Interview Olav Lundanes - Achievement of 2016

Lundanes’ achievement, which gave him the award for the best orienteering achievement of 2016, was being the dominant forest orienteer at the World Orienteering Championships with two gold and one silver medal – only some meters in dark green forest from sweeping the table and taking all three forest gold medals. Behind Lundanes and Kyburz – two of the big names in international orienteering the last years, a new star from a young orienteering nation came in third; Roman Ciobanu from Moldova.

Q: Congratulations on being awarded “The Orienteering Achievement of 2016″. What an incredible season for you to be at your best at the most important races of the season! What were your expectations and goals ahead of the season?

Thanks a lot! It is a great honor to win “The Orienteering Achievement of 2016″, since there were so many other nominated runners to fight against. And it is nice that so many people think I deserved it! Before the season I had two main goals: WOC, and to show a high level during the whole season. WOC was of course the most important, and a long time goal for me. I am very happy to have succeeded there, but there are some decisions from the Middle distance I am think a lot about. The last years I have not managed to do many good races or races at all, except from WOC, so although I lost EOC I am happy to have run fast during the whole 2016 season.

Q: What are your main improvements compared to the 2015 season? Is it all about being free from injuries, or have you also taken steps in other areas?

Of course it is a lot about that I have been healthier than last season. But I have, as everybody else, been sick and injured also this year, and I think I have made big progress in the way I handle it. I know more about which trainings are most important to prioritize, when I can’t do everything I want. And I manage to stay calm and get the best out of the situation even when the situation is not optimal. Since I have managed to do more and better training, I therefore have managed to lift my physical level. The technical trainings [the last year] have been a lot WOC specific, and of course I have made progress in that terrain, but that will not help me so much next year.

Q: Can you name three key persons who were important for your achievements in 2016?

My girlfriend Ida is the most important person for my achievements, because she is always supporting me both practical things and with mental support when that is needed. It is hard to name anybody else, because there are so many that have a part in my medals. But of course the support from the rest of my family is important, and I have to thank both Halden SK and the other runners on the national team.

Q: The WOC relay victory was very much a team effort. How did you work and train as a team in order to prepare for that race?

It has been a long and very bumpy road to that victory, and I think all three of us where very happy with the gold medal. We have discussed a lot how we want to run the relay, and we have had some good trainings on the camps. We managed to do good races on a day where the terrain suited us, there was some real forkings for once and where the other teams made some mistakes. That was enough this time, but we have to improve to win in Estonia.

Q: You have moved from Norway to Finland ahead of the next season. How is life in Finland so far? Do you plan do to anything differently in your training for the upcoming season?

So far I am very happy with my life in Finland! It is a very nice training environment and good trainings, and it is also nice to try something new and different. There are a lot of training possibilities to choose from, and it is impossible and not so smart to join everything. And everybody who ran Jukola 2015 know that the terrain is nice, so I try to enjoy all the new maps. The language is the only problem, it is a bit difficult since I don’t speak fluent Finnish yet:) I think the home advantage was an important part of the success at WOC this year, and I have to improve if I want to be on the top also next year. I will of course change part of my training to be as good as possible in Estonia. I have started with some more strength trainings and I will do some faster intervals. But I will keep most of it as I have done it before, because I know it is working well. I have also done some measures to avoid some of the illness periods I have had the last years.

Q: What do your days look like now in the winter time?

No days are like the other, but in many cases I wake up at 7.30, and then we have some common training in the morning. When I come home I eat, sleep, relax and eat again before the second training. In the evening I eat, and then do some training analyze/planning/organizing etc. And then I eat again and sleep. There is not so much special happening, but I think it is a good life to improve as an orienteer

Q: Any final words to your fans out there?

Thanks a lot to everybody that has voted for me! And I wish everybody a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Orienteeringyear! We are doing an amazing sport that we should be very prod of, so enjoy your trainings and races also next year!

Q: Congratulations again – and good luck with your season preparations!

[Press Release: Orienteering Achievement of 2016 / WorldofO.com]

Interview Tove Alexandersson - Achievement of 2016

Alexandersson won the Orienteering Achievement of 2016 award for finally showing that she is the best orienteer in the world on the day when it really counts: Winning both individual forest gold medals at both WOC and EOC after never winning a gold medal at the big championships before. Alexandersson won the award ahead of Emily Kemp (Canada) and Anastasia Denisova (Belarus) – the very best orienteer in the world ahead of two new stars who both wrote history for their nations at this years’ World Orienteering Championships with best-ever results.

Q: Congratulations on being awarded “The Orienteering Achievement of 2016″. What an incredible season for you to be on the very top of the podium in the most important races of the season! What were your expectations and goals ahead of the season?

Thank you! What I wanted most was to be able to run all important races and feel prepared and ready at the start line. The second thing I wanted was to win, I wanted to win in both EOC and WOC and the World Cup in both orienteering and ski-orienteering. At least it was my dream to do that.

Q: You skipped the sprint discipline completely(?) this season - and it could look like that is part of the reason for your success. What is your thought about that?

I wanted to be as good as possible in the forest races and felt that it was a risk to also run the sprint. It was safer to just focus on the forest but I hope I will be able to do top races in both sprint and forest disciplines.

Q: What are your main improvements compared to the 2015 season? Is it all about being free from injuries, or have you also taken some steps on the mental side?

I have taken some steps on the mental side but I think it’s the o-technique I have improved most during the season.

Q: Can you name three key persons who were important for your achievements in 2016?

The whole team around me is very important. The national teams and my clubs in both orienteering and ski-orienteering, Anneli Östberg who has coached me since I was junior and of course my family.

Q: The Swedish success is also a team effort. How do you work and train as a team? Can you give an example of how some of the others in the team have helped you get better?

The atmosphere in the team is fantastic and makes me always looking forward to the training camps and competitions. We always help each other to get better and to do good performances.

Q: Do you plan do to anything differently in your training for the upcoming season? Will you still focus on the same disciplines where you achieved such fantastic results at the World Champs?

This season I was very focused on the orienteering technique and running in relevant terrain for WOC. For next season I will focus a bit more on running on harder surfaces and hopefully improve my physical capacity in both the forest and sprint.

Q: Big achievements is one thing - but to get as far as you have, I guess it is important to have fun with what you are doing as well. What is the most fun you have had during orienteering the past year?

I have had so much fun during the year. Of course the championships have been great but if I have to choose something other, it will be my first orienteering competition of the year. For me it’s always a bit special with the first competition, especially if I come directly from the snow and winter. The competition was the first day of NAOM in Portugal. It was fantastic terrain, a really good middle distance course and I just had the o-technical flow I wish for. A perfect orienteering day and a good start of the season.

Q: What do your days look like now in the winter time? Have you still got full focus on ski-orienteering?

I focus on both ski-orienteering and orienteering during the winter, so the training at home is a mix between skiing and running. I really like the winter training because I can train much more compared to if I’m just running. I also have quite many training camps and not so much time to do other things than training.

Q: Any final words to your fans out there?

I want to thank everyone who have supported me and cheered on all races.

Q: Congratulations again – and good luck with your season preparations!

[Press Release: Orienteering Achievement of 2016 / WorldofO.com]

Alexandersson and Lundanes: Orienteering Achievement of 2016

Olav Lundanes (Norway) and Tove Alexandersson (Sweden) have been awarded with “The Orienteering Achievement of 2016″ titles in the women’s and men’s class, respectively! The vote has been decided by the big international readership of WorldofO.com – nearly 4500 unique votes from around 60 different countries have been delivered.

Alexandersson won the award for finally showing that she is the best orienteer in the world on the day when it really counts: Winning both individual forest gold medals at both WOC and EOC after never winning a gold medal at the big championships before. Alexandersson won the award ahead of Emily Kemp (Canada) and Anastasia Denisova (Belarus) – the very best orienteer in the world ahead of two new stars who both wrote history for their nations at this years’ World Orienteering Championships with best-ever results.

In the men’s class it was even tighter, with less than 40 votes separating Olav Lundanes and Matthias Kyburz (Switzerland). Lundanes’ achievement which gave him the award for the best orienteering achievement of 2016 was being the dominant forest orienteer at the World Orienteering Championships with two gold and one silver medal – only some meters in dark green forest from sweeping the table and taking all three forest gold medals. Behind Lundanes and Kyburz – two of the big names in international orienteering the last years, a new star from a young orienteering nation came in third; Roman Ciobanu from Moldova.

Big thanks go to all of the voters and the event sponsors Five + Five days of Sicily, Scottish 6 Days, Durmitor Orienteering Challenge, Aguiar da Beira “O” Meeting, Antalya Orienteering Festival, OOCup, Wawel Cup, Lipica Open and Danish Spring.

About Orienteering Achievement of 2016

The Orienteering Achievement of the Year is an annual election organized by the largest international orienteering presence - WorldofO.com. In this edition of the Orienteering Achievement of the Year 6 men and 9 women were nominated for their great orienteering achievements. The nominated runners – and stories about why they were nominated – can be found at http://poll.worldofo.com/2016.

  

[Press Release: Orienteering Achievement of 2016 / WorldofO.com]

The Orienteering Achievement of 2016 - Women: Vote for your candidate!

It is great for the sport to see excellent nominations for athletes from nations which are traditionally not on top of the result lists in international orienteering, like Belarus, Canada, Moldova and New Zealand. All these athletes have done exceptional orienteering achievements in 2016 – along with the nominated athletes from the more established top nations in orienteering Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland and Russia. Let's take a look on the stories of the nominees to the Orienteering Achievement of 2016 – Women.

Maja Alm

Nominated for
Maja Alm was again the dominant sprinter at the World Orienteering Championships winning the sprint and deciding the sprint relay. However, her fight to take Denmark to relay silver was maybe even more impressive than the two gold medals. Repeating a success is never easy - Alm did it wonderfully!

Story
Maja Alm won "The Orienteering Achievement of 2015" due to her fantastic results at the World Orienteering Championships in Scotland - this year her races at the World Orienteering Championships were just as impressive . In addition the smiling Danish athlete managed to take a 5th place in the most technical orienteering discipline, the middle distance. Brilliant domination in womans orienteering - with amazing physical and mental abilities.

Anastasia Denisova

Nominated for
Shocked the orienteering world by taking the first ever medal for Belarus at the World Orienteering Championships with her Sprint bronze medal. Continued to amaze everybody by finishing 8th at the middle and 6th at the long in her first World Orienteering Championships.

Story
Already as a youth and junior Anastasia Denisova showed that she was an exceptional talent, taking sprint bronze medals both at the European Youth Championships (2011) and Junior World Championships (2013). But the step from a junior medal to a senior medal is a step which very few manage to take - especially at her first World Orienteering Championships and with a personal best in the World Cup ahead of WOC in the 20'ies. This is a story of excellent and targeted preparations, strong will and believing in the (nearly) impossible. Her 8th place at the middle and 6th place at the long distance were maybe even more impressive than the sprint medal .One of the many people nominating Denisova puts her forest orienteering achievements in some perspective: - I should note that if the sprint performance could have been predicted, then middle and long success were surprisingly high even for Anastasia herself.

Tove Alexandersson

Nominated for
After never winning a gold medal at the big championships before, Alexandersson finally showed that she is the best orienteer in the world on the day when it really counts: Winning both individual forest gold medals at both WOC and EOC. Wow!

Story
Tove Alexandersson has been the best woman orienteer in the world for most of the season for years - but until this season she never won an individual gold medal at either the World Orienteering Championships or the European Orienteering Championships. This year she did something different: Instead of running everything like she often has done, she focused fully on the forest races in the championships - even with excellent gold medal chances in both sprint and sprint relay. This sacrifice did however give Alexandersson 4 shiny gold medals - compared to zero in her previous successful career! On top of that: Overall World Cup victory in both the foot-o and ski-o World Cup and several medals in international ski-o championships.

Simona Aebersold

Nominated for
18 years old and already the dominant junior orienteer in the world with three gold medals of four possible at the Junior World Orienteering Championships in Switzerland. A new Swiss Simona after Simone?

Story
Simona Aebersold started JWOC on home ground with a clear sprint victory. At the long distance the next day she was on her way to another clear victory, but she forgot a control in the last half of the course and lost many minutes by running back to it. One rest day, and Aebersold managed to be on top mentally again and take another gold medal at the middle distance. On the last day she continued her impressive performances and took Switzerland to gold. Fantastic achievements by a fantastic, young athlete.

Emily Kemp

Nominated for
A breakthrough result in forest orienteering for an athlete from a non-European country after showing loads of dedication: Best ever result for Canadian orienteering with 4th place at both WOC and EOC middle distance. Add to that 8th and 7th at WOC and EOC long distance.

Story
The story about Emily Kemp is the story about the Canadian orienteer who moved from Canada to France at young age just to become a better orienteer. A few years later she moved on from France to Finland for the same reason. Always looking to improve, and this year making her breakthrough at the very top international level with her best performances on the days when it counted the most - the WOC and EOC middle distance races. One of the readers nominating Kemp puts it like this: - Emily Kemp, for showing real passion, persistency and dedication to her sport which required her to move continents and constantly challenge herself and seek new opportunities. A tale of dedication and talent rewarded.

Natalia Gemperle

Nominated for
Big breakthrough for Natalia Gemperle with WOC medals in both WOC long (silver) and middle (bronze) - and being a key player in Russia's two relay gold medals in WOC and EOC.

Story
Natalia Gemperle (formerly Vinogradova) started her senior career with a very strong 5th place at the exceptionally technical WOC middle distance in France in 2011. Since then she has struggled to take the next step - until this season when she took very big steps, and proved herself as one of the biggest challengers to Tove Alexandersson. In addition her great relay runs gave her two gold medals - especially the last leg on the WOC relay was impressive. To put it in the words of on the readers nominating Gemperle: - Natalia managed to become both European and World champion with a strong Russian team in relays. I’d like to mention here especially her cool-headed execution in a last leg of exciting WOC relay.

Russian Women Team

Nominated for
The first ever World Orienteering Championships women relay gold for Russia with Anastasia Rudnaya, Svetlana Mironova and Natalia Gemperle. Also bronze medal at EOC relay.

Story
Russia has been among the top teams in the world for years, but this year was the first time ever they managed to win the relay gold medal in the women's class. After good legs by Anastasia Rudnaya and Svetlana Mironova, Natalia Gemperle ran the last leg. The battle for victory was very close, with 6 teams in the fight for the medals at the start of the leg. Gemperle decided for Russia after an exciting battle.

Finnish Women Team

Nominated for
Taking Finland to the top again with EOC relay gold medal and WOC relay bronze medal: First victory in an international relay after Minna Kauppi's time, when Finland dominated the international relays.

Story
In Minna Kauppi's era, Finland was the best relay nation in the world - winning five World Championships relays in six years from 2006 to 2011. Since then the Finnish women have struggled to get back to the very top. But this year Finland was back - with Marika Teini, Merja Rantanen and Sari Anttonen taking the gold medal in an exciting European Championships relay. At the World Championships they nearly managed to do the same again, being in the lead at the arena passage on the last leg, but a bronze medal was still an excellent result for the Finnish team.

Anne Margrethe Hausken Nordberg

Nominated for
Anne Margrethe Hausken Nordberg - for her will to keep fighting hard: Her bronze at the WOC long distance is her best ever result at the WOC long distance at the age of 40.

Story
Anne Margrethe Hausken Nordberg has been part of the World Orienteering elite for many, many years, taking her first international championships medal back at the European Championships in 2002 at the sprint. Hausken Nordberg has been a good long distance runner for years, but never managed to take a World Championship medal at the long distance until in Sweden this year. Her results in the WOC Long since 2006 are 6-4-4-7-8-pregnancy-5-skipped-pregnancy-7-3. As one of the readers writes: - Inspired by Rune Haraldsson, she is herself a true inspiration to all of us who are convinced that age is only a number.

The annual poll to find the best Orienteering Achievements of the year is organized by the major source for international orienteering news on the Internet – World of O. You can vote for the Orienteering Achievement of 2016 – Women here or by clicking on the image below. 

[Press Release: Orienteering Achievement of 2016 / Jan Kocbach]

The Orienteering Achievement of 2016 - Men: Vote for your candidate!

It is great for the sport to see excellent nominations for athletes from nations which are traditionally not on top of the result lists in international orienteering, like Belarus, Canada, Moldova and New Zealand. All these athletes have done exceptional orienteering achievements in 2016 – along with the nominated athletes from the more established top nations in orienteering Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland and Russia. Let's take a look on the stories of the nominees to the Orienteering Achievement of 2016 – Men.

Jerker Lysell

Nominated for
Fantastic WOC Sprint gold medal on home ground in Sweden after spending more of the preparations running in a swimming pool than running sprint orienteering.

Story
Jerker Lysell has been one of the best sprint orienteers in the world for several seasons, even if he has been more injured and ill than injury free. When he won the WOC Sprint bronze medal in Scotland last year after barely being able to run the weeks before, he showed that he can do wonders with minimal specific preparations. This year was again a year with many injuries, but in 2016 the fast Swede had at least been able to run in the forest from late spring. As he said himself, the race was perfect. He managed to get the most out of physical and mental capacity when it most mattered, even if there must have been some uncertainty because of the long break from running and competing. Next year Lysell wants to be on top also in the most important races in forest orienteering. Who knows what is possible for this remarkable runner if he manages to keep injury free this winter?

Joey Hadorn

Nominated for
Dominated the Junior World Orienteering Championships on home ground with three out of four gold medals and one silver! Incredible running speed combined with great orienteering

Story
Hadorn has been known as an exceptionally good runner and a good orienteer. At JWOC in Switzerland he had the highest speed of all athletes with a big margin - but he also did goo technical performances in every race, making choices where he could use his strengths all the way. To use the words of Swedish silver medalist from JWOC long in Norway in 2015, Simon Hector, who was clearly beaten by Hadorn in all races in 2016; - We all knew that he was a good runner, but in those races he had really good technical performances. Really good mental strength to run so well in so many races in a row. I felt like a background actor during that week!

Matthias Kyburz

Nominated for
From entering the world orienteering elite as sprint specialist in 2011 to master of the most technical orienteering discipline in 2016: Gold at both the World Orienteering Championships and European Championships in middle, his first individual championships medals in forest disciplines! Also overall World Cup victory, and several other WOC and EOC medals

Story
Matthias Kyburz entered the world orienteering elite in his first senior year with a big bang with victory in the first sprint competition in the 2011 World Cup. From being a sprint specialist in the beginning, he soon started to use his incredible physical abilities to also win long distance races. 2016 was not the first time he won middle distance races on top level, but this time the Swiss won the two most important middle distance races of the year - the EOC and WOC middle distance. He managed to keep a very high performance level during all of the season and in all disciplines - also giving him a clear overall World Cup victory with victories in all disciplines including EOC gold medals in middle and sprint and WOC gold medal in middle!

Tim Robertson

Nominated for
First year senior taking best ever WOC result for a man from New Zealand at WOC sprint, three times Top 10 in the World Cup Sprint, topping it with a 4th place at the World Cup final Sprint.

Story
Halfway through the WOC Middle Distance in 2015 Tim Robertson had a big fall and crawled out of the forest with a dislocated shoulder. He got surgery back in New Zealand in November with the support from orienteers all over the world, and came back to Europe after a long recovery period. His best World Cup results before the 2016 season was a 20th place - in 2016 he was three times in the Top 10: 5th in the World Cup Sprint in Poland, 7th at the European Championships Sprint in Czech Republic, 13th at the WOC Sprint in Sweden and 4th in the World Cup final Sprint in Switzerland. That’s the story of patience, persistance and determination - and of a runner for whom the sky is the limit in the years to come....

Olav Lundanes

Nominated for
The dominant forest orienteer at the World Orienteering Championships with two gold and one silver medal - only some meters in dark green forest from sweeping the table and taking all three forest gold medals. Best championships ever!

Story
Olav Lundanes has been one of the absolute top athletes in forest orienteering since his WOC gold medal in Trondheim in 2010, but never managed to take three medals in a championships before. This time he had excellent performance in all three disciplines, giving him his best championships ever with three medals; gold in long, silver in middle and finally playing a big part in Norway's relay win. An amazing athlete with amazing results.

Norwegian WOC Team

Nominated for
Carl Godager Kaas, Olav Lundanes and Magne Dæhlie took Norway's mens' first WOC gold medal since Japan in 2005 after a impressive performance - running alone in the lead from the second control of the first leg.

Story
The Norwegian men have worked hard to take back the relay throne. After victories in 2004 and 2005, it took 11 long years without victory before Norway was again on top in 2016. The victory was a power demonstration by Norway: Carl Godager Kaas getting a gap early on the first leg, Olav Lundanes running alone in front on the second leg without being caught - and finally Magne Dæhlie letting the other teams get closer for a while - but never close enough. Often the last 10 years Norway has had a strong enough team to win on paper - but relay is all about team performance, and there the Norwegian men excelled this year.

Roman Ciobanu

Nominated for
9th place at the World University Championships sprint is the first Top 10 result in the history of Moldovian orienteering - surprising all organizers, participants and own federation, improving his best previous result, the 55th place in the middle WUOC2014.

Story
Great orienteering achievments is not only about gold medals at the World Orienteering Championships. For a Moldovian orienteer who is not even able to travel to the World Orienteering Championships due to financial reasons, a 9th place at the World Orienteering University Championships is a great personal achievement, and a great achievement for his country. Later he has set another best result for Moldova winning East European Orienteering Championship (Balkan Championship) for the first time in Moldovian men’s elite history.

The annual poll to find the best Orienteering Achievements of the year is organized by the major source for international orienteering news on the Internet – World of O. You can vote for the Orienteering Achievement of 2016 – Men here or by clicking on the image below. 

[Press Release: Orienteering Achievement of 2016 / Jan Kocbach]

Orienteering Achievement of 2016: Vote now!

16 athletes from 10 countries are nominated for the annual poll to find the most impressive achievements in international orienteering. The poll is organized by World of O – the major internet presence for international orienteering news. Voting is open until December 12th.

Winning a Gold medal at the World Championships is always a great achievement – but sometimes winning a Bronze medal can be an even bigger achievement – based on what your starting point was. The stories behind the medals and the great achievements is what makes the sport truly fascinating! In “The Orienteering Achievement of the Year” these stories are highlighted – to make it possible to get a background for the amazing achievements.

It is great for the sport to see excellent nominations for athletes from nations which are traditionally not on top of the result lists in international orienteering, like Belarus, Canada, Moldova and New Zealand. All these athletes have done exceptional orienteering achievements in 2016 - along with the nominated athletes from the more established top nations in orienteering Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland and Russia.

Voting is open from December 7th until December 12th using the following links:

  The Orienteering Achievement of 2016 - Men

  The Orienteering Achievement of 2016 - Women

In the women's class Maja Alm (Denmark), Anastasia Denisova (Belarus), Tove Alexandersson (Sweden), Simona Aebersold (Switzerland), Emily Kemp (Canada), Natalia Gemperle (Russia), Anne Margrethe Hausken Nordberg (Norway) and the Russian and Finnish relay teams are nominated. In the men's class Jerker Lysell (Sweden), Joey Hadorn (Switzerland), Matthias Kyburz (Switzerland), Tim Robertson (New Zealand), Olav Lundanes (Norway), Roman Ciobanu (Moldova) and the Norwegian relay team are nominated.

The international sponsors for the Orienteering Achievement of 2016 are Five + Five days of Sicily (Italy), Scottish 6 Days (Scotland), Durmitor Orienteering Challenge (Montenegro), Aguiar da Beira “O” Meeting (Portugal), Antalya Orienteering Festival (Turkey), OOCup (Slovenia), Wawel Cup (Poland), Lipica Open (Slovenia) and Danish Spring (Denmark). Prizes valued to more than 5000 Euro are drawn among lucky voters & the ones suggesting nominations.

More info: http://poll.worldofo.com/2016/

[Press Release: Orienteering Achievement of 2016 / Jan Kocbach]

Course of the Year 2016: Submit your suggestions!

For the seventh year in a row, Jan Kocbach promotes in his World of O – www.worldofo.com - a poll looking for the “Course of the Year”. In a moment where the suggestions are being submitted, this is the right time for you to act!

The World Championships Long Distance in Scotland was elected the Course of the Year in 2015 and the World Championships Middle Distance in Italy won in 2014. Before that we had two years with Portuguese winners: a spectacular sprint between boulders and old buildings in 2013 and some great technical orienteering at Portugal O-Meeting in 2012. In 2011 the WOC Middle Distance in France took the first place and the year before a very special Jukola Relay was the big winner. Now, the question turns to be the same: What was the best orienteering course of 2016?”

The search for the course of the year will be fun as always! The rules are simple: Leave your comment at http://news.worldofo.com/2016/11/15/course-of-the-year-2016-submit-your-suggestions/, suggesting a course from a competition or training in 2016 and stating the reason why you think this course deserves to be “The course of the Year 2016”. The best among all the suggestions will be chosen – and there will be a voting process among the readers of World of O in order to name the Course of the Year 2016. “And please, please, please state the reason for your suggestion – that’s where the fun & the passion for orienteering comes in!”, says Jan.

Answering to Jan Kocbach's challenge, the suggestions are arriving every minute. From Switzerland to the Czech Republic, from Lithuania to Portugal, there's more than 60 suggestions until now. The WOC Long Distance in Sweden, the WUOC Middle Distance in Hungary, the O-idol 2016 in Norway or the POM Long Distance Day e in Portugal are just some of the courses chosen by the participants so far. At worldofo.com there's also some great interviews from top runners where they talk about their favourite courses and maps from the last year.

Just one more thing: Prizes from the Sponsors always makes it more fun! There will be a prize for the first one suggesting the course which ends up becoming “The course of the Year 2016”, and prizes drawn among the ones suggesting and voting. All prizes are transferable to other person, so you don’t have to travel yourself.

Joaquim Margarido

Two or three things I know about it...

1. “What I saw on Orienteering in 2015” is the name of the movie. Its author, Nina Waldow, presents some nice moments filmed along the past year, during some main competitions in Brazil. “Between everyday life and the passion for the sport, here you are some moments with all these athletes, whether amateur or professional, I was privileged to share. We became better when influenced by good examples. Be you, orienteer, a good example for the future generations. How about starting already in 2016?”, says Nina, filling the movie with words like “landscape”, “ground”, “relay”, “young”, “elite”, “challenges”, “courage”. A beautiful movie to enjoy. It worth a try!

2. Now it is time to vote to IWGA Athlete of the Year 2015. For the poll, the International World Games Association selected eighteen candidates from eighteen different sports and representing sixteen nations. Between the nominated, there's a Speed Climber from the Czech Republic, a Gymnast from the USA, a Ne-Waza fighter from Romania, a Korfball player from the Nederlands, a pair of Dancers from Russia, a Fistball Team from Germany and, last but not least, an Orienteer from Denmark. We talk about Maja Alm, a 27-year-old athlete that won three gold medals at the World Orienteering Championships in Scotland 2015. This amazing achievement started with a victory for the Danish team in the Sprint Relay, with Maja Alm running the last leg. Less than 24 hours later she won her first individual gold medal in Sprint. Maja Alm completed her golden days with a gold medal in the Relay. To give your vote to Maja Alm, you just need to enter the IWGA webpage at http://www.theworldgames.org/the-iwga/athlete-of-the-month/24-athlete-of-the-year-2015. You may vote as many times you want but... just once a day!

3. From 5th to 9th Feb 2016, Clube de Orientação do Centro (COC) organizes the Portugal O' Meeting 2016 in Penamacor and you may check all the information at http://www.pom.pt. POM is the world's biggest orienteering event taking place at winter time and is considered by many as the official opening of the competition season for its high organizational quality and for receiving the top runners of the world. Things aren't different this year and the number of entered athletes just passed the barrier of one thousand, from 29 nations. Thierry Gueorgiou, Fabian Hertner, Gustav Bergman, Lucas Basset, Andreu Blanes, Martin Hubmann, Frederic Tranchant, Baptiste Rollier, Lina Strand, Amélie Chataing, Helena Jansson, Annika Billstam, Catherine Taylor and Maria Magnusson are some of POM 2016's stars. COC is working hard to host a memorable event and hopes to have more than two thousand participants. Besides new maps, challenging terrains and courses, you'll be able to experience the rich gastronomy, to enjoy the friendship of locals and to explore the beautiful and untouched nature of this part of Portugal. The deadline for competition classes is 25th January. Any entry made after this date for competition classes will not be validated by the organization!

4. Those who have been following the snow conditions in Germany with bated breath can now breathe a sigh of relief. The World Masters Ski Orienteering Championships / World Cup 2016's organisers confirmed last thursday that they finally have enough snow for the races to take place. The status of the event hung in the balance right up until their visit to the competition areas on Wednesday, when Event Directors Bernd Kohlschmidt and Diethard Kundisch were finally able to confirm that there was enough snow to proceed. Unfortunately, this is not the case in France, where the Winter's late arrival to the High Alps forced the organizers of French Ski Orienteering Championships (Long Distance and Mass Start) to cancel the courses scheduled to 23rd and 24th January at Gap-Bayard. Finally, the Ski orienteers' attention during the weekend goes to Sjusjøen, in Norway, where the Ski-O-Treff is about to start. The terrain conditions are perfect and the organizers hope to offer challenging ski orienteering courses to the 225 entered athletes. You can follow the races with Live Results at http://timing.spjelkavik.net/emmanh-git/followfull.php?comp=10057&lang=en.

Joaquim Margarido

Orienteering Achievement of 2015: Vote now!

16 athletes from 9 countries are nominated for the annual poll to find the most impressive achievements in international orienteering. The poll is organized by World of O – the major internet presence for international orienteering news. Voting is open until December 21st.

Winning a Gold medal at the World Championships is always a great achievement – but sometimes winning a Bronze medal can be an even bigger achievement – based on what your starting point was. The stories behind the medals and the great achievements is what makes the sport truly fascinating! In “The Orienteering Achievement of the Year” these stories are highlighted – to make it possible to get a background for the amazing achievements.

Voting is open from December 16th until December 21st using the following links:

     The Orienteering Achievement of 2015 - Men

     The Orienteering Achievement of 2015 - Women

In the women's class Ida Bobach (Denmark), Maja Alm (Denmark), Annika Billstam (Sweden), Merja Rantanen (Finland), Mari Fasting (Norway), Galina Vinogradova (Russia), Tove Alexandersson (Sweden) and Nadiya Volynska (Ukraine) are nominated. In the men's class Daniel Hubmann (Switzerland), Lucas Basset (France), Thierry Gueorgiou (France), Olli Ojanaho (Finland), Jonas Leandersson (Sweden), Olle Boström (Sweden), Olav Lundanes (Norway) and Tim Robertson (New Zealand) are nominated.

The international sponsors for the Orienteering Achievement of 2015 are PWT Five Days Toscana (Italy), Andalucia O-Meeting (Spain), Easter 4 (Slovenia), O-Ringen (Sweden), Swiss O-week (Switzerland), Antalya Orienteering Festival (Turkey), Sprint Scotland (Scotland), Suunto Games (Estonia) and OOCup (Slovenia, Italy and Austria). Prizes valued to 5000 Euro are drawn among lucky voters & the ones suggesting nominations.

More info: http://poll.worldofo.com/2015/.

[Press release: Jan Kocbach / World of O]

"Course of the Year 2015": You can vote now!

From today, and during the next seven days, you are invited to choose the “Course of the Year 2015”. The World of O initiative offers you 70 courses, from different competition levels, several countries and even different Orienteering disciplines. Now it's up to you!

It's not an easy task. Indoor races in Stockholm or outdoor at Tasmanian jungle? A charming Sprint in Denmark or a tough Ultralong in Norway? An OOCup “ultimate” or a Vyborgskaya “troika” (which is another ultimate)? A Night-O Fight in Wroclaw or a 10Mila Long Night? A MTBO Long in Pilsen or a Ski-O Long in Hamar? World of O is offering, for the sixth year in a row, an amazing set of course, opening in front of our eyes and remembering some of the best moments of the season. But also those who remain behind the scenes, the map makers and the course setters.

The World Championships Middle Distance in Italy won last year's contest, and the two years before we had Portuguese winners: a spectacular Sprint between boulders and old buildings in Monsanto, during the Portugal O' Meeting 2013 and some great technical orienteering in the Portugal O' Meeting's 3rd stage in 2012, in Satão. In 2011 the WOC Middle Distance in France took the first place and the year before a very special Jukola Relay was the big winner. From today to next Monday, 7th December, you have the power to choose the “course of the Year 2015”.

Voting is done by setting up your “Top 5 List” based on the nominated maps. Based on all the submitted “Top 5 Lists”, the best course in 2015 is found using a simple formula: For each 1st spot in a “Top 5 List”, a course gets 100 points, 70 points for each 2nd spot, 50 points for each 3rd spot, 30 points for each 4th spot and 10 points for each 5th spot. The “Course of the Year 2015” will be found based on summing all the votes. You are only allowed to vote once (if several people share one internet connection, only one can vote, as the IP address is used to identify the voter along with the email-address of the voter). Among all people voting and submitting suggestions, great prizes from the contest's sponsors will be drawn.

The collection of maps nominated in the poll “Course of the Year 2015” can be found HERE. Now, it's just follow the instructions and vote at http://omaps.worldofo.com/course2015.php. Good choices and... good luck!

Joaquim Margarido

Course of the Year 2015: World of O is asking for your suggestions!

Like every November since 2010, Jan Kocbach and his incomparable World of O promotes a popular contest, trying to know the readers' opinion about the best “Course of the Year”. Still in a stage were the suggestions are being submitted, it's time for you to act!

“What was the best orienteering course of 2015?”, such is Jan Kocbach's question for this year's poll. The World Championships Middle Distance in Italy won in 2014, and the two years before we had Portuguese winners: a spectacular Sprint between boulders and old buildings in Monsanto, during the Portugal O' Meeting 2013 and some great technical orienteering in the Portugal O' Meeting's 3rd stage in 2012, in Satão. In 2011 the WOC Middle Distance in France took the first place and the year before a very special Jukola Relay was the big winner.

Now it's time to decide who will take the prestigious top spot this year, first by submitting suggestions and then by voting. As part of the “Course of the Year 2015”, the World of O will offer along the next days some great interviews from top runners, talking about their favorite courses and maps in 2015. Lucas Basset, the new French star, already had the chance to share his opinions and his choice goes to Glen Affric. Why? “Because of the terrain, which was wilder than almost every other forest I've been running in”, he says. Explaining that he made his choice “because of the terrain”, in spite of being also “convinced that the course was good, coherent to a Long Distance spirit”, Lucas Basset has no doubts that Glen Affric “was a perfect ending of a wonderful WOC week” [read HERE Lucas Basset's whole Interview].

Answering to Jan Kocbach's challenge, the suggestions are arriving every minute. From Finland to France, from Poland to Spain, there's almost 50 suggestions until now (none of them from Portugal, I'm afraid). To submit your suggestions, it's as simple as that: The course must have been run in competition or training in 2015 (there's an exception for courses in December 2014, as they were not covered in last year’s contest); the suggestions are submitted as a comment to World of O's post – http://news.worldofo.com/2015/11/24/course-of-the-year-2015-submit-your-suggestions/ - including link to the map with course in a quality which is good enough for the readers to understand the course and the challenges involved; the participants must give a reason why they think the course deserves to be named “The course of the Year 2015″; and the course may be any discipline – e.g. a long distance, a middle distance, a sprint distance. It may also be a technical training course – like e.g. a corridor orienteering exercise. After this first step, there will be a voting process among the readers of “World of O” in order to elect “The course of the year 2015″.

Just one more thing: Prizes from the Sponsors always makes it more fun! There will be a prize for the first one suggesting the course which ends up becoming “The course of the Year 2015″, and prizes drawn among the ones suggesting and voting. All prizes are transferable to other persons (you don’t have to travel yourself). Everything to follow in your World of O.

Joaquim Margarido