LIOM 2016: Daniel Hubmann's Sprint course analysis

[Control nº 01] The first control was an easy one; there weren’t route choices here.

[Control nº 02] We had a route choice to the second control. First I saw the option to the right, but then I decided to go left because it seemed to be shorter. I think it was a good choice.

[Control nº 03] To the third control I went to the left but I think that could be almost the same if I choose the option to the right .

[Controls nº 04 and nº 05] Clear.

[Control nº 06] Number six also clear. No route choices, but still you had to be focused, see all the passages, the steps, also some people, you have to take care moving round the corner, but I think I managed to do well.

[Control nº 07] I decided to go up the stairs and then go down, which I think it was good.

[Control nº 08] An interesting route choice here, because of the climbing. The first option I saw it was close to the line but then I realize that would be better to go up and down again. I think this was also a very good option.

[Control nº 09] To the ninth control, I wanted to do an “S” – so, right and left” – but then I decided to go all around to the right, but I can see now that it wasn’t the best option and I think I lost here about ten seconds.

[Control nº 10] I took the route which looked a little bit better runnable because of fewer stairs.

[Control nº 11] I saw here Fredrik [Bakkman] and I came quite close to him, so I tried to do a different route but I think to go right on this church wasn’t the best option and I lost a couple of seconds here.

[Controls nº 12 and nº 13] Fine.

[Control nº 14] Another route choice. There was no option straight and I had to go left or right. Then I decided to go right, up the stairs and down the street again. It also looks like a good choice but I’m not sure because I also had to climb a lot and go down. Actually I'm not sure… three curves… yeah, I think it was a good choice.

[Control nº 15] Here I went left. It’s difficult to say if this is equal or not. At least, left seems good to me.

[Control nº 16] I went left, around this house, and here going to the right would have been a little bit better. I remember here Fredrik was behind me and took the right and could up a little bit.

[Control nº 17] I saw again this option where I’ve ran already two times, but going left seemed to be the best option because you don’t have stairs and you can run full speed downhill.

[Control nº 18] It was clear going left.

[Controls nº 19 and nº 20] More or less clear.

Joaquim Margarido

Two or three things I know about it...

1. “The turn of the New Year is a good moment to reflect back but also to look ahead”. The words are from Simone Niggli, in a new message left on her webpage, in the last day of the last year. In a really nice article, Simone states that “orienteering is continuing to be close to my heart”, two years after resigning from the Swiss national. At six months to the Junior World Championships's opening, in which she plays the role of Event Director, Simone set a first goal for the big event: “I am looking forward to the many interesting spectators who will support the young athletes from all over the world”, she says. And assures: “Great orienteering action delivered live in the finish arenas with the speaker Per Forsberg commentating”. Besides this big commitment, the champion's current life consists of many different engagements: Family life, two part-time jobs, dealing with sponsors and time for herself: “I still love to run outside, and last but not least, I very much like to continue competing in orienteering events with map and compass.” Everything to read at http://www.simoneniggli.ch//home/page.aspx?archive_id=11390.

2. Another great article issued in 2015's last hours and signed for Minna Kauppi takes account of a new “chapter” in the athlete's life after having “put my o-shoes, compasses and training clothes aside and decided to find new adventures, goals and dreams in the other world, (…) where every day is not defined by trainings and recovery.” Struggling against her own body during the last years, Minna confesses: “ I almost stopped playing in the spring already”, adding that “it has never been my goal to be second”. “Chapter 2” is about “the other life” that, soon, will determine her days and hours – Minna will start working, for the first time ever, already this Monday. “I can just say that I didn’t really choose small challenges this time either. Humble, a bit scared, but happy, I will start the chapter two in my life next year!” In the post-scriptum, a guarantee: “I’ll be running o-competitions for sure, so we’ll definitely meet some day.” Take your time checking the full article at http://www.minnakauppi.com/en/node/339.

3. 2016 is coming with another great movie signed by Puresive Films. “Train Hard Win Easy – The Hubmann Brothers” is a “sequel”, a short movie produced two years after the filming of “Go Hard or Go Home”, again with the two world orienteering championships medallists, Martin Hubmann and Daniel Hubmann. At Puresive Films' page on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/puresivefilms/ -, Simon Rüegg and Lukas Schubnell commented: “Already two years ago, after the filming of 'Go Hard Or Go Home', the Hubmann brothers asked us if we could do again a little project. Now, after two years, we thought it would be time to make again an epic movie. Spontaneously and without much planning we headed out on a beautiful autumn day.” We take ours the wishes of Simon & Lukas: “Enjoy the beautiful landscape during an 'easy' training session and be amazed how fast, how nimble and how fleet-footed they run through the forests.” See the movie at https://youtu.be/tZ7LCzFr3TQ.

Joaquim Margarido

Daniel Hubmann: "When you always play safe, you can't win anything"

On the Portuguese Orienteering Blog we have with us, today, Daniel Hubmann, one of the most complete and brilliant orienteers of all time. Full of successes over the past decade, his career met in 2015 some of the highest moments so far getting the world titles of Long Distance and Relay, winning the World Cup and achieving the IOF World Ranking's leadership.

We are meeting the end of a great season and your results along the year will be, naturally, an important part of our Interview. But, for now, I would start by asking you about the “gold medal” born on 9th september. How things are going with little Lina?

Daniel Hubmann (D. H.) - Things are going very well with her so far and we are thankful for our little sunshine every day.

What means for you to enter the father's club? What changes you're facing in your sporting life and how does it affects your commitment with Orienteering?

D. H. - It means a lot to me and it's for sure a big step in my life. I have been a professional orienteer for nine years now and I have the feeling that it can also be good for the orienteering part to change the routines a bit and to get some new challenges. The whole organisation around training and competing will be even more important and I also have to set other priorities in some parts, so that everything works well together.

Taking a look over the last months, did you expect, since the beginning, to do such a great season?

D. H. - I didn't really expect it, but when you are training hard all winter, you need to have some goals and dreams. Every athlete knows that a lot can happen and some things you can't influence, but also knows when you always play safe, you can't win anything. Therefore, I'm very happy with my season.

You started the season at Tasmania, with a 2nd place in the World Cup, finishing it with two victories at Arosa, in your home country, in the World Cup's last round. Between the first and the last race, there's a period of time of exactly ten months. Where is the secret of being on top for such a long time?

D. H. - The good thing about the races in Tasmania was that they were held a few months earlier than the other races and I therefore had enough time to get in good shape again until WOC. It might look as if I was on a good level from January until October, but my shape wasn't on that level all the time. Partly because I've planned to have some lows in between, but also because I had some problems with my shin splints in April.

Turning our attention to the World Orienteering Championships, in Scotland, I would like to hear your impressions about the competition. How did you see the gold in the Middle Distance, three seconds over Lucas Basset? And what about the fight in the Long Distance with Tero and Olav and the gold in the Relay?

D. H. - WOC in Scotland started with a frustration - the sixth place in the Sprint. I felt well prepared, but even though the race had not the challenges I had expected, I did a huge route choice mistake. But this made me even more eager to do well in the Middle. It looks like I found the right balance between attacking and doing a very stable race. I didn't have any super leg times but, on the other hand, I managed to run a clean race. Of course I was also lucky winning the race with a three seconds margin only, but for me this was kind of a compensation since I've missed three WOC gold medals by two seconds or less in the past. Winning the relay one day later was something which has been our goal for many years and something many Swiss orienteering fans expected from us. We had tried different tactics and fought many times but we never managed to get it all together. This year everything was perfect for us and it almost was a bit strange that the relay was decided so early.

Having already won two golds took some pressure away from me, but I still started ambitious into the Long Distance race. Since we expected a real orienteering highlight, I really wanted to do well also there. The 2nd place was again a great result, although it hurt a bit when I realised that I even had some chances to win it. However, it was a great WOC for me and I'm very happy about it.

“Great fun to ride with the world's best mountain bikers”, is something that we could read, recently, on your Facebook page. Tell me what other things you intend to do, apart Orienteering, before to start training seriously for the next season? How important is to feel free from maps for a while?

D. H. - This year my “off season” was a bit longer and I didn't really focus on training for six weeks, but it still was a busy time with many meetings with sponsors and other events. As a professional athlete this is also part of my job and I really like to do different things and to meet other people.

Are you planning to fly to Portugal next winter, for a Training Camp? Will you enter the Portugal O' Meeting 2016?

D. H. - I've planned to stay four weeks in Spain and Portugal together with my family this winter. First I'll train in Alicante and in the end also in Portugal, but so far no races are planned. Portugal is always nice because there are so many good maps and the weather is usually better than in Switzerland during the winter months.

You have the Middle Distance European and World titles to defend, as the World Cup winning overall and the IOF World ranking leadership. Will it be possible to achieve all that in 2016? Are those your main goals for the season?

D. H. - Starting in all these events as a defending champion is nice, but it doesn't help me much next season. My main focus will of course be on the international races like EOC, WOC and World Cup. These are already several races and there will be a lot of traveling again, which is not that easy to combine with family life. I might therefore skip some other races, such as Tiomila or Jukola, in order to get some free space in between.

For those who see Daniel Hubmann as an example, an inspiration, specially for the young athletes, what is your advice?

D. H. - Train hard, but never forget to have fun too. You need to know when to be serious and when not. I usually have some time for funny things in training camps, for example in 2012 in Portugal [HERE].

[Photo: Swiss Orienteering / Rémy Steinegger]

Joaquim Margarido

IOF Orienteering World Cup 2015: Daniel Hubmann and Tove Alexandersson winners of the second stage

Similar to what happened last Sunday, the flags of Switzerland and Sweden fluttered again in the main mast of the World Cup 2015’s podium. Daniel Hubmann and Tove Alexandersson were the big winners of the Middle Distance stage, by margins both comfortable as tasty.



The Swiss Daniel Hubmann won the second stage of the World Cup 2015, held today in Coles Bay, Tasmania. In a particularly difficult terrain, with the details of relief and vegetation to enforce its law, the Swiss athlete proved to be in good shape, running the 5.2 kilometers of his course in a consistent way and without significant mistakes, finishing with the time of 31:48. After the second place in the Sprint stage, last Sunday, Hubmann reached a tasty victory - the 25th of his career in stages scoring for the World Cup -, particularly valued by the strong opposition from the Norwegian Olav Lundanes, World Champion in Middle Distance and current leader of the IOF World Ranking. Lundanes spent over 55 seconds to the winner, finishing ahead of the Swiss Matthias Kyburz, the winner of the first stage of this opening round of the World Cup 2015, this time third placed with a time of 33:12.

In the women class, the Swedish Tove Alexandersson had a performance bordering on perfection, beating her more direct opponents by a very large margin. The athlete - who had already won the Sprint stage and currently in the lead of the IOF World Ranking - met the 4.0 km race in 29:40, leaving behind her the Norwegian Mari Fasting and also the Swedish Maria Magnusson, with more 2:38 and 4:02, respectively. In a stage that had the participation of 96 athletes, the New Zealanders Matthew Ogden and Lizzie Ingham made the “honours”
 of the Oceania region, concluding their courses in the 13th and 12th positions, respectively, in men and women classes.

What they said

“Totally happy with the World Cup victory today in Australia! I had a good flow through the tricky course”
, that´s how Daniel Hubmann defined his performance in a message left on his Facebook page, at https://www.facebook.com/dhubmann/. Also, Tove Alexandersson refers to the two wins opening the World Cup 2015 as “a dream start”
, hoping that things can go on like that, “at least in the Long Distance on Saturday”
. In a short interview which can be read in the Swedish Orienteering Federation page [HERE], Tove speaks about a course “on a special terrain that I'm not really used to, and it was quite challenging orienteering, so I've made some small mistakes. But I think I managed to keep the concentration all the way. It was really fun.”
 And the last words: “I know I'm in good shape and that suits me well when it is both technically and physically challenging orinteering. But it’s just the beginning of the season.”


The third and final stage of the IOF Orienteering World Cup 2015's opening round will take place on Saturday, January 10th, with the Long Distance course at Constable Creek, St Helens. Full information at http://oceania2015.com/.



Results



Men


1. Daniel Hubmann (Switzerland) 31:48


2. Olav Lundanes (Norway) 32:43 (+ 0:55)


3. Matthias Kyburz (Switzerland) 33:12 (+ 1:24)


4. Florian Howald (Switzerland) 33:39 (+ 1:51)


5. Andreas Ruedlinger (Switzerland) 33:40 (+ 1:52)


6. Albin Ridefelt (Sweden) 33:50 (+ 2:02)


Women


1. Tove Alexandersson (Sweden) 29:40


2. Mari Fasting (Norway) 32:18 (+ 2:38)


3. Maria Magnusson (Sweden) 33:42 (+ 4:02)


4. Tatiana Ryabkina (Russia 34:11 (+ 4:31)


5. Sara Luescher (Switzerland) 34:19 (+ 4:39)


5. Emma Johansson (Sweden) 34:19 (+ 4:39)



[Photo: Daniel Hubmann / facebook/dhubmann/]

Joaquim Margarido