FinTrailO 2017: Marit Wiksell wins for the fourth year in a row

For the fourth year in a row, Marit Wiksell was the winner of FinTrailO 2017. The set of results achieved along the three stages assured her the triumph after a tight fight with Pinja Mäkinen, who would occupy the second position.

Espoo, 20 km west of Helsinki, was the venue of FinTrailO's fourth edition. Divided by three stages – one TempO and two PreO - the event scored for the Unofficial European Cup in Trail Orienteering, attracting 140 competitors from 15 different nations. Organized by OK77, directed by Anna Jacobson and having Åke Jacobson (PreO 1&2) and Roope Näsi and Alahärmän Kisa (TempO) as Course Setters, it was a very successful event, crowning a two-year work on both mapping, course setting and general organization.

According to Anna Jacobson's thoughts to the Portuguese Orienteering Blog, organizers and competitors “were rather unlucky with the weather in the PreO stages: On Saturday afternoon it rained and snowed and there was a storm where big trees fell on the route (right after the competition before the controls were taken in). One flag fell on control 6 so it had to be voided. Then it snowed (!!?) the whole evening and night and in the next morning the course setter got up at 4, changed the tires of the car back to winter tires and went on to bring the flags (93) to the terrain. No markings could be seen on the ground due to the snow, and no control flags could be seen from the road - due to the snow! So we mobilised 4-5 officials (woke them up) who started cleaning the trees of snow. Further, no motorised wheel chairs could drive up the hill (400 m, very steep) to the start, neither could our car meant for transporting wheelchairs (summer tires). Again, 4-5 men took their shovels and rakes, and cleaned the road! It was amazing. Finally, due to our helpful officials, we were able to organise the competition as planned.” And she concludes: “I'm very happy that so many competitors came to FinTrailO and the competitors were very tough when competing in such circumstances we had. I am also happy about that the two ECTO events we organised were challenging but fair. PreO 2 terrain and course were exceptionally nice for map reading.”

FinTrailO 2017 started with the TempO stage, in which Marit Wiksell (Rehns BK) was clearly the fastest, answering correctly to 27 out of 30 tasks (6 timed stations with 5 tasks each) and finishing with the time of 258. Ján Furucz (Farmaceut Bratislava) got the second place with 266 seconds and Erik Stålnacke (IFK Göteborg), the most accurate with just one incorrect answer, finished in the third place with 272 seconds. Marit Wiksell performed at her best in the PreO's first day, finishing in the second place with 26 points and two incorrect answers. Pinja Mäkinen got the first place with 27 points. The PreO day 2 ended the event with a 34-control course and Martin Fredholm (OK Linné) was the only competitor to do a clean race. In the immediate positions, with less one point, standed Antti Rusanen (Keravan Urheilijat) and Erik Stålnacke. Achieving the lowest scoring-time in the combined results of three stages, Marit Wiksell was the FinTrailO 2017's winner for the fourth year in a row. Pinja Mäkinen and Antti Rusanen got the second and third positions, respectively.

Results

TempO (ECTO #3)

1. Marit Wiksell (Rehns BK, SWE) 258 seconds

2. Ján Furucz (Farmaceut Bratislava, SVK) 266 seconds

3. Erik Stålnacke (IFK Göteborg, SWE) 272 seconds

4. Pinja Mäkinen (Koovee, FIN) 322 seconds

5. Lauri Mäkinen (Mäntsälän Urheilijat, FIN) 335 seconds

6. Jari Turto (Kokemäen Kova-Väki, FIN) 346 seconds

7. Lennart Wahlgren (Rehns BK, SWE) 352 seconds

8. Geir Myhr Øien (Ringsaker OK, NOR) 376 seconds

9. Antti Rusanen (Keravan Urheilijat, FIN) 388 seconds

10. Lars Jakob Waaler (Porsgrunn OL, NOR) 392 seconds

PreO 1

1. Pinja Mäkinen (Koovee, FIN) 27 points / 12 seconds

2. Marit Wiksell (Rehns BK, SWE) 26 points / 14 seconds

3. Mikko Heinonen (Kalevan Rasti, FIN) 26 points / 16 seconds

4. Michael Johansson (Vänersborgs SK, SWE) 26 points / 19 seconds

5. Robertas Stankevic (RASKK Vilniaus, LTU) 26 points / 26 seconds

6. Ján Furucz (Farmaceut Bratislava, SVK) 26 points / 73 seconds

6. Erik Lundkvist (HJS-Vansbro OK, SWE) 26 points / 73 seconds

8. Antti Rusanen (Keravan Urheilijat, FIN) 25 points / 7 seconds

9. Martin Fredholm (OK Linné, SWE) 25 points / 14 seconds

10. Jari Turto (Kokemäen Kova-Väki, FIN) 24 points / 16 seconds

PreO 2 (ECTO #4)

1. Martin Fredholm (OK Linné, SWE) 34 points / 15 seconds

2. Antti Rusanen (Keravan Urheilijat, FIN) 33 points / 16 seconds

3. Erik Stålnacke (IFK Göteborg, SWE) 33 points / 20 seconds

4. Marit Wiksell (Rehns BK, SWE) 32 points / 12 seconds

5. Lars Jakob Waaler (Porsgrunn OL, NOR) 32 points / 15 seconds

6. Geir Myhr Øien (Ringsaker OK, NOR) 32 points / 22 seconds

7. Pinja Mäkinen (Koovee, FIN) 32 points / 27 seconds

8. Aleksei Laisev (Keravan Urheilijat, FIN) 32 points / 31 seconds

9. Michael Johansson (Vänersborgs SK, SWE) 31 points / 15 seconds

9. Samy Hyvönen (RastiPielinen, FIN) 31 points / 15 seconds

FinTrailO 2017 Combined Results

1. Marit Wiksell (Rehns BK, SWE) 524 seconds

2. Pinja Mäkinen (Koovee, FIN) 541 seconds

3. Antti Rusanen (Keravan Urheilijat, FIN) 651 seconds

4. Erik Stålnacke (IFK Göteborg, SWE) 698 seconds

4. Martin Fredholm (OK Linné, SWE) 698 seconds

6. Ján Furucz (Farmaceut Bratislava, SVK) 799 seconds

7. Geir Myhr Øien (Ringsaker OK, NOR) 829 seconds

8. Lars Jakob Waaler (Porsgrunn OL, NOR) 833 seconds

9. Michael Johansson (Vänersborgs SK, SWE) 853 seconds

10. Jari Turto (Kokemäen Kova-Väki, FIN) 916 seconds

To see the complete results, maps, solutions, photos and further information, please visit the event's webpage at http://www.ok77.fi/fintrailo/.

[Photos: Jarmo Koskela / jarmokoskela.kuvat.fi]

Joaquim Margarido

10MILA 2017: IFK Göteborg is the winner

IFK Göteborg was the brilliant winner of 10MILA 2017. It was the recover of the title achieved two years ago and the 8:35 advantage over OK Linné was the widest triumph since 2004, when Halden SK got the winning over Kalevan Rasti by 9:40. It was also the third year in a row that a Swedish team wins the Men Relay, something that didn't happened since 1990.

Partille, near Gotebörg, hosted the 71st edition of 10MILA. Divided by Youth, Women and Men Relay, close to 7,000 competitors from all over the World took part in the event, which had in the Men Relay its highest moment. The race started at 21.00 p.m., with 324 teams reaching the forest for a long and exciting orienteering night. Martin Regborn (Hagaby GoIF Örebro) did a perfect first leg, finishing with a four-minute advantage over a large group, led by MS Parma, OK Trian and Hiidenkiertäjät. Viktor Larsson managed to keep Hagaby's boys in the lead in the end of the second leg but things changed after that, with Lauri Sild (Koovee) reaching a two-minute advantage over the crowd in the end of the third leg. Always expected as one of the most significant moments of the course, the fourth and longest leg was tightly contested, finishing with the first six teams separated by seven seconds. IFK Göteborg, Lillomarka OL, IFK Mora OK, Koovee, MS Parma and Lynx had a unique opportunity to conduct the course towards the final victory, having at the moment a good eight-minute lead over the remaining teams.

In the end of the fifth leg, the leading group was reduced to three teams, with Koovee in the first position. But it was during the sixth leg that IFK Göteborg's victory turned out to be a real possibility. Jonas Pilblad performed amazingly, finishing his course 3:51 before Steinar Kollerud (Lillomarka OL), second placed, 4:59 before Jarno Parkkinen (Koovee), third placed and 9:12 before Baptiste Rollier (Kalevan Rasti), in the fourth position. Oleksandr Kratov could reduce Koovee's disadvantage to 54 seconds in the end of the seventh leg, but became clear after the eight leg that IFK Göteborg would be the winner, after Max Peter Bejmer's achievement of nearly ten (!) minutes. Eskil Kinneberg, first, and then Fredrik Bakkman would confirm an amazing victory with the overall time of 10:57:14, the second in the club's history after the winning in 2015. 8:35 after the winners, OK Linné got the second place and Södertälje-Nykvarn OF, the winner in 2016, stayed in the third position with the overall time of 11:06:18.

Results

Men Relay Kavlen

1. IFK Göteborg 10:57:14 (+ 00:00)

2. OK Linné 11:05:49 (+ 08:35)

3. Södertälje-Nykvarn OF 11:06:18 (+ 09:04)

4. Koovee 11:06:31 (+ 09:17)

5. Tampereen Pyrintö 11:10:16 (+ 13:02)

6. Lillomarka OL 11:14:09 (+ 16:55)

7. Kalevan Rasti 11:15:18 (+ 18:04)

8. IFK Lidingö SOK 11:15:41 (+ 18:27)

9. Halden SK 11:22:44 (+ 25:30)

10. IFK Mora OK 11:32:49 (+ 35:35)

Complete results and further information at http://online.10mila.se/.

[Photo: Mårten Lång / svenskorientering.se]

Joaquim Margarido

10MILA 2017: Stora Tuna OK wins Women Relay

Exciting from the beginning and with a dramatic ending, so it was the 2017 10MILA's Women Relay, won by the Swedish team of Stora Tuna OK. It was the return of the Swedish club to the first place of the podium of this prestigious competition, nine years after the last great achievement and an unique moment of joy for Anna Mårsell, Magdalena Olsson, Julia Gross, Frida Sandberg and Tove Alexandersson.

313 teams lined up for the 10MILA 2017 Women Relay. After an excellent performance by Marianne Andersen, Kristiansand OK took the lead after the first leg with a 31-second advantage over Järla Orienteering. NTNUI followed in the third position, almost three minutes (!) after the first placed. The second leg was dominated by Halden SK, with Mari Fasting taking the lead, two seconds ahead of Kirsi Nurmi, from IFK Göteborg, and a twenty-second advantage over Emma Silvennoinen, from Paimion Rasti.

Although the longest, with 10.7 km, the third leg just came out shuffling the standings, since in the end were 13 the teams that stood in the lead, separated by only 12 seconds from each other. The 14th ranked, MS Parma, already had a six-minute disadvantage for the front group, which was led by Stora Tuna OK. In the fourth leg, the shortest out of the five, with only 4.5 km, Venla Harju got a good advance with his team of Tampereen Pyrintö, leaving for the decisive leg with a 1:40 advantage over IFK Göteborg and 2:56 over the IFK Lidingö SOK, respectively second and third placed.

Victory of IK Hakarpspojkarna in the Youth Relay

With a tremendous pressure on her, Saila Kinni was still able to keep Tampereen Pyrintö's leadership during the first two thirds of the last leg, over the distance of 8.3 km, but the final moments would be dramatic. Doing an incredible race, Tove Alexandersson was able to recover more than six minutes and take the Stora Tuna OK to the third place with just 500 meters to finish the race. Next to her was Judith Wyder (Göteborg-Majorna OK), a little further ahead Saila Kinni that was now the runner-up and ahead Natalia Gemperle (Alfta-Ösa OK), leading with a 30 second advantage. But the momentum of victory was on the side of Alexandersson and Wyder, who eventually benefited from a big mistake of Gemperle and imposed their class until the last meters. Stora Tuna OK won with a 2 second lead over Göteborg-Majorna OK and 7 seconds over the Tampereen Pyrintö. This was Stora Tuna OK's fourth win at the 10MILA's Women Relay after the triumphs in 1982, 1984 and 2008.

Starting this wonderful journey in the best way, IK Hakarpspojkarna (Viktor Gunnarsson, Emma Ling, Joar Hertin and Hilda Holmqvist Johansson) won the Youth Relay with the time of 1:37:26. The fight for the next position was really hard, with five teams separated by less than 30 seconds. Paimion Rasti (Jarkko Rantoja, Essi Hölsö, Vilma Wahlsten, Topias Arola, Klaus Haanpää and Milja Väätäjä) got the second place with 1:38:59 and Espoon Suunta (Ida Haapala, Topias Uusitalo, Lauri Puupponen, Topias Kemppi, Emil Laaksonen and Maria Määttänen) achieved the third placed, 1:42 after the winners. 300 teams participated in this competition.

Results

Women Relay Damkavlen

1. Stora Tuna OK 4:25:04 (+ 00:00)

2. Göteborg-Majorna OK 4:25:06 (+ 00:02)

3. Tampereen Pyrintö 4:25:11 (+ 00:07)

4. SK Pohjantähti 4:26:20 (+ 01:16)

5. Järla Orientering 4:26:22 (+ 01:18)

6. IFK Lidingö SOK 4:26:25 (+ 01:21)

7. IFK Göteborg 4:26:41 (+ 01:37)

8. Alfta-Ösa OK 4:26:51 (+ 01:47)

9. Halden SK 4:27:14 (+ 02:10)

10. Paimion Rasti 2:29:40 (+ 04:36)

Youth Relay Ungdomksvalen

1. IK Hakarpspojkarna 1:37:26 (+ 00:00)

2. Paimion Rasti 1:38:59 (+ 01:33)

3. Espoon Suunta 1:39:08 (+ 01:42)

4. Nydalens SK 1:39:19 (+ 01:53)

5. Freidig 1:39:23 (+ 01:57)

Complete results and further information at http://online.10mila.se/.

[Photo: Lars Rönnols / facebook.com/lars.ronnols]

Joaquim Margarido

WMOC 2017: Swedish Masters stronger in the Long Distance

Orienteering was one out of 19 sports in action on the penultimate day of the World Masters Games, in Auckland, New Zealand. In the Woodhill Forest took place the Long Distance Final of the World Masters Orienteering Championships 2017, in which Sweden was the great winner after achieving eight World titles.

The World Masters Orienteering Championships 2017 have come to an end. The masters' big party gathered in Auckland close to 1800 athletes from 40 countries, for a week full of excitement and fun, with the highest points falling on Monday, with the Sprint Finals and today, with the Long Distance Finals. A total of 1558 competitors were in action at the last major moment of the Championships, of whom 848 were in the direct fight for the medals and the remainder competing in the B and C Finals.

With 183 representatives, Sweden lined up in the A Finals with the widest team and managed to combine quality with quantity, as demonstrated by the eight gold medals achieved, as well as five silver and four bronze medals. Finland won four gold medals, five silver and five bronze medals, while Australians and Norwegians won three gold and one silver medals; here, Norway were at a disadvantage, getting only one bronze medal against three of the Australians. In addition to the four countries already mentioned, athletes from Great Britain, Bulgaria, Russia, Switzerland and New Zealand, the host country, also won gold medals.

Among the 23 World Long Distance Champions, six won their second gold medal at these Championships, after their triumphs in the Sprint Final on Monday. In this situation it's possible to see the Australians Jo Allison (W40), Natasha Key (W45) and Warren Key (M55), the Finnish Petteri Muukkonen (M40), the Swedish Birgitta Billstam (W70) and the Norwegian Paul Forseth (M85). As a matter of curiosity, Petteri Muukonen and Natasha Key were the only athletes to keep the world titles achieved in 2016, in Estonia.

Long Distance World Champions

W/M35 – Paivi Autio (Finland) and Samuli Salmenoja (Finland)

W/M40 – Jo Allison (Australia) and Petteri Muukkonen (Finland)

W/M45 – Natasha Key (Australia) and Ivaylo Ivanov (Bulgaria)

W/M50 – Carina Svensson (Sweden) and Mats Nylund (Sweden)

W/M55 – Carey Nazzer (New Zealand) and Warren Key (Australia)

W/M60 – Kjellrun Sporild (Norway) and Stefan Carlsson (Sweden)

W/M65 – Irina Stepanova (Russia) and Markku Pietikäinen (Finland)

W/M70 – Birgitta Billstam (Sweden) and Robin Sloan (Great Britain)

W/M75 – Anne-Beate Persson (Sweden) and Heinz Keller (Switzerland)

W/M80 – Unni Dirro Bøhlerengen (Norway) and Sivert Axelsson (Sweden)

W/M85 – Signe Nyman (Sweden) and Paul Forseth (Norway)

M90 – Rune Isaksson (Sweden)

Complete results and further information HERE.

Joaquim Margarido

ISF WSC Orienteering 2017: The party is over!

After achieving the gold in the Long Distance race, Guilhem Elias and Laurence Defraigne returned to be the fastest in the Middle Distance that closed the ISF World Schools Orienteering Championships 2017. Portugal was represented on the Championships' podium by Vasco Mendes, following an excellent performance which earned him a bronze medal.

The ISF World Schools Orienteering Championships 2017 came to an end in Palermo, Italy. The Middle Distance race that ended the competition was attended by 650 competitors from 27 countries, distributed by four School classes and four Selected classes. In the School classes, the highlight is, of course, the French Guilhem Elias (Lycée Honoré d'Urfe), who achieved his second gold medal at the M1 class after beating the Swedish Emil Aselius (Eksjo Gymnasium) by more than 1:30. The Austrian Peter Brabek (BG / BRG Fürstenfeld), the Swedish Isa Envall (Eksjo Gymnasium) and the English Merryn Stangroom (Ulverston Victoria High School) were the winners in the M2, W1 and W2 classes, respectively. The last two athletes also repeated their presence on the podium, after Envall's third place and Stangroom's second place in the Long Distance race, three days ago. Still in the W2 class, a word for the Estonian Johanna Laanoja, second placed today, after being the Long Distance's winner.

As for the Selected classes, the Belgian Laurence Defraigne did the same as Guilhem Elias and won her second gold medal in these Championships, after beating the Austrian Jana Hnilica for an advantage over than one minute, in the W2 class. In the M1 class, the Slovakians Jakub Chupek and Jakub Dekret and the Austrian Jannis Bonek returned to the podium, albeit in a different order, being the gold for Chupek, this time. Spain also repeated its presence on the top of the podium, with Florencio Garcia, second-placed in the Long Distance winning the M2 class. The Swedish Elia Olsson, achieved the silver medal in the W1 class, after getting the bronze in the previous race. In this class, the victory went to the Austrian Ilvy Kastner. One last word for the young Vasco Mendes, third placed in the Selected M2 class, introducing the name of Portugal to the 12-country batch with honours to climb to the Championships' podium.

Results

School M1

1. Guilhem Elias (Lycée Honoré d'Urfe, FRA) 29:30 (+ 00:00)

2. Emil Aselius (Eksjo Gymnasium, SWE) 31:07 (+ 01:37)

3. Matias Salonen (Mäkelänrinteen Lukio, FIN) 32:57 (+ 03:27)

School M2

1. Peter Brabek (BG/BRG Fürstenfeld, AUT) 32:11 (+ 00:00)

2. Felix Lunn (Kenilworth School & Sixth Form, ENG) 32:37 (+ 00:26)

3. Grant Mcmurtrie (Aboyerne Academy, SCO) 34:03 (+ 01:52)

School W1

1. Isa Envall (Eksjo Gymnasium, SWE) 31:04 (+ 00:00)

2. Tuuli Heikkilä (Mäkelänrinteen Lukio, FIN) 33:52 (+ 02:51)

3. Jasmiina Rantala (Mäkelänrinteen Lukio, FIN) 35:02 (+ 03:58)

School W2

1. Merryn Stangroom (Ulverston Victoria High School, ENG) 26:06 (+ 00:00)

2. Johanna Laanoja (Pölva, EST) 26:40 (+ 00:34)

3. Tereza Chrastova (Zakladni a Materska skola Studenec, CZE) 27:23 (+ 01:17)

Selected M1

1. Jakub Chupek (Slovakia) 33:29 (+ 00:00)

2. Jannis Bonek (Austria) 35:10 (+ 01:41)

3. Jakub Dekret (Slovakia) 36:36 (+ 03:07)

Selected M2

1. Florencio Garcia (Spain) 32:20 (+ 00:00)

2. Edmund Grierson (England) 33:56 (+ 01:36)

3. Vasco Mendes (Portugal) 36:37 (+ 04:17)

Selected W1

1. Ylvi Kastner (Austria) 40:31 (+ 00:00)

2. Elia Olsson (Sweden) 41:04 (+ 00:33)

3. Frida Vikström (Sweden) 43:16 (+ 02:45)

Selected W2

1. Laurence Defraigne (Belgium FR) 22:15 (+ 00:00)

2. Jana Hnilica (Austria) 23:26 (+ 01:11)

3. Luboslava Weissova (Slovakia) 24:06 (+ 01:51)

Results and further information at http://www.isfsports.org/wsc-orienteering.

[Photo: ISF WSC Orienteering 2017 / facebook.com/ISFWSCorienteering]

Joaquim Margarido

ISF WSC Orienteering 2017: Hand in hand!

The ISF World Schools Orienteering Championships' second day was dedicated to the Friendship Team Event. Purpose: different nationalities, gender, level - team spirit - three common control points and arrival hand in hand!

210 Athlete Teams and 38 Coach Teams participated in the ISF World Schools Orienteering Championships' Friendship Team Event. Fun and co-operation between the young people rather than competition was, as always, the aim of this event that took place today in the old city centre of Palermo.

Even not being the most important, the results shown an Israeli-Polish-Estonian team winning the competition in the Athletes class. In the Coach class, the victory has gone to an Israeli-Slovenian-Scottish team. Congratulations to everybody!

Results

Athletes class

1. POL-ISR-EST (Gracjan Cuprys, Manor Noam, Leana Jete Korb) 27:26 (+ 00:00)

2. POL-LAT-SCO (Krystian Peterburski, Katrina Dzene, Tristian Samulski) 27:46 (+ 00:20)

3. NZL-POR-SCO (Caroline Nel, Ana Raquel Henriques. Louis Macmillan) 28:10 (+ 00:44)

4. LAT-LAT-NZL (Karlis Stradins, Aiga Irbe Bluma, Petra Buyck) 28:22 (+ 00:56)

5. LAT-EST-NZL (Ilgvars Caune, Annita Laanejõe, Olivier Burns) 29:06 (+ 01:40)

6. BEL-EST-POL (Thiels Liam, Sander Pritsik, Aleksandra Polewka) 29:37 (+ 02:11)

Coach class

1. ISR-SLO-SCO (Odet Verbin, Klemen Kenda, Young Lynn) 29:17 (+ 00:00)

2. SVK-POL-SLO (Pavol Polacek, Barbara Nowak, Monika Ravnikar) 30:15 (+ 00:58)

3. CHN-ISR-BEL (Guoxing Zhong, Avihay Beyar, Clara Cox) 31:49 (+ 02:32)

4. NZL-ESP-POR (Kieran Woods, Ana Herreros Valiente, Maria Amador) 31:53 (+ 02:36)

5. ESP-UKR-NZL (Antonio Gil, Olena Rudakova, Karine David) 32:14 (+ 02:57)

6. POL-CHN-NZL (Honorata Paterek, Jieyuan Luo, James Olever) 33:05 (+ 03:48)

Complete results can be found HERE.

[Photo: ISF WSC Orienteering / facebook.com/ISFWSCorienteering]

Joaquim Margarido

ISF WSC Orienteering 2017: Challenging and funny Long Distance opened the Championships

Students from seven countries won gold medals in the Long Distance's eight Finals, which filled the first day of the ISF World Schools Orienteering Championships 2017.

After an one-year break, the ISF World Schools Orienteering Championships are back for their 17th edition. Searching for their path in the wonderful "Bosco della Ficuzza", in Palermo (Italy), 638 competitors from 27 countries showed their value in the first of two big finals, a Long Distance as demanding as fun.

In the School classes, the 12 medals were distributed by representatives of schools from seven countries, with the gold going to France, Scotland, Finland and Estonia. In either case, the winners got comfortable victories over their opponents, highlighting the advantage of Scotsman Matthew Gooch (Aboyerne Academy), of more than two minutes over Vit Stefan and seven minutes (!) over Lukas Link, both from Zakladni a Materska skola Studenec, Czech Republic. Another important note goes to the French Guilhem Elias (Lycée Honoré d'Urfe), the “king” of the European Youth Orienteering Championships EYOC 2016, where he won two gold and one bronze medals, here performing again at the highest level.

In the Selected classes, Austria was in evidence thanks to the triumphs of Jannis Bonek (M1 class) and Elena Zainer (W1 class), with the remaining victories going to the Spanish Gustav Wiren (M2 class) and the Belgian Laurence Defraigne (W2 class). It's fair to remark the excellent presence of Spain, that still achieved two silver medals, and Slovakia, without gold medals, it's true, but with two silver and two bronze medals. The big surprise, however, goes to the Belgium Laurence Defraigne, by winning the W2 class, with a ten-second advantage over the Spanish Laura Fidalgo, second placed. In the eight finals, Gustav Wiren's triumph was the largest, with a 3:24 advantage over the second-placed, his team mate Florencio Garcia, while the narrowest win was registered in Selected W2, where the Austrian Elena Zeiner won the Slovakian Tereza Smelikova for just two seconds.

Results

School M1

1. Guilhem Elias (Lycée Honoré d'Urfe, FRA) 46:42 (+ 00:00)

2. Sabin Coupat (Lycée Honoré d'Urfe, FRA) 48:04 (+ 01:22)

3. Emil Aselius (Eksjo Gymnasium, SWE) 48:23 (+ 01:41)

School M2

1. Matthew Gooch (Aboyerne Academy, SCO) 40:57 (+ 00:00)

2. Vit Stefan (Zakladni a Materska skola Studenec, CZE) 43:07 (+ 02:10)

3. Lukas Link (Zakladni a Materska skola Studenec, CZE) 48:06 (+ 07:09)

School W1

1. Jasmiina Rantala (Mäkelänrinteen Lukio, FIN) 43:59 (+ 00:00)

2. Johanna Källvik Leufven (Eksjo Gymnasium, SWE) 45:22 (+ 01:23)

3. Isa Envall (Eksjo Gymnasium, SWE) 47:52 (+ 03:53)

School W2

1. Johanna Laanoja (Pölva, EST) 36:54 (+ 00:00)

2. Merryn Stangroom (Ulverston Victoria High School, ENG) 39:30 (+ 02:36)

3. Tereza Chrastova (Zakladni a Materska skola Studenec, CZE) 40:29 (+ 03:35)

Selected M1

1. Jannis Bonek (Austria) 49:01 (+ 00:00)

2. Jakub Dekret (Slovakia) 50:31 (+ 01:30)

3. Jakub Chupek (Slovakia) 53:38 (+ 04:37)

Selected M2

1. Gustav Wiren (Spain) 45:28 (+ 00:00)

2. Florencio Garcia (Spain) 48:52 (+ 03:24)

3. Peter Molloy (Scotland) 49:18 (+ 03:50)

Selected W1

1. Elena Zeiner (Austria) 49:26 (+ 00:00)

2. Tereza Smelikova (Slovakia) 49:28 (+ 00:02)

3. Elia Olsson (Sweden) 50:47 (+ 01:21)

Selected W2

1. Laurence Defraigne (Belgium FR) 41:41 (+ 00:00)

2. Laura Fidalgo (Spain) 41:51 (+ 00:10)

3. Dorota Smelikova (Slovakia) 43:40 (+ 01:59)

Results and further information at http://www.isfsports.org/wsc-orienteering.

[Photo: ISF WSC Orienteering 2017 / facebook.com/ISFWSCorienteering]

Joaquim Margarido

WMOC 2017: Australia achieved 12 out of 23 Sprint World titles

With 12 gold, 2 silver and 3 bronze medals, Australia had a blazing presence in the Sprint finals of the World Masters Orienteering Championships 2017, taking place in Auckland, New Zealand. Individually, the highlight goes to Natasha Key, Petteri Muukkonen and Tsvetan Todorov, who defended successfully their world titles achieved in 2016.

The World Masters Orienteering Championships (WMOC), the biggest sport within the 2017 World Masters Games, saw today the first of two finals of its competitive program. One day after the qualifying series, the Sprint final took place at the famous Albert Park, in the heart of Auckland, New Zealand, together with the University City Campus. A total of 1553 competitors took part in the Finals, of which 841 were in the A finals – those giving access to the world titles -, representing 32 countries.

As said before, Australia was the great winner of the day, with its representatives reaching a total of 12 gold medals, six in the men's sector and the same in the women's. Natasha Key and Herrmann Wehner were the stars of the vast array of 114 Aussies in the A Finals, the first one being able to hold the Sprint World Title in the W45 class, reached in August 2016, in Tallin (Estonia), and the second one by achieving the gold in the M90 class. It was still in the W45 class that a podium was completely filled by the colors of Australia, achievement only equated by Sweden in the M80 class.

Australia tops the medal list

Natasha Key was not the only athlete to defend successfully the world title as both Finn Petteri Muukkonen (M40) and Bulgarian Tsvetan Todorov (M50) did so, with the particularity of Todorov's gold being achieved for the third year in a row. Overall, there was 15 countries winning medals in this first Finals, ten of them having achieved gold medals. With 12 gold medals, 2 silver medals and 3 bronze medals, Australia has shown a huge ascendant over the other countries. Following on the top 10 list is Sweden (2 gold medals, 8 silver medals and 3 bronze medals), Norway (2 gold, 2 silver and 2 bronze), Finland (1 gold, 1 Silver, and 3 bronze), Bulgaria and Denmark (1 gold and 1 silver each), the United States and Switzerland (1 gold and 2 bronze each), Japan (1 gold and 1 bronze) and the Czech Republic (1 gold medal).

Finally, two or three notes of curiosity. The tightest triumph came at the M35 class, where the Australian Matthew Crane beat the Norwegian Rune Olsen for just 4 seconds. The Czech Jana Hankovska also didn't take it easy in the W75 class, winning over the Russian Liudmila Labutina by the difference of 7 seconds. In the M45 class, the fight for the gold involved three athletes, with the Australian Grant Bluett holding the win with a 10-second lead over the Bulgarian Ivaylo Ivanov and eleven seconds over the Austrian Michael Stockmayer. On the other hand, the widest advantage belonged to the Norwegian Inger Vamnes, in the W80 class, leaving the second-placed New Zealand's Ann Scott at 7:35. The 2:52 advantage of Natasha Key over her compatriot Catherine McComb in the W45 class, or the triumphs of the Australians Sue Haley (W85) and Hermann Wehner (M90), for margins higher than 2 minutes, deserve also a word.

Sprint World Champions

W/M35 – Anna Sheldon (Australia) and Matthew Crane (Australia)

W/M40 – Jo Allison (Australia) and Petteri Muukkonen (Finland)

W/M45 – Natasha Key (Australia) and Grant Bluett (Australia)

W/M50 – Su Yan Tai (Australia) and Tsvetan Todorov (Bulgaria)

W/M55 – Pavlina Brautigan (United States) and Warren Key (Australia)

W/M60 – Jenny Bourne (Australia) and Geoff Lawford (Australia)

W/M65 – Silvia Baumann (Switzerland) and Keld Johnsen (Denmark)

W/M70 – Birgitta Billstam (Sweden) and Greg Chatfield (Australia)

W/M75 – Jana Hankovska (Czech Republic) and Toshio Onoe (Japan)

W/M80 – Inger Vamnes (Norway) and Peo Bengtsson (Sweden)

W/M85 – Sue Healy (Australia) and Paul Forseth (Norway)

M90 – Hermann Wehner (Australia)

Complete results and further information HERE.

[Photo: Malin Fuhr / orienteering.org]

Joaquim Margarido

Spanish Trail Orienteering Championships 2017: Søren Saxtorph and Inês Domingues were the winners

Inês Domingues and Søren Saxtorph won their classes and were the great figures of the 2017 Spanish Trail Orienteering Championships. Internally, Santiago Pérez and Miguel Ángel Garcia achieved their first TrailO Spanish titles.

As usual during the Easter season, the Spanish Orienteering Federation organized, this time with GOCAN club, the 2017 Spanish Orienteering Championships, whose program included a PreO competition. With courses set by Hector Lorenzo, the event was held in Miraflores de la Sierra (Madrid) and was attended by 126 competitors from Spain, Portugal, Denmark, Israel, the United States and South Africa. In the Paralympic Class, the Spanish Miguel Ángel Garcia (ADOL) wasn't an easy opponent for the super-favorite Søren Saxtorph (Ballerup OK), Denmark, holder of four individual medals at World Championships. Both answered correctly to 23 out of 25 tasks and both missed one of the timed controls, being the victory to the Nordic competitor because of his faster answering speed in the timed station.

In the Open Class, the Portuguese Inês Domingues (COC) showed once again all her talent, being the only competitor to answer correctly all tasks. To this immaculate performance, Inês added a "supersonic" answer time in the timed station, clearly below the average of the other competitors. One point less than the winner were classified eight competitors, with another Portuguese, Jorge Baltazar (GDU Azoia), getting the best time in the timed station and achieving the second position. In the third position were placed two competitors with equal time of answer in the timed controls: the very young Danish Karoline Saxtorph Schulz (Ballerup OK), one of the great revelations of the recent World Championships, and Santiago Pérez (COMA), thus achieving his first national title.

Results

Open class

1. Inês Domingues (COC, POR) 25 points / 12 seconds

2. Jorge Baltazar (GDU Azoia, POR) 24 points / 36 seconds

3. Santiago Pérez (COMA) 24 points / 40 seconds

3. Karoline Saxtorph Schulz (Ballerup OK, DEN) 24 points / 40 seconds

5. Arturo Garcia Dingra (Escondite-T) 24 points / 77 seconds

6. Alex Tello Lacal (Valencia-O) 24 points / 91 seconds

7. Jorge Valente Barrera (Imperdible) 24 points / 92 seconds

8. Javier Arufe (APA Liceo) 24 points / 98 seconds

9. Ana Belén Calvo (UPV-O) 24 points / 116 seconds

10. Juan Pedro Valente (Imperdible) 23 points / 43 seconds

Paralympic class

1. Søren Saxtorph (Ballerup OK, DEN) 23 points / 84 seconds

2. Miguel Ángel Garcia (ADOL) 23 points / 100 seconds

3. Carlos Riu (COMA) 18 points / 112 seconds

4. Sergio Martin (COHU) 18 points / 116 seconds

5. Alice Rouillard (Montsant Orientació) 11 points / 180 seconds

[The Portuguese Orienteering Blog thanks Miguel Ángel Garcia for his kind attention in providing all the information]

Joaquim Margarido

JK 2017: Victories of Geir Myhr Øien and Sarah-Jane Barrable in the TrailO stages

To British orienteers, Easter matches with Jan Kjellström International Festival of Orienteering. This year's competitive program included two TrailO stages, the first of the season in the UK, with victories of Geir Myhr Øien in TempO and Sarah-Jane Barrable in PreO.

JK's TrailO competition was attended by 60 competitors in the TempO stage and 42 in the PreO stage, mostly British, but also representatives from Germany, Latvia, Sweden, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Ireland and Norway. And it was precisely a Norwegian who showed up at his best by winning the TempO, a stage planned by Scott Collier, with Charles Bromley Gardner in the role of Controller and played on the campus of Brunel University in London. Geir Myhr Øien (Ringsaker OK) answered in 204 seconds to the 30 tasks of the course (six timed stations, with five tasks each), getting a 150-second penalty for five wrong answers. The final 354 seconds guaranteed him a comfortable win over one of the best British specialists in TempO, the young Tom Dobra (UBOC), credited with 467 seconds overall. The fight for the bronze medal was titanic, with the German Anne Straube (OD) scoring 482 seconds and beating the Norwegian Sigurd Dæhli (Løten OL) for one second and the British Nick Barrable (SYO) for two seconds. Still a word for the British Anna Harris (DEE), the most accurate with only two wrong answers, but with an answer time of 494 seconds, which meant that her final classification was not beyond the 8th place.

Designed by Ian Ditchfield and Peter Huzan and supervised by Dick Kighley, the PreO stage took place in Owibeech and featured an 18-control course, plus a two-tasks timed station. Mark Nixon (FVO) was almost perfect over the course, but he was charged by the time pressure on the last two controls, missing both and finished with 15 points overall and the third place. Sarah-Jane Barrable (SLOW) and Kenny Leitch (SO) got 16 points overall and Sarah-Jane was faster than her direct opponent in the timed station, keeping the victory. One final word to the difficulty inherent to the control nº 4 and also to the second timed control, registering abnormally high percentages of incorrect answers (93% in the first case and 86% in the second case).

Results

TempoO

1. Geir Myhr Øien (Ringsaker OK, NOR) 354 seconds

2. Tom Dobra (UBOC) 467 seconds

3. Anne Straube (OD, GER) 482 seconds

4. Sigurd Dæhli (Løten OL, NOR) 483 seconds

5. Nick Barrable (SYO) 484 seconds

6. John Kewley (MDOC) 496 seconds

7. Alan Hickling (SAX) 507 seconds

8. Anna Harris (DEE) 554 seconds

9. Matthew Leitch (EUOC) 557 seconds

10. Sarah-Jane Barrable (SLOW) 561 seconds

PreO

1. Sarah-Jane Barrable (SLOW) 16 points / 95 seconds

2. Kenny Leitch (SO) 16 points / 110 seconds

3. Mark Nixon (FVO) 15 points / 79,5 seconds

4. Peter Suba (WSX) 15 points / 87 seconds

5. John Crosby (NATO) 15 points / 95 seconds

6. Charles Bromley Gardner (BAOC) 15 points / 99 seconds

7. Nick Barrable (SYO) 14 points / 31 seconds

8. Tom Dobra (UBOC) 14 points / 78 seconds

9. Christine Roberts (EBOR) 14 points / 145 seconds

10. Simon Greenwood (SAX) 13 points / 84 seconds

Complete results and solutions at http://www.thejk.org.uk/.

Joaquim Margarido

Spanish Orienteering Championships 2017: Anna Serralonga and Antonio Martinez were the main figures

The Holy Week ended and, with it, the Spanish Orienteering Championships CEO 2017, which called to Canencia and Miraflores de la Sierra (Madrid) close to 1,900 competitors. Three days, five races and 27 medals distributed in the Elite category, mostly achieved by the Valencian Community and Catalonia, are a few numbers of a great event. Individually, Antonio Martínez and Anna Serralonga were the main figures.

Organized by GOCAN – Grupo de Orientación Complutense y Actividades en la Naturaleza, Spanish Orienteering Federation and International Orienteering Federation, the CEO 2017 kicked off on Friday, 14th April, in Pinares de Canencia with the Middle Distance, a very technical and fast race in which no one was saved from mistakes. In the Women Elite class, Esther Gil (Colivenc), was the fastest, ahead of the favorite, Anna Serrallonga (Go-Xtrem) and Annabel Valledor (Badalona-O). Among the Men, Luis Nogueira (COMA) achieved a surprising gold, ahead of Antonio Martinez (Colivenc), who was also a favorite. The bronze was taken by Eduardo Gil (Tjalve).

Friday afternoon, took place the always exciting Relay races, in which Catalonia and Valencia fought hardly for the victory, both in Men and Women Elite classes. The women's team of Catalonia would take the gold for the second year in a row, ahead of the Valencian Community and Castilla la Mancha. In the men's class, the Valencia team climbed to the top of the podium, ahead of Andalusia and Catalonia, who contested the silver in a tight and intense final.

10 individual medals for Colivenc

The second day of competition was dedicated to the urban races, having Miraflores de la Sierra as the perfect stage for two amazing moments. Scoring for the IOF Sprint Orienteering World Ranking, the Sprint had in the athletes of Center Esportiu Colivenc (Alicante), Violeta Feliciano and Andreu Blanes, the big winners. The podium was completed by Ona Ràfols (COC) and Anna Serrallonga, in the Women's class, and Eduardo Gil and Antonio Martínez, in the Men's class. During the afternoon, time for the Mixed Relay where Catalonia achieved the first and the second positions, ahead of Castile and Leon, third placed.

The third day of competition was reserved for the Long Distance that will surely be the hardest of the season, not only for the demanding courses but also for taking place after two intense days. After 1 hour and 21 minutes of race, Anna Serrallonga got the victory by just eight seconds over Esther Gil. The bronze would be achieved by Violeta Feliciano. In men Antonio Martinez would take the gold ahead of his team mates, Andreu Blances and Roger Casal. Looking on the overall standings, the Center Esportiu Colivenc took 10 out of 18 possible medals in the individual races, being possible to say that the Valencians were stronger in the individual races, while the Catalans got the most out of the Relay races.

Results

Long Distance

Men Elite

1. Antonio Martinez (Colivenc) 1:14:28 (+ 00:00)

2. Andreu Blanes (Colivenc) 1:17:07 (+ 02:39)

3. Roger Casal (Colivenc) 1:22:01 (+ 07:33)

4. Eduardo Gil (Tjalve) 1:22:50 (+ 08:22)

5. Pau Llorens (COB) 1:23:35 (+ 09:07)

Women Elite

1. Anna Serralonga (Go-Xtrem) 1:21:44 (+ 00:00)

2. Esther Gil (Colivenc) 1:21:52 (+ 00:08)

3. Violeta Feliciano (Colivenc) 1:27:23 (+ 05:39)

4. Ona Ràfols (COC) 1:28:39 (+ 06:55)

5. Annabel Valledor (Badalona-O) 1:36:42 (+ 14:58)

Middle Distance

Men Elite

1. Luis Nogueira (COMA) 28:10 (+ 00:00)

2. Antonio Martinez (Colivenc) 29:46 (+ 01:36)

3. Eduardo Gil (Tjalve) 29:51 (+ 01:41)

4. Marc Serralonga (Go-Xtrem) 30:08 (+ 01:58)

5. Andreu Blanes (Colivenc) 30:24 (+ 02:14)

5. Roger Casal (Colivenc) 30:24 (+ 02:14)

Women Elite

1. Esther Gil (Colivenc) 37:43 (+ 00:00)

2. Anna Serralonga (Go-Xtrem) 38:47 (+ 01:04)

3. Annabel Valledor (Badalona-O) 42:38 (+ 04:55)

4. Ona Ràfols (COC) 42:57 (+ 05:14)

5. Esmeralda Ruiz (Sant Joan) 45:28 (+ 07:45)

WRE Sprint

Men Elite

1. Andreu Blanes (Colivenc) 13:37 (+ 00:00)

2. Eduardo Gil (Tjalve) 13:45 (+ 00:08)

3. Ricardo Ferreira (FPO Portuguese Team) 14:47 (+ 01:10)

3. João Mega Figueiredo (FPO Portuguese Team) 14:47 (+ 01:10)

5. Gregory Ahlswede (Escondite-M) 15:06 (+ 01:29)

Women Elite

1. Violeta Feliciano (Colivenc) 13:25 (+ 00:00)

2. Ona Ràfols (COC) 13:34 (+ 00:09)

3. Anna Serralonga (Go-Xtrem) 13:57 (+ 00:32)

4. Mariana Moreira (FPO Portuguese Team) 14:00 (+ 00:35)

5. Amparo Gil (COB) 14:21 (+ 00:56)

Relay

Men Elite

1. Comunidad Valenciana (Roger Casal, Andreu Blanes, Antonio Martinez) 1:38:49 (+ 00:00)

2. Andalucia A (Jose Manuel Garcia, Javier Ruiz de la Herran, Luis Nogueira) 1:45:44 (+ 06:55)

3. Cataluña A (Marc Serralonga, Biel Ràfols, Pau Llorens) 1:45:59 (+ 07:10)

4. Madrid A (Greg Ahlswede, Alvaro Benavente, Alvaro Prieto Del Campo) 1:52:09 (+ 13:20)

5. Cataluña C (David Tarres, Llei Viles Bonet, Eloi Marti) 1:53:34 (+ 14:45)

Women Elite

1. Cataluña A (Ona Ràfols, Amparo Gil, Anna Serralonga) 1:30:32 (+ 00:00)

2. Comunidad Valenciana A (Violeta Feliciano, Esmeralda Ruiz, Esther Gil) 1:39:15 (+ 08:43)

3. Castilla-La Mancha A (Carmen Patiño, Maria Rodriguez, Guadalupe Moreno) 1:48:03 (+ 17:31)

4. Cataluña B (Marta Sanchez, Laura serra, Annabel Valledor) 1:50:13 (+ 19:41)

5. Castilla Y León A (Marina Garcia, Marta Perez, Amanda Pons) 1:52:45 (+ 22:13)

Mixed Relay

1. Cataluña A (Ona Ràfols, Pau Llorens, Marc Serralonga, Anna Serralonga) 45:25 (+ 00:00)

2. Cataluña B (Laura Serra, Biel Ràfols, Pol Ràfols, Amparo Gil) 51:51 (+ 06:26)

3. Castilla Y León A (Marina Garcia, Diego Lázaro de Juan, Cosme Sánchez, Yara Bores) 53:33 (+ 08:08)

4. Cataluña C (Andrea Guillen, Eloi Martí, Sebastián Ordoñez, Laia Gil) 56:41 (+ 11:16)

5. Aragón A (Jara Gracia, Israel Fuentes, Jesus Chicharro, Esther Arias) 56:51 (+ 11:26)

Complete results and further information at http://ceo2017.es/.

[Photo: Ampa Gil-Brotons]

Joaquim Margarido

Two or three things I know about it...

1. The England team came first in both the overall and Junior Cup competitions at Interland 2017. The event took place on the 2nd April in the Herbeumont Forest, in the Ardennes, southern Belgium. The English Fiona Bunn and Peter Bray, got comfortable victories in the M21 classes, respectively Women and Men. Bunn finished his race with a three-minute advantage over Greet Oeyen, Belgium, while Bray's advantage over the second placed, the French Benjamin Lepoutre, was of five minutes. Overall, England got the first place with 202, Belgium was second with 158 points and France third, with 132 points. The Interland Cup is England’s only international competition outside the British Isles. England competes annually in this five-cornered match against two Belgian teams (Flemish and French speaking), the Netherlands, and the French Ligue des Hauts de France de Course d’Orientation (LHFCO) . The competition is truly a team effort spanning age groups from W and M14 to W and M60+: 42 team members in all. Complete results and further information at http://orienteeringengland.org.uk/2017/04/04/interland-2017-win-for-england-team/.

2. OK Vihor Zagreb organized, on 2nd April, the Vihor TempO Challenge, event that called to the beautiful Bundek Park, in Zagreb, 30 competitors from Slovakia, Slovenia and Croatia. Third stage of 2017 Croatia-Italy-Slovenia Trophy, the event consisted in six timed stations with five tasks each and was dominated by the Slovakian Ján Furucz (Farmaceut Bratislava), the winner of the Trophy's last edition. Furucz finished with 305 seconds, corresponding to 185 seconds of answering time and 120 seconds of penalty (four incorrect answers). Slower and less accurate than Furucz, the Croatian Ivo Tišljar (OK Orion) got the second position with 350 seconds. The Slovenian Krešo Keresteš (OK Trzin) was third with 357 seconds. Ján Furucz is now the leader of 2017 Croatia-Italy-Slovenia Trophy with 288,5 points, nine points ahead of Ivica Bertol and fifteen points ahead of Tomislav Varnica, both form OK Vihor, Croatia. The results can be seen at http://www.trailo.it/Classifiche%20internazionali/CIS.asp.

3. Would you like to know who are the top 10 most popular orienteering races in the world, open to everyone? The answer is at ALL4orienteering blog [HERE] https://www.all4o.com/orienteering-blog/top-10-orienteering-races-in-the-world. The number of participants it's, surely, an important issue, but it's not the most important. That's why Jukola / Venla Relay (Finland) cames first and O-ringen (Sweden), world's biggest orienteering festival, stands on the second place. Events like Scottish Six Days (Scotland), FIN5 orienteering week (Finland) and Jan Kjellström International Festival of Orienteering (United Kingdom) are also on the list. Probably other events, like Portugal O' Meeting (Portugal) or MTBO 5 Days Plzeň (Czech Republic), would deserve a place on the list, but the presented events can be a good starting point for knowing and living wonderful and exciting orienteering moments.

4. IOF Newsletter of April is now published and there's lots of interesting reading on it. The eyes of the orienteering world turn to Oceania for the next few weeks, to follow the action at the Oceania Orienteering Championships and the World Masters Orienteering Championships, both taking place in New Zealand. An interview with IOF FootO Athletes’ Commission member Lizzie Ingham will get you excited to follow the Oceania Champs this weekend. Excellent terrains, a great atmosphere and fierce rivalry await the Oceania orienteers who will fight for regional titles and bonus WOC spots. Of course, the newsletter also includes important news from the IOF. The IOF Council had a meeting recently, and a summary of the most notable decisions makes it easy to follow the development of orienteering. Most notable from this council meeting is perhaps the approval of the long awaited International Specification for Orienteering Maps. The IOF is also very active on the international sports scene. Make sure to read about what we got up to at this year’s SportAccord Convention. For TrailO enthusiasts, the newsletter offers interesting reading on the European Cup in TrailO. Not heard of it? Dive in and find out all about the exciting competition. Are you missing out? Find out more and subscribe here. Happy reading!

Joaquim Margarido