold. Jan Furucz was on the podium for the second day in a row, being third with 423 seconds, despite six wrong answers. His brother Dušan Furucz (Farmaceut Bratislava) got the fourth place with 461 seconds, less three seconds than Libor Forst, fifth placed. Alessio Tenani got an amazing clean race in the first half, but wasn't able to get better than the sixth place, thanks to six wrong answers in the last fifteen tasks. With this results, Remo Madella took the lead of the Unofficial European Cup in Trail Orienteering 2016 with 142 points in six stages. The Swedish Erik Stålnacke (IFK Göteborg) and Lennart Wahlgren (Rehns BK) are second and third, respectively, with less 8 and 12 points than Madella.

Results

ECTO #5 – Italian PreO Championships

PreO

1. Krešo Keresteš (OK Trzin SLO) 23/23 points (56 seconds)

2. Jan Furucz (Farmaceut Bratislava SVK) 22/23 points (42 seconds)

3. Libor Forst (MatFyz Praha CZE) 21/23 points (99 seconds)

4. Ivica Bertol (OK Vihor CRO) 21/23 points (105 seconds)

5. Zoltán Miháczi (Tipo orienteering Club HUN) 20/23 points (18 seconds)

6. Susy De Pieri (Eridano Adventure ASD ITA) 20/23 points (25,5 seconds)

7. Michele Cera (ASD Erebus Or. Vicenza ITA) 20/23 points (35 seconds)

8. Esko Juntilla (Muuramen Rasti FIN) 20/23 points (43,5 seconds)

9. Alessio Tenani (Gruppo Sportivo Forestale ITA) 20/23 points (52 seconds)

10. Emil Kacin (OK Azimut SLO) 20/23 points (58 seconds)

ECTO #6 – Italian TempO Championships

TempO

1. Emil Kacin (OK Azimut SLO) 399 seconds

2. Remo Madella (Vivaio ITA) 418 seconds

3. Jan Furucz (Farmaceut Bratislava SVK) 423 seconds

4. Dušan Furucz (Farmaceut Bratislava SVK) 461 seconds

5. Libor Forst (MatFyz Praha CZE) 464 seconds

6. Alessio Tenani (Gruppo Sportivo Forestale ITA) 473 seconds

7. Petteri Suominen (Helsingin Poliisi-Voimailijat FIN) 475 seconds

8. Lars Jakob Waaler (Porgrunn Orienteringslag NOR) 482 seconds

9. Krešo Keresteš (OK Trzin SLO) 483 seconds

10. Sigurd Dæhli (Løten Orienteringslag) 486 seconds

Further information about the TrailO 5 Days of Italy 2016 at http://www.trailo2016.it/.

[Photo archive]

Joaquim Margarido

World of TrailO

1. TrailO lovers could enjoy an intense weekend in the Uppland region, Sweden. On Saturday morning took place a TempO event organized by club OK Rodhen, in which Martin Fredholm (OK Linné) was the best of 41 competitors, winning with a record of 185 seconds. Stig Gerdtman (Vingåkers OK) and Marit Wiksell (Rehns BK) occupied the immediate positions with more 11 and 17 seconds, respectively, than the winner. The full results can be seen HERE. In the afternoon, took place a PreO event organized by club OK Linné and attended by 34 competitors in the Elite class. The fight for victory was particularly hard with six competitors to complete a 24 challenges clean race and leaving the final decision to the timed controls. Here, Stig Gerdtman was the fastest and most accurate, beating Erik Lundkvist (HJS - Vansbro OK) by the minor margin of one second. At three seconds to the winner, in the third place, ranked Magnus Sterner (Strängnäs Malmby OL). To see the complete results, please see HERE. Finally, on Sunday took place another PreO event, this time organized by Björklinge SOK club and with the particularity of offering to the 31 competitors a set of 30 points distributed along 220 metres (!). With just one wrong answer, Marit Wiksell and Lennart Wahlgren saw the chronometer as the decisive factor, Marit being faster with 14 seconds versus 19 seconds from Lennart. The third place fell to the Norwegian Lars Jakob Waaler, with 28/30 points. The results can be seen at https://eventor.orientering.se/Documents/Event/29576/1/St-mpelsammanst-llning-Pre-Elit.

2. Another important competition took place in Menina Planina, in the Slovenian Prealps, with the completion of the Menina Planina TrailO 2016 scoring for the CRO-ITA-SLO TrailO Cup and the Slovenian PreO League. The race was organized by club OK Trzin and featured a PreO stage on Saturday and a TempO stage on Sunday, the first with 20 controls and a timed station with two tasks and the second with 6 timed stations with five tasks each. The first stage had in the Croatian Tomislav Varnica (OK Vihor) the big winner with 19 points and 15 seconds, exactly the same result as the Slovak Ján Furucz (Farmaceut Bratislava). The Italian Remo Madella (Vivaio) was ranked in the third place with the same points as the winners but with 81 seconds in the timed controls. On Sunday, the victory in the TempO stage was to Remo Madella, ahead of his compatriot Suzy De Pieri (Eridano Adventure ASD) and Ján Furucz. In the meanwhile, on Saturday night took place a PreO Night stage, with Dušan Furucz (Bratislava Farmaceut) to be more accurate than the others. Overall, the big winner of Menina Planina TrailO 2016 was Remo Madella with 295.37 points against 288.43 and 279.19 of the brothers Ján and Dušan Furucz, second and third place, respectively. Results, maps and solutions can be seen at http://www.oktrzin-klub.si/sl/dp-tempo-2014.html.

3. The new map of Pedra da Câmara, in Arraiolos municipality, hosted the fourth edition of the Iberian Trail Orienteering Championships. Scoring for the Portuguese Trail Orienteering League Invacare 2016, the event was organized by GafanhOri, Gafanhoeira Orienteering Club - Arraiolos, in what was a successful debut in the organizational chores of this particular orienteering discipline. Facing temperatures above 30º C and a 20 control course with a three tasks timed station, the big winner in the Open Class was the Portuguese Cláudio Tereso (ATV) with 19 points, the same score as his team mate Luís Sérgio but a better performance in the timed station. With the club DAHP - Adapted Sports of Prelada Hospital absent, the Portuguese Alexandre Guedes da Silva and the Spanish Carlos Riu Noguerol (COMA) discussed the Iberian title. Guedes da Silva knew to obviate Riu's greater experience and fought hardly for the victory, both finishing with 11 points. In the timed controls, the Spanish won by narrow 7 seconds. More information at http://gafanhori.wix.com/cndme2016.

Joaquim Margarido

Tom Dobra: "I'm still trying to find my best TempO pace"

From his second presence in a row on the international Trail Orienteering scene, Tom Dobra gets a good experience and a handful of important lessons for the future. With his sights set on Strömstad, the young British athlete shares today the most relevant moments of the recent European Championships, in the Czech Republic.

I would start by asking you about yourself. Who is Tom Dobra?

Tom Dobra (T. D.) - I’m a PhD student in engineering at Bristol, born in London and then moved to Tunbridge Wells aged 10. Obviously, I am an orienteer (a mudblood to use Harry Potter terminology), still mainly FootO, with my biggest successes in urban races, but also a cross-country runner and occasional hillwalker with a bit of scrambling for good measure. In addition, alpine skiing is a must-do every winter, especially off-piste, and I play the trumpet socially. If there’s time to do something, I will; if there isn’t, I’ll often do it anyway!

How did Orienteering come to your life? Was it love at first sight?

T. D. - I was a cross-country runner at school, normally at the back of a very good team, so logically went along to a training camp just before starting at Cambridge in September 2010. There I met an orienteer and thought “that sounds interesting”, especially since when hillwalking I was nearly always the one with the map. Unfortunately, it took me a week or two to find the orienteering club (they were hiding at the freshers’ fair), but when I went along one Sunday to Mildenhall North, I ran the long orange course (as hard as an M12A course but double the length), won it by over 10 minutes, then went straight out again on the light green and found it much harder. Nonetheless, it was one of the best days of my year and I was hooked – that was the end of my Sundays! Planners take note: long orange courses are essential for attracting adult novices, but are sadly few and far between.

And what about Trail Orienteering? Was there a particular moment, a “click”, when you said to yourself: “That's it, Trail Orienteering is my sport!”?

T. D. - When faced with a choice of sit in the car waiting for two hours or try something new, I tried something new. This was the 2013 British Championships at Newlands Corner, that year only a PreO. I zipped round the first half of the course getting many wrong, before I realised the point, then got most right in the second half. Afterwards, I thought it was a good training exercise but still didn’t really appreciate TrailO as a sport. Over the next year, Anne Braggins had somehow made me plan two short TrailO exercises (IntrO) and put on some herself. Still I was finding TrailO interesting but didn’t really have the buzz. Eventually, I sent a throwaway email in January 2015 saying please consider me for WTOC (probably Anne’s bullying again!). After all, what could I lose? I competed in four UK ranking events that spring, had almost forgotten I sent that email, then received the selection email out of the blue in late April. Suddenly, everything had got very serious with a trip to Croatia (top work by Vihor club last summer!), 53rd in the TempO but then winner of the public PreO. Things only went up from there and I’ve never looked back. Never say no and who knows what might happen!

You left the Great Britain towards the Czech Republic and the European Trail Orienteering Championships ETOC 2016 with some goals in your head, I believe. Would you like to share them with us?

T. D. - With a selection for TempO last summer and then again for WTOC 2016, naturally I wanted to justify my place in the team by qualifying for the final. Deep inside though, I felt I was better at PreO, having won the public competition in Croatia last summer with a result that could have had me on the WTOC podium, so I was dreaming of an ETOC podium, knowing the chances were very slim – I simply wanted to see what I could do without a firm target in mind for the PreO.

What you've found during the competition matches with your expectations?

T. D. - These were the hardest courses I’ve ever come across in my limited experience, but with the exception of a few map-reading eyesight tests in the relay, I thought everything was very fair. Tomáš and the team did a fantastic job, even though they could have done with a little more manpower. One thing I would have liked is for model 1 to have been harder so that I could learn Tomáš’ style, which I feel took me until PreO day 2 to sort out properly.

We could see you reaching the TempO Final and being the third most accurate competitor out of 36, with just three wrong answers. However, your overall result was far away than one could imagine. I would like to hear your thoughts about your race.

T. D. - I’m still trying to find my best TempO pace, having been second most accurate (but slow!) in my first ever TempO at BTOC 2014, then had been trying a bit faster, got seven wrong at ECTO in Slovakia for not spending enough time to understand the maps, leaving me well down the results, so decided to concentrate on getting them right this time. Obviously that worked but, down in 23rd place, now the game is to speed up without losing the accuracy. That’s what makes TrailO in general to engaging. In terms of the final course itself, I thought all the maps made sense, including station 1 in the final once you thought about it and traced out the lumps. I should have been faster on station 3, having remembered it from the relay. The final spectator station was a tough experience under the pressure, with an obvious zero to start, but then I just could not work out problem 3 and guessed; at least I got the last one in the stream right.

What about the other races – TrailO Relay and PreO competition?

T. D. - My relay performance was not great with three wrong in the PreO and below average in the TempO, helping to keep up the British tradition (as I was told before we started) of GB2 beating GB1. I had a serious shock in PreO 1 when I spent over 8 minutes on each of the first two controls and then more later on, to be running 20 minutes late by control 9. At that point, panic set in, I lost concentration, guessed number 22 and was 3 seconds late, leaving me with only 16 points. A good debrief, mental note that I must stick rigidly to 4 minutes per problem and not to zero unless I can articulate why worked wonders on day 2, where I scored 22 points, becoming top Brit of the day. I’m not at all annoyed about day 1 since it was an important learning experience – I had never faced so much time pressure before, and I think I wouldn’t have done so well on day 2 had I not done so badly on day 1.

Talking about the TrailO Relay, do you like this new format?

T. D. - I think the principle is good, although a few details need ironing out. Using times as the score is definitely the way to do it, but the PreO penalty should be increased so that the times come 50/50 from PreO and TempO for the top teams. The PreO time limit should not be shortened below the normal PreO recommendation, as the relay is there to test a team’s ability at both disciplines; otherwise, it ends up becoming a TempO team competition.

Please, tell me about the Championships' best moment of all.

T. D. - My best morning for excitement was the TempO qualifier. As bib number 1, I had to wait a long time to see how I was doing, with the rest of the team gradually arriving. In the end, I qualified 15th in heat B just 7 seconds above the line!

You're a “rookie” in a team of “much older guys”. How do you feel about that?

T. D. - At WTOC last year, I was less than half the age of the second youngest on the team, which I felt was a brave move. The guys are lovely, but looking around at the success of young faces from other countries, I need to persuade more of my peers to compete. Regardless, I am honoured to have the chance to compete for my country, among a great team who wants each other to succeed.

The new challenge it's called WTOC 2016. Are you planning to be in Strömstad, Sweden, next August?

T. D. - Yes, I’ll be there, competing in the TempO and aiming for a relay place.

What are your main goals? And your main adversaries?

T. D. - My main goal will be the same as at ETOC, to make the TempO final, with 23rd to beat. By doing the ROC (public) PreO, I also have another opportunity to demonstrate that the GB PreO selection was wrong! I hear that Scandinavia is the mother land of orienteering, so I expect to be really challenged. My biggest concern is it will be too hard (like PreO 1 at ETOC) and I won’t get the result I want.

Are we going to see you committed with TrailO for the next years?

T. D. - Of course! I want to keep appearing on the international stage, but more importantly, I intend to spread my enthusiasm around the UK.

Would you like to share with us your biggest dream?

T. D. - A medal! The question is: can I improve so that I only need a little bit of luck rather than a big bit to get there?

[Photo: Iveta Malá / kade.cz/EOC2016/tempO_im]

Joaquim Margarido

Zdenko Horjan: "Lef me first qualify into the team, then we'll think about medals!..."

Those who are involved with TrailO knows that the name of “Zdenko Horjan” matches with “WTOC 2015”. In fact, he was the Course Setter of the last World Trail Orienteering Championships and I must agree he did a terrific job. So, even if we're here to talk about the present, this long Interview starts by revisiting Zagreb, almost one year after.

You've been the World Trail orienteering Championships WTOC 2015's course setter. What do you keep from that experience?

Zdenko Horjan (Z. H.) - My feelings about WTOC 2015 are divided. On one side, I'm very happy that, still today, many people are coming to congratulate me for what we've done. And that makes me feel very good and proud of our work. On the other hand, I know all the little details which didn't run as smoothly as we've planned. Also, I know all the other things we've planned, things which would make everything even better, but just didn't happen for some reason (lack of time, people, money...). So, I am sorry about that. But memories are nice and still fresh. And, although a bit stressful, it was a really nice experience.

Looking on Tomáš Leštínský's job as EOC 2016's course setter, how do you rate him? Would you do something different in some parts?

Z. H. - All in all, Tomáš did a great job. At the Relay, my course (V1) was very good, but many competitors complained about the other two courses, so maybe there some controls could have been a bit different. I didn't like the TempO controls at all, especially mapping and Z task at station 2. I didn't try it by myself, but at the final station just one person got all correct, so I believe that wasn't also the best station. At TempO Qualifications my only objection is that the fence at station 1 was not mapped. At station 6 I had problems with connecting map and terrain, but I can't really say what was the problem (maybe just in my head). I wasn't in the TempO Finals, but I visited the terrain later. One can't really judge it without competing, but it seems to me that only the last station was questionable.

Both PreO courses were really excellent! Very demanding, but solvable. Generally, maps were very good, very detailed and all the features drawn correctly. All, except some paths! Why everything can be drawn perfectly, except the paths? And that is my only serious objection to Tomáš (and to the IOF controllers, my friends Lars-Jakob Waaler and John Kewley), which still bothers me a lot.

Jana Kost'ova said that, from a media point of view, the ETOC 2016 didn't exist. Do you agree?

Z. H. - I would be very happy if someone disproves this but, as far as I know, I can just say that I totally agree with Jana. For example, starting for the Championships' logo... Do you see the word ETOC anywhere!? Official web page – look at the header: Any mention to ETOC!? Facebook, Twitter... there exists only EOC 2016. Oh yes, there were also some billboards around Jeseník and big posters on the back window of local buses, but guess what – I haven't seen any mention to ETOC. Was there ETOC in Jeseník at all, or we, somehow, participated at EOC? I blame IOF for that! I believe if organisers themselves are not aware enough about all the disciplines, IOF should somehow make them to treat equally all the Championships. Otherwise, why do we have joint Championships at all?

Luckily for competitors, Tomáš made the “unofficial” ETOC web page, where all the relevant and fresh information weas published. Otherwise, with just the official webpage available, we wouldn't have any information about ETOC.

For the first time in the last years, Croatia stayed out of the podium in the team competition, now the TrailO Relay. How was that?

Z. H. - It is well known that our team is very strong in PreO, but not so good in TempO. I did quite well my part of the job, but my team mates were not as good as expected in PreO, so we lost there our chances for a high position. So, it happens. It isn't the end of the World. There is always next time...

What's your opinion about the TrailO Relay format?

Z. H. - I don't like it. In fact, the format is maybe OK, but I don't like how the results are calculated. I don't like mixing PreO and TempO in the way as it is now (translating everything into seconds). I believe that, in TrailO, precision (correct solution) should be primary and speed just secondary to divide those with the same score. Now I feel (I still have to analyze the latest results to be sure) that these two components are equal, or even maybe a bit in favor of speed, considering the extra final TempO stations. Anyway, no matter the rules or how the results were calculated, Italian victory in Jeseník was clear, so once again I congratulate my friends Remo Madella, Michele Cera and Alessio Tenani for their superb performance.

You missed the TempO final for narrow 9 seconds and I believe you've been expected something different. Was your qualifying heat tougher than you expected?

Z. H. - Actualy, I wasn't expecting anything in TempO. With just one or two TempO competitions a year, I know that I don't have the necessary speed and practise to compete with the best in TempO. So, at this moment, entering the Finals would be like getting a medal. Surprisingly, the terrain suited me much more than I expected, but one mistake because of the mapping (really, guys, why that fence wasn't on the map?) on the 1st task at 1st station and one miscounting of the correct flag moved me from 8th to 19th place. Since I didn't expect anything, I don't regret for being first under the line.

I believe the other heat (A) was much tougher then mine (B), but that doesn't matter. The fact is that other competitors in my heat were better than me this time and they qualified. I didn't. Simple as that. If you compete at the highest level, you have to be better than the others, no matter how tough they are.

Finally, you did a great job in the PreO competition, finishing fourth with the same points of the bronze medalist, Jens Andersson, Sweden. Are you happy with your results?

Z. H. - I am extremely happy with my final result! In the first day I made two stupid mistakes (which obviously costed me a medal). I somehow managed to miss the easiest time control (1st on the station 1) and I didn't check thoroughly my answer on the 5th control, after quickly deciding it was a clear Z. There was one more mistake near the end of the course, caused by time pressure, but I can't really say that I would answer it correctly with much more time available. After all that, the 12th place (out of 88) looked quite good, but with so many great names in front a place on the podium looked so far away that I even packed my official uniform deep in my luggage, so I had to borrow it from my team mates for the prize giving ceremony (laughs). And after solving so tough course on the 2nd day, with just one mistake, what took me upfront for 8 places and into the fight for medals, I must be satisfied with my overall performance and congratulate those who were better this time: Stig Gerdtman, Martin Jullum and Jens Andersson.

Would you like to share with us the strongest moments along the two-day PreO competition?

Z. H. - Well, at first, I thought the first day was quite intensive and difficult. Already there, I had some problems with keeping up the tempo of solving the tasks and time pressure in the second half, but the second day we had even less time per control and I was a bit afraid of that. I started well, but then I reached the controls 10-14, all on the big cliffs/rock faces at the other side of the valley and I was just astonished by the view! I tried to solve some tasks there, but just couldn't get anything for sure. To be honest, at one point of time I was really considering answering all those tasks either A or Z. Then I stopped and calmed down for a moment. I noticed some flags nearby, belonging to the tasks in the second part, so I “borrowed” some of my time from the second half to define where they are. After that I turned back to the tasks on the other side and somehow managed to read the map and answer everything correctly, which I'm really proud of.

The next big challenge it's called World Trail Orienteering Championships WTOC 2016. Are we going to see you getting a medal in Strömstad?

Z. H. - Humm... as things are now, you will not see ME in Sweden, so getting a medal could be a bit difficult (laughs). That is because, according to the standings in qualifications for the Croatian Team, I am currently out of the best three. But we still have some additional qualifications in June, so everything is still possible. Let me first qualify into the Team, then we'll think about medals!...

What kind of event can we expect?

Z. H. - I'm expecting a standard “Swedish style” competition. That means, high quality, demanding and interesting courses, with clean zeros. If I come, my recent experience shows me that my only adversaries are my own stupid mistakes.

How do you evaluate the current TrailO moment in your country? And worldwide?

Z. H. - I feel that we're all standing at the same place for the last few years. It was very refreshing to get Portugal and Slovakia in recent years as new and quite strong opponents, but in the other countries things didn't change too much. Also in Croatia, despite our good international results, organisation of WTOC and all our other efforts, TrailO is still not very popular and it is very difficult to get some new competitors.

Is there a key to call people's attention on Trail Orienteering and its beauty?

Z. H. - The key maybe exists, but it's not in my pocket. Maybe we should look for it in some new countries with growing number of competitions and competitors. Portugal for example?

If you had the power, would you change anything in the Trail Orienteering current rules?

Z. H. - Yes, definitely. I would do something to make the Paralympic class more fair. At least, dividing it into “sitting” and “standing” subclasses or something like that. Then I would allow anyone to compete in sitting class if s/he sits in a wheelchair during the competition. I would change the scoring calculation for the Relay, emphasizing precision before speed. Or reinstall the Team PreO competition as it was (only with separated classes), along the Relay as it is now.

Would you like to share with us your biggest dream?

Z. H. - My dream is to live in a normal country without problems, stupid politicians and ignorant people. Yes, I know, it is called Utopia... I like to travel, so my personal big wish is to visit Machu Picchu and Easter Island. I've heard that there they have some nice rocks, suitable for TrailO... (laughs).

Talking about Orienteering, my big wish was to compete in all four disciplines, what I finally accomplished in 2015. You can imagine how fun it was to compete in SkiO without standing on cross-country skis ever before, learning the techniques just from the Internet. But I did it! And I liked it! And, of course, it would be very nice to crown my TrailO results with an individual medal in the Open class, but that is not my main goal. I know - and I've shown )!) - that I'm good enough to compete in PreO with the World's best orienteers, but for the medal you also need a bit of luck too. If you're chasing that little piece of luck, it's very hard to catch it; but if you just go, you might find it when you least expect it. So, good luck to all of us!

[Photo: OK Vihor / facebook.com/OK-Vihor]

Joaquim Margarido

ETOC 2016
Analyzing the TempO

“TempO is about balancing the speed and the risk of a wrong answer”, says Antti Rusanen, the current World Champion. And so it was, once more, in the Czech Republic, during the European Trail orienteering Championships. In a really tough Final, a few did right. All the others, didn't!

Now that the European Trail Orienteering Championships ETOC 2016 came to an end, still time to look on the event. Today, the Portuguese Orienteering Blog analyzes the TempO competition, looking on the detail that makes the difference.

The competition took place on wednesday, 25th May, with two Qualifying Heats in the first part of the day and the Final in the afternoon. 87 competitors entered to the Qualifying stage, with the 18 best in each Heat reaching the Final. Comparing the Qualifying Heats' results to those registered in the last World Trail Orienteering Championships, in Croatia, one can notice that 16 competitors repeated a presence in the Final. Bronze medalist in Zagreb, the Norwegian Sondre Ruud Braten was the big absent, but Edgar Domingues, Portugal, Emil Kacin, Slovenia and Dmitry Dokuchaev, Russia, also missed the Final. Out of the big decision by 3,5 seconds, Dokuchaev deserves the “unlucky guy” prize. With seven competitors in the Final, the Swedish team was the most represented one, followed by Finland with five competitors, Italy, the Czech Republic, Norway, Slovakia and Portugal with three competitors each, Latvia, Great Britain and Hungary with two competitors each and Ukraine, Denmark and Russia with one competitor each.

Cluster 1

The first Cluster turned out to be the most difficult. It was here that the competitors showed more difficulties to solve the four tasks, with an average time of 44 seconds and more than 50% wrong answers. Only three competitors did a clean cluster, with the Norwegian Martin Waaler joining speed and accuracy, assuming the lead. Martin Fredholm, Sweden, and Krešo Keresteš, Slovenia, were the two other competitors answering fully right. Erik Lundkvist, Sweden, Anna Jacobson, Finland and João Pedro Valente, Portugal, missed all the four tasks, which proved to be fatal for the rest of the course. The Slovakian Ján Furucz missed three tasks. The Portuguese Inês Domingues did two wrong answers, as much as Marit Wiksell, Sweden and the 13 y.o. Czech Daniel Locker.

Cluster 2

Easier than the precedent, the Cluster 2 registered 31 seconds of average time in giving the four answers and 19 overall wrong answers out of 144 (13% of wrong answers). Zoltán Miháczi, Hungary, and Erik Stålnacke, Sweden, were the fastest and the most accurate, with 18 seconds total time. The slowest was Tom Dobra, Great-Britain, with 59 seconds, and the less accurate, with two wrong answers, were Martin Waaler, Alessio Tenani, Italy, Dušan Furucz, Slovakia, Johanne Biering, Denmark, Magdalena Kurfürstova, Czech Republic and Jari Turto, Finland. Martin Fredholm, Sweden, reached the lead in a table were eight competitors could keep a top10 position. New in the standings, we find now Zoltán Miháczi and Inês Domingues.

Cluster 3

The third Cluster was definitely the easiest. The competitors answered here more quickly than the other six, with an average time of 26 seconds, and also the average of wrong answers was the lowest, staying in the 10%. Lauri Kontkanen, Finland, and Sigurd Dæhli, Norway, were the fastest, with 17 seconds, while the slowest was again Tom Dobra, with 45 seconds. Dušan Furucz was, once more, the less accurate, missing three tasks, with Daniel Locker being the one in the top10 missing one task. So, Locker stayed out of the top10 standings, and so Martin Waaler, changing places with Remo Madella, Italy, and Stig Gerdtman, Sweden. Martin Fredholm was about 20 seconds slower than the top competitors and lost the first place, which was occupied now by the Norwegian Martin Jullum.

Cluster 4

With the fourth Cluster, the competitors reached the competitions' middle. From now on, every Cluster will prove to be more difficult than the precedent, not just because of their technical challenge, but also because of the psychological part. Every second is now more than just one second and a wrong answer would mean a step back towards the top places. In this Cluster, the average time increased to 31 seconds and the average of wrong answers was 15%. The Russian Dmitry Kucherenko was the slowest with 50 seconds and the Ukrainian Vitaliy Kyrychenko and Magdalena Kurfürstova missed three tasks, being the less accurate. Zoltán Miháczi and Krešo Keresteš were the only missing one task. Being the fastest, Martin Jullum confirmed the leadership. The Czech Pavel Kurfürst was, along with Martin Waaler, the second fastest, reaching the third position overall. Kontkanen is now second, between Jullum and Kurfürst. Fredholm, Domingues, Madella and Mihaczi follow the leaders. After a sensational recovery, Ján Furucz joined the top10 list for the first time. He is the World Vice-Champion and still has a word to say!

Cluster 5

The Cluster 5 proved to be terrible to Lauri Kontkanen, missing here two tasks. This was a Cluster with also 31 seconds of average time, but with the average of wrong answers increasing to 19,5%. Ján Furucz was unstoppable and got the fastest time with 17,5 seconds. He's now the fourth placed after Martin Jullum, Martin Fredholm and Pavel Kurfürst. Domingues and Madella keep their relative positions, being fifth and sixth, respectively. In the eight position, Pinja Mäkinen, Finland, is a novelty in the top standings. In this Cluster, the slowest was again Dmitry Kucherenko. With three wrong answers, Anna Jacobson and Magdalena Kurfúrstova were the less accurate.

Cluster 6

Sixth and penultimate Cluster. The tension is hot, hot, hot and the third problem to solve shows to be a real jigsaw puzzle. Just seven out of thirty six competitors were able to solve it correctly and Lauri Kontkanen was one of them. Other was Pavel Kurfürst. Jullum keeps the first place, but the difference for the second placed – which is now Kurfürst – was reduced to 20 seconds. Martin Fredholm is still in the medals and Furucz keeps the fourth place, 21 seconds behind Fredholm. Kontkanen has the same seconds as Furucz and Inês Domingues is now sixth, 23,5 seconds far from a medal. The average time in this Cluster was 32 seconds and there was 26% of wrong answers. The less accurate was Martin Waaler, missing three tasks, and the slowest was João Pedro Valente, with 57 seconds.

Cluster 7

Looking on the precent leading table, one understand that anything can happen. The seventh Cluster has the particularity of being a spectator one, increasing even more the pressure. The competitors need nerves of steel to reach their goals and everyone knows that missing one single task would mean an irreparable failure. This Cluster would prove to be the second more difficult, with 41 seconds of average time and 30% of wrong answers. In the particular fight between Kurfürst and Jullum, the Czech won. Jullum missed the third task... and the gold medal! The third place would be closely contested, but Martin Fredholm missed two tasks (he'd just missed one task until now), falling to the final eight place. Inês Domingues also missed two tasks, staying out of top10 – she was the only top competitor answering wrong to the last task.

Ján Furucz finished third and Zoltán Miháczi – the fastest along with Daniel Locker – was fourth. Michele Cera and Pinja Mäkinen also did a clean Cluster, finishing fifth and sixth, respectively. Remo Madella's missing in the third task meant the seventh place, instead of the fourth one. This time, the slowest was Dmitry Kucherenko, with 76 seconds and was also the less accurate, along with Johanne Biering and Magdalena Kurfürstova, with three wrong answers. Overall, Michele Cera and Pavel Kurfürst were the most accurate, with two wrong answers. With three wrong answers there was three athletes: Martin Jullum, Pinja Mäkinen, Martin Fredholm and... Tom Dobra. But Dobra was also the slowest overall, with 376 seconds, which explains his 23rd final position.

Full results and further information at http://www.etoc2016.cz/.

Joaquim Margarido

ETOC 2016
Jansson and Gerdtman got the PreO gold

Sweden was the great winner of PreO competition that ended the European Trail Orienteering Championships ETOC 2016. In the final stage, Stig Gerdtman and Ola Jansson confirmed the first day's excellent performances, getting the gold.

With victories of the Swedish Stig Gerdtman and Ola Jansson, in the Open Class and Paralympic Class, respectively, came to the end the European Trail Orienteering Championships ETOC 2016. Today, the 127 competitors assembled in Vápenná for a course divided into two parts, with a total of 24 tasks and a timed station with two extra challenges. Achieving a clean race on the first day of competition, Stig Gerdtman and the Finnish Jari Turto faced an intense fight. But, as the controls were being overcome, the doubts were gone fading thanks to Jari Turto's performance much lower than expected, while Gerdtman was able to maintain a consistent presence and saving the first place with two wrong answers - 45 points out of 47 in the two days. Along with the Croatian Zdenko Horjan, the Hungarian Ferenc Fehér, the Slovak Dušan Furucz and the Italian Alessio Tenani, Martin Jullum was the most accurate, with only one wrong answer, which would worth the Norwegian getting the silver medal, after being second place, already, in the TempO Final.

The Swedish Jens Andersson saved the third position with a total of 44 points, the same as Zdenko Horjan, 4th placed. With 43 points, the Italian Remo Madella got the 5th position, and the 6th place belonged to the Lithuanian Robertas Stankevič, whose presence on the podium does not cease to be a pleasant surprise. Penalizing one point for exceeding the time limit for 6 seconds, the Slovenian Krešo Keresteš thus lost the 5th place, falling to 7th place with the same points of Stankevič. Also in the range of 42 points, one can find the Italian Michele Cera, World Champion currently, that finished 8th, the British Charles Bromley Gardner, 9th ranked and Jari Turto, which closed the top10. João Pedro Valente, Portugal, eventually missed a "unthinkable" point (of the 39 ranked in the standings' top part, just him was able to miss the control No. 20), thus losing the opportunity to keep a position in the top 10 and finishing in the 13th place.

In the Paralympic Class, the Swedish Ola Jansson and the Ukrainian Vladyslav Vovk also started in the lead, wielded arguments together with the main objective of the European gold. But Vovk - as Turto. in the Open Class - wasn't exactly in a “good day” and seven wrong answers ended any golden illusion. Likewise, Ola Jansson didn't have an easy day, but twenty points scored (adding to 22 points from yesterday) were enough to ensure the victory. Defending here the European title reached in Palmela, two years ago, the Swedish Michael Johansson also noted four wrong answers, yet sufficient to annul the disadvantage of two points for Vovk and guarantee him the silver medal. Vovk would be ranked third with 39 points. In the immediate positions were classified Jana Kosťová, Czech Republic, with 37 points, Søren Saxtorph, Denmark with 36 points and the Russian Pavel Shmatov with 35 points. The seventh ranked was the Finnish Pekka Seppä, with 33 points, the same as the Russian Eduard Oginskii, ranked eighth. The Lithuanian Laima Lažinskiene finished in the 9th place with 32 points and the Russian Dmitry Dokuchaev closed the top10 with 31 points. Overall winner of today’s stage was the Slovakian Dušan Furucz, who scored 23 out of 24 and answered to the two timed controls in 13 seconds.

To see the complete results and for further information, please consult the (unofficial) event's webpage at http://www.etoc2016.cz/.

[Archive photo]

Joaquim Margarido

ETOC 2016
Gerdtman, Turto, Jansson and Vovk leading after PreO's first day

With the PreO competition, the European Trail Orienteering Championships 2016 enters its last days. This morning, Stig Gerdtman and Jari Turto, in the Open class, and Ola Jansson and Vladislav Vovk, in the Paralympic class, were the most accurate, leading the respective standings. Still, there's a second half to play!

The European Trail Orienteering Championships ETOC 2016 it's heading for its end and the PreO competition was today's subject of all attention. This morning, in the ancient mining area of Zlaté Hory, with large amount of pits and depressions, 127 competitors tested their technical abilities, facing a very detailed terrain along which were placed 23 control points, with the “bonus” of two timed stations (with two tasks each), as an “amuse bouche”.

In the Paralympic class, the Ukranian Vladislav Vovk showed why he's currently the PreO World Champion, finishing his race with 22 points out of 23 and 106 seconds in the timed controls. Better than him, just the Swedish Ola Jansson, with the same points but with a better performance against the watch, recording 83 seconds overall. The defending European Champion, Michael Johansson, got the third best result, two points away from the leaders. The fourth and fifth placed were Inga Gunnarsson, Sweden, and Jana Kosťová, Czech Republic, with 18 points. Also fighting for a place in the podium, we can see the Lithuanian Laima Lažinskiene, the Russian Eduard Oginskii and the Danish Søren Saxtorph, with 17 points. It seems like the medals won't escape to Jansson, Vovk and Johansson, but we have to wait for tomorrow's decisive course.

In the Open Class, Stig Gerdtman, Sweden, and Jari Turto, Finland, did a clean race, finishing with 23 points each. Jari Turto, however, achieved a very unusual result in the timed controls, failing to correctly answer all the four tasks (in a set of 88 competitors in the Open Class, only four were able to perform this way). Stig Gerdtman benefited from his adversary's bad performance to take the lead. Jari Turto is the defending European Champion but he has to count on Gerdtman's revenge, fourth placed in the last European Championships and away from Palmela's podium by narrow 29 seconds. One point under the leaders, there was another pair, with the Swedish Jens Andersson ahead of the Norwegian Martin Jullum, silver medalist in the TempO competition but too little accurate today in the timed controls, missing three tasks. Waiting for a bad day of some of the leaders, there's a twelve competitors group, with 21 points. In this large group it's possible to notice the presence of the former World Champion Krešo Keresteš, Slovenia, the Swedish Marit Wiksell, the Croatian Zdenko Horjan, the Finnish Pinjä Makinen, the Portuguese João Pedro Valente or the current TempO European Champion, Pavel Kurfürst, Czech Republic. Out of the podium seems to be the current PreO World Champion, Michele Cera, Italy, with 20 points, the same as the World Champion in 2014, the Latvian Guntars Mankus, or the Portuguese Inês Domingues.

To see the complete results and for further information, please consult the (unofficial) event's webpage at http://www.etoc2016.cz/.

[Archive photo]

Joaquim Margarido

ETOC 2016
Analyzing the TrailO Relay

On the European Trail Orienteering Championships ETOC 2016's rest day, we seek to thoroughly understand the TrailO Relay competition's progress, which ended with the victories of Italy and Sweden, in the Open Class and Paralympic Class, respectively.

Italy and Sweden were the great names of the ETOC 2016's first day, by winning the TrailO Relay competition in the Open Class and Paralympic Class respectively. Looking on the moments that led to the final outcome, the Portuguese Orienteering Blog analyzes the course step by step, sharing some interesting facts. But before proceeding with the analysis itself, let's see the “game rules”. In the competition, every Federation was allowed to enter two teams in each class, each consisting of three competitors. Only the better-placed team would count in the prize list. The result was a combination of a PreO-part and a TempO-part where each wrong answers (or points deductions for exceeding the maximum time) in the PreO-part resulted in a 60 second penalty time. The end result consisted of the PreO penalty time, TempO answering time and TempO penalty time. The three legs of the competition were forked and there was a Mass Start. Every fork consisted in a 9 controls course (in fact, 8 controls, because one of it was voided), having in the end two TempO stations with four tasks each. Every team's last competitor had additionally an extra (spectator) TempO station, with four more tasks.

The TrailO Relay joined 34 teams from 16 countries, 26 in the Open class and 8 in the Paralympic class. This was the first-ever official relay competition at international level, following a trial competition at last year’s World Championships in Croatia. The 34 competitors in the first leg were distributed by the three forks, the same happening in the two remaining legs. Looking on the PreO-part overall, one can notice that V1 Fork was quite easier than the others. Fourteen competitors (one of each in the Paralympic class) hit the eight tasks in the V1 Fork, but this number falls to one competitor in the V3 Fork and none of the competitors did a clean race in the V2 Fork. It's worth looking on the overall results after the PreO-part, with Latvia leading with a 60 second penalty time in the Open Class and the Czech Republic being first with 240 seconds of penalty time. In the Open class Italy had a 60 second disadvantage and was the second placed, but the other teams were facing now the challenge of recover from a huge disadvantage of 180 seconds (Sweden, Norway, Great-Britain and the Czech Republic) or even more. In the Paralympic class, the advantage of the Czech Republic on Russia and Sweden, second placed, was of 180 seconds.

The TempO-part

The TempO-part brought some important changes to the standings. The Finnish Jari Turto, Pinjä Makinen and Lauri Kontkanen were the most accurate in the two clusters with four tasks each, getting 23 right answers out of 24 and the correspondent 30 second penalty time. With this performance, they jumped up nine places in the standings, taking the 9th position. The second team of Finland performed also quite well, with 90 second penalty time. With 120 second penalty time there was Italy, now in the lead, Portugal and Ukraine, in the Open class, and Sweden, in the Paralympic class. Latvia got 360 second penalty time, losing by far the leadership and falling to the 8th place.

Looking on the board after the TempO-part it's easy to realize that only a disaster would move Italy away from the highest place of the podium. Sweden and Slovakia were in the fight for the silver. Separated by 33 points, Norway, Portugal, Latvia and Finland still had a little hope on the medals. In the Paralympic Class, Sweden took the lead, 18 seconds before Czech Republic. Fighting for the bronze, Russia and Latvia were separated by 22,5 seconds. There's still the final TempO cluster to play just once, by the last competitor of each team. Who is going to lose? Who is going to win?

The final act

The last Cluster will be decisive. Four tasks and lots of precious seconds to play should made the difference for some. In the Paralympic class, both Ola Jansson, Sweden, and Jana Kosťová, Czech Republic, performed similarly and could keep the relative positions. Inga Gunnarsson, Michael Johansson and Ola Jansson were the first-ever TrailO Relay winners in this Class, while Hanka Doležalová, Bohuslav Hůlka and Jana Kosťová got the silver. Dmitry Dokuchaev, Dmitry Kucherenko and Pavel Shmatov could manage to keep the bronze to Russia.

In the Open Class, the three third placed had a 60 second penalty for two wrong answers and the short answering time between them didn't change anything in the final standings. With Remo Madella, Michele Cera and Alessio Tenani in the last leg, Italy saved the gold. Sweden, with Stig Gerdtman, Martin Fredholm and Marit Wiksell got the silver and the bronze went to Slovakia, with Marián Mikluš and the brothers Ján and Dušan Furucz. After Inês Domingues and Grigas Piteira, Edgar Domingues had just 30 seconds penalty and Portugal would rise up three places, overtaking Norway and getting the fourth place. Norway and Finland finished fifth and sixth, separated for close four seconds. Hungary got the seventh place, with Zoltán Miháczi winning two positions on Latvia and Croatia in the decisive cluster. Luis Gonçalves, from the Portuguese second team, was brilliant in the “final act”, winning seven places and finishing tenth overall. One last note to the Czech Pavel Kurfürst: He was the only competitor clearing the final TempO cluster. Twenty four hours later he would be on top again, getting the European gold in the TempO competition!