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

2017 Sweden PreO Championships: Victories for Marit Wiksell and Erik Stålnacke

The Swedish Trail Orienteering season started with the National PreO titles' contest. Marit Wiksell, in the night competition, and Erik Stålnacke, in the daytime version, were the big winners.

After the long break of the Nordic winter, Trail Orienteering returned to Sweden with the PreO National Championships, day and night. Organized jointly by OK Pan-Kristianstad, Andrarums IF and Stigmännen Karlshamns OK clubs, the 2017 PreO Syd called to Skåne and Blekinge, in Southern Sweden, 56 Elite competitors, mostly Swedes, but also from neighboring countries of Finland, Norway and Denmark as well as Slovakia.

At the beginning of the night of the first day, took place the National Championships of PreO-Night, which finished with the top seven competitors tied in points, with all 20 tasks answered correctly. Marit Wiksell (Rehns BK) has shown her great quality in the timed controls, being the fastest with a 19-second answer time to the three challenges. With this result, Wiksell reached her second National PreO-Night title in ten editions, after a previous victory in 2013. Winner in 2016, Jens Andersson (OK Roslagen) spent four seconds more than Wiksell and achieved the second position. Six seconds behind the winner, Robert Jakobsson (Tidaholm SOK Sisu) got the third place.

Overall winning for Jens Andersson

Kept for the National Championships of PreO-Day, the last day's course took place on a very detailed terrain where Erik Stålnacke (IFK Göteborg) reached his second title of the last three seasons. In a course consisting of 20 controls and two timed stations with two tasks each, were ten the competitors that finished with the same score, managing to answer correctly to nineteen tasks. The fastest in the sum of the timed stations was the Norwegian Geir Myhr Øien (Ringsaker OK) with 29 seconds. The second fastest competitor was Stalnåcke with 40 seconds, with the third position in this stage - and the title of vice-champion – being to Karl-Gustaf Däldehög (Fjärås AIK), with 37 seconds more than the winner. Missing the penultimate timed control, Bosse Sandström (OK Skogsmunken) also missed the national title, eventually having to settle with the bronze medal. The defending champion, William Rex (OK Landehof), finished in the 25th position, two points behind the winner.

The competition wasn't just the two National Championships stages, having a third PreO course in the intermediate day. The Norwegian Lars Jakob Waaler and Martin Aarholt Waaler, both representing PorsgrunnOL, were the great figures this time. Lars Jakob Waaler finished with 30 points, followed by a group of six competitors with one point less, including Martin Aarholt Waaler, second-placed and the Swedish Robert Jakobsson (Tidaholm SOK Sisu), third. In the reckoning of the three stages, the victory would smile to Jens Andersson (OK Roslagen) with 68 points, followed by Magnus Sterner (Strängnäs-Malmby OL) and Sigurd Dæhli (Løten OL), both with 67 points, but with Sterner being faster than the Norwegian in the timed controls.

Results

PreO Day 1
National Championships - Night

1. Marit Wiksell (Rehns BK) 20 points / 19 seconds
2. Jens Andersson (OK Roslagen) 20 points / 23 seconds
3. Robert Jakobsson (Tidaholm SOK Sisu) 20 points / 25 seconds
4. Magnus Sterner (Strängnäs-Malmby OL) 20 points / 27 seconds
5. Stig Gerdtman (Vingåkers OK) 20 points / 46 seconds

PreO Day 2

1. Lars Jakob Waaler (Porsgrunn OL, NOR) 30 points / 75 seconds
2. Martin Aarholt Waaler (Porsgrunn OL, NOR) 29 points / 16 seconds
3. Robert Jakobsson (Tidaholm SOK Sisu) 29 points / 22 seconds
4. William Rex (OK Landehof) 29 points / 23 seconds
5. Ari Tertsunen (Tuusulan Voima-Veikot, FIN) 29 points / 29 seconds

PreO Day 3
National Championships - Day

1. Geir Myhr Øien (Ringsaker OK, NOR) 19 points / 29 seconds
2. Erik Stålnacke (IFK Göteborg) 19 points / 40 seconds
3. Karl-Gustaf Däldehög (Fjärås AIK) 19 points / 66 seconds
4. Vibeke Vogelius (Silkeborg OK, DAN) 19 points / 69 seconds
5. Bosse Sandström (OK Skogsmunken) 19 points / 86 seconds

PreO Syd

Overall standings

1. Jens Andersson (OK Roslagen) 68 points / 171 seconds
2. Magnus Sterner (Strängnäs-Malmby OL) 67 points / 219 seconds
3. Sigurd Dæhli (Løten OL, NOR) 67 points / 258 seconds
4. Erik Stålnacke (IFK Göteborg) 65 points / 68 seconds
5. Robert Jakobsson (Tidaholm SOK Sisu) 65 points / 78 seconds

Complete results and further information at https://eventor.orientering.se.

[Photos: svenskorientering.se]

Joaquim Margarido

2017 PreO Hungarian Championships: Miháczi and Laáber got the gold

The Hungarian TrailO season kicked off last weekend with the accomplishment of the PreO National Championships. Zoltán Miháczi and Miksa Laáber got the titles in the Elite Open class and Elite Paralympic class, respectively.

Thirty-eight TrailO fans headed Érd, a city in Pest County, Budapest metropolitan area, for the 2017 PreO National Championships. First competition held in Hungary this year, the Championships took place in a former military shooting range, offering twenty four tasks, plus two timed stations, one before the start (four tasks) and the other after the finish (three tasks). Two out of 24 controls have been voided.

Set by Fruzsina Biró, well-known TrailOrienteer worldwide, the course was technically very demanding, taking benefit mostly from the vegetation features and also from Biró's expertise in designing several tricky tasks. In the Elite Open class, Zoltán Miháczi (TTE) managed to perform at the highest level, finishing with twenty two points and a two-point advantage over Ferenc Fehér (ZTC), second placed. Four points after the winner, András Komoróczki (SAS) achieved the bronze medal. Miksa Laáber (MER), another well-known Hungarian TrailOrienteer, did also a great course, getting the gold with 19 points. Anna Tóth (MER) finished second, seven points less than the winner. With ten points, Viktor Beke (SIR) got the third place. Zsófia Nagy and Viktória Toth, both representing DCS, were the winner in the Elite Junior Open class and Elite Junior Paralympic class, respectively.

To the Portuguese Orienteering Blog, Zóltan Miháczi talked about a “difficult course”, highlighting “Miksa Laáber's good result, with just three mistakes in the Paralympic class”. About his victory, Miháczi preferred to mention his recent participations in the Portugal O' Meeting and Lipica TrailO as “something that helped me, once it was the first TrailO event of the season for the other competitors”. Miháczi talked also about “the great pleasure to see some competitors from new territories” and finished with a word of hope: “Maybe next year, after many year, Hungary be able to be represented in the European Championships, in Slovakia, with a full team.”

Results

Elite Open

1. Zoltán Miháczi (TTE) 22 points / 86 seconds

2. Ferenc Fehér (ZTC) 20 points / 174 seconds

3. András Komoróczki (SAS) 18 points / 281 seconds

4. Antónia Holper (TTE) 17 points / 59 seconds

5. Anikó Madarassy (BEA) 17 points / 83 seconds

Elite Paralympic

1. Miksa Laáber (MER) 19 points / 239 seconds

2. Anna Tóth (MER) 12 points / 377 seconds

3. Viktor Beke (SIR) 10 points / 296 seconds

4. Panna Réday (MER) 7 points / 359 seconds

5. Rita Sárai (SIR) 5 points / 438 seconds

Elite Junior Open

1. Zsófia Nagy (DCS) 14 points / 69 seconds

2. Dóra Nagy (DCS) 12 points / 183 seconds

3. Kinga Surányi (DCS) 11 points / 327 seconds

Elite Junior Paralympic

1. Viktória Tóth (DCS) 11 points / 324 seconds

2. Balász Hamvai (DCS) 10 points / 243 seconds

[Maps and photos courtesy of Zoltán Miháczi]

Joaquim Margarido

  

Portugal O' Meeting 2017: Step by step

A new edition of the Portugal O' Meeting is here and the North Alentejo embraces the World Foot and Trail orienteering Elite. Along six days, Alter do Chão, Crato and Portalegre will host the most important Portuguese Orienteering event, offering to 2.342 competitors a warm welcome, great maps and terrains and lots of fun.

For the third time in its history, GD4C - Grupo Desportivo dos Quatro Caminhos organizes the Portugal O' Meeting. Is the returning to Alter do Chão / Crato / Portalegre where, in 2011, the 16th edition of the Portugal O' Meeting took place. In a scenery of great beauty, perfect for tourism and orienteering, all the conditions are gathered for an amazing Portugal O' Meeting.

The party has already started with the Model Event, yesterday and today. But tomorrow onwards everything will be different ... and for real! Two Middle Distance stages on Saturday and Monday and two Long Distance stages, on Sunday and Tuesday. In the meanwhile, there will still be room for a Urban Night Sprint, on Saturday, in Alter do Chão and, on Sunday afternoon, the usual PreO stage.

Portugal O' Meeting 2017 official schedule

February 23rd
10h00 – Event centre opening – Alter do Chão
10h00 – Model Event open – Crato
18h00 – Event centre closing

February 24th
10h00 – Event centre opening – Alter do Chão
10h00 – Model Event open – Crato
22h00 – Event centre closing

February 25th
08h30 – Event centre opening – Arena
10h00 – Middle distance – Crato
17h00 – Event centre opening – Alter do Chão
19h00 – Night Sprint – Alter do Chão

February 26th
08h00 – Event centre opening – Arena
09h00 – Long distance – Crato
11h00 – Event centre opening for PreO (Alter do Chão)
12h30 – PreO – Alter do Chão
18h30 – PreO – Prize giving ceremony

February 27th
08h00 – Event centre opening – Arena
09h00 – Middle distance WRE (NAOM 2017) – Portalegre
15h00 – Middle distance WRE and Night Sprint – Prize giving ceremony

February 28th
08h00 – Event centre opening – Arena
09h00 – Long distance – Portalegre
14h00 – POM2017 – Prize giving ceremony

Note: All timings are in local time (GMT timezone).

Technical details

Participants

The overall number of participants in this edition of the Portugal O' Meeting is of 2342, representing 36 countries. Portugal, with 582 competitors, is the most represented country, followed by Sweden (302 competitors), Spain (273), Finland (244), France (157), Norway (145) and Switzerland (144 competitors). The list also includes athletes from Australia, Brazil, Canadá, Colômbia, Japão, Macao, Taiwan, Turkey and the United States of America, among others. It's the highest number ever registered in 22 editions of the event, both in competitors and nations.

Olav Lundanes, Norway, is the competition's headliner. Following her preparation to the World Orienteering Championships, the Long Distance gold medalist in 2016 and current leader of the IOF World Orienteering Ranking chose Portugal to some good training tests. Other important names present in the competition are Gernot Kerschbaumer, Austria, Magne Dæhli, Norway, Jan Sedivy and Milos Nykodym, the Czech Republic, Catherine Taylor and Hollie Orr, Great Britain, Baptiste Rollier, Switzerland, Helena Jansson, Emma Johansson, Johan Runesson, Albin Ridefelt and Gustav Bergman, Sweden, Frederic Tranchand and Lucas Basset, France, Nadiya Volynska and Oleksandr Kratov, Ukraine, Svetlana Mironova, Russia and Timo Sild, Estonia. Six times winner of the Portugal O' Meeting Simone Niggli, Switzerland and five times winner of the Portugal O' Meeting Thierry Gueorgiou, France, are also two of the most important names in the Elite category. There are 116 competitors in the Women Elite class and 211 in the Men Elite class. 

141 entered the PreO stage

The number of entries in the PreO stage has risen beyond the best organizing team plans and that is due to the high interest of the athletes, in number of 141 entered for the stage. For that reason, there is a commitment of POM 2017 organizing team in order to allow everyone to participate and not frustrate expectations by limiting entries.

In the Open class, names like Remo Madella, Italy, Koji Chino, Japan, Bartolomiej Mazan, Poland, Zoltan Mihaczi, Hungary, Guntars Mankus, Latvia, Mark Heikoop, the Nederlands or Toño Hernandez, Spain, will face the Portuguese squad, with Inês Domingues, Luis Gonçalves, João Pedro Valente, Jorge Baltazar, Cláudio Tereso, Edgar Domingues and Nuno Pires, amongst others. In the Paralympic class, it will be interesting to watch a particular duel between Portugal and Spain, with Carlos Riu, Miguel Angel Garcia and Sergio Martin, from the Spanish side, against the Portuguese Ricardo Pinto, Cláudio Poiares, Julio Guerra and Alexandre Guedes da Silva.

For further information, please visit the Event's website, at http://pom.pt/2017/en/.

Joaquim Margarido

POM 2017: One hundred entered the TrailO stage

The POM isn't just Foot Orienteering. As usual since 2010, the most important event of the Orienteering Calendar in Portugal also includes a Trail Orienteering stage. The Portuguese Orienteering Blog spoke with Filipe Dias, one of the PreO POM 2017's course setters, who brings us all the news.

It was in 2010, at Figueira da Foz Camping, that Portugal O' Meeting included in its program, for the first time, a Trail Orienteering stage. Since then, Foot Orienteering and Trail Orienteering have been together in the most important event of the Portuguese Orienteering Calendar, attracting an increasing number of participants to experience a different way of feeling and living the sport of the forest.

This year, the Grupo Desportivo dos Quatro Caminhos (GD4C) takes the responsibility of organizing the Portugal O' Meeting, in whose specifications the Trail Orienteering stage holds a very special place. With Fernando Costa as Event Director and Joaquim Margarido in the role of National Controller, Rui Principe and Filipe Dias are the course setters. Looking forward to a time and a space that bring up Orienteering's pleasure to a different dimension, the Portuguese Orienteering Blog spoke with Filipe Dias about the Pre POM 2017 and makes a preview of the event.

“The winner will have to be a complete athlete”

“I think the rigorousness of the Portuguese organizations is well-known, the POM being one of the highest exponents of this quality. As we have a Trail Orienteering stage included in the event, the care is the same in order to keep the high standards. So, we can talk about the PreO POM 2017 as a stage that will certainly be part of the organizational commitment, from the technical details to the logistical aspects”, start by saying Filipe Dias.

The event will take place on the afternoon of the POM's second day, on 26th February, at Coudelaria de Alter [Alter Stud Farm], an institution whose main mission is to create and valorize the Alter Real horse, a breed of the Lusitan Pure Blood. With an eye on the unique natural space and another on its potential to host a Trail Orienteering event, Filipe Dias highlights “the rich vegetation, both underbrush and lush, mixed with rocky details”, whose combination will provide quite interesting tasks.

- Could you say something about the kind of challenges?

“I can say that, with such a great variety of features on the terrain, it was everything but easy to choose the most interesting challenges at each control, since it was possible to have several tasks on each place. The competitors will face a set of 23 tasks that will require the use of all the position-fixing techniques, both on the map and in the terrain, from the classic ones, by the position at a mapped feature and position by contouring, to the conventional, by sighting lines, compass bearing or distance estimation, among others. The tasks won't be difficult, but it will be a course requiring a multiplicity of technical knowledgement, so the winner will have to be a complete athlete.”

One-hundred entries' barrier quite close

90 competitors entered the PreO POM 2017 so far, representing 18 countries. Among the most prominent names, it's possible to find Remo Madella (Italy), Zóltan Mihaczi (Hungary), Pete Huzan (Great Britain), Gintaras Mikolavicius (Lithuania), Koji Chino (Japan), Santiago Martin (Spain), Bartlomiej Mazan (Poland) and, on the Portuguese side, Luis Gonçalves and Cláudio Tereso, in the Open Class. As for the Paralympic Class, the Spaniards Miguel Angel Garcia and Carlos Riu will have in the Portuguese Ricardo Pinto, Júlio Guerra and Cláudio Poiares the biggest opponents. With the number of participants registered last edition practically reached (94), Filipe Dias doesn't hide his satisfaction with this numbers but, above all, talks about the quality of the participants: “Many of the competitors are renowned athletes, who leaves us quite pleased by the confidence shown in the organization and brings us an increased responsibility”, he says.

With the registrations open until 14th February (10th February without normal prizes), it's expected that the final numbers will reach the 120 entered in 2015, in an edition organized by the Clube de Orientação de Estarreja and held in Vagos. That's why Filipe Dias' last words goes to the undecided: “Like other events organized by the GD4C, I believe this will be a stage which fits a high quality level. Coudelaria de Alter, the PreO POM's venue, presents excellent conditions for an event of this magnitude, both natural and technical. So, I challenge the undecided to enter the PreO POM 2017, because your expectations won't be frustrated. A pleasant Trail Orienteering afternoon is expecting you”.

To know everything about PreO POM 2017, please read the Bulletin # 2 [click on the image above] or check the event's webpage, at http://pom.pt/.

Joaquim Margarido

Hong Kong TrailO Championships 2016 (PreO): Chui Tsz Ho reached the gold

Chui Tsz Ho reached the title of 2016 Hong Kong PreO Champion. In the clash that gathered 25 competitors in the Elite Class, he was the fastest in the timed controls that eventually decided the winner.

With the Chinese New Year approaching, the Orienteering Association of Hong Kong organized last Sunday the 2016 National TrailO Championships (PreO). Held in Lung Fu Shan, a popular hicking and picnic spot of the “most thrilling city on the planet”, the event was attended by 62 athletes overall, competing in the Elite, Advanced Open, Advanced Youth, Beginners Open and Family classes. Set by Raphael Mak and Yu Tsz Ying, the course extended by 1550 meters over two maps, offering 17 tasks in the Elite class and a “bonus” of four extra tasks in the timed station.

In a well-balanced race, the competitors were able to test their skills, revealing a high rate of correct answers. With the incertitude about the winner keeping up along the course, the maximum of emotion was reached in the two last controls, first with a tricky reentrant to put a lot of difficulties on most of the competitors and to throw Chun Ho Ho detached in the lead, and then, in the very last control, with the same Chun Ho Ho “slippering” in the stairs and failing where very few have failed. In the end of the course, the results showed five competitors tied with 16 out of 17 points and the timed station was really decisive to find the winner. Chui Tsz Ho was the fastest with 19 seconds, reaching the gold. With more 9 seconds than the winner, Tsang Michael Chun Chi reached the second place and Hui Yau Chiu was third ranked, with 40 seconds. Missing one task in the timed station, Chun Ho Ho also missed a place in the podium, finishing in the 5th place with 95 seconds.

For the Portuguese Orienteering Blog, the National Controller, Solomon Luk, left some words: “To control this event was really inspiring. I'm very happy to see many new stars raising up and the way TrailO is developing in Hong Kong”. He also mention the excellent work of Yu Tsz Ying, co-course setter along with Raphael Mak: “She was inspired by the typical scenery and historical buildings in the fortress during her trainings at Lung Fu Shan [Yu Tsz Ying was the representative of Hong Kong in the World Orienteering Championships from 2012 to 2015]. She recommended to the organization committee to hold the Championships here and a small dream came true, turning into a success her debut in the TrailO organization”, he said. Raphael Mak, Mapper and Event Director, was also very satisfied with the event: “I learnt a lot from organising my first TrailO event. The considerations are very different from FootO and a lot of mistakes were made, but the satisfaction is overwhelmingly great. I hope I will have the chance to organise more TrailO events in the future”, he concludes.

Results

1. Chui Tsz Ho 16 points / 19 seconds

2. Tsang Michael Chun Chi 16 points / 28 seconds

3. Hui Yau Chiu 16 points / 40 seconds

4. Wong Chi Yen 16 points / 49 seconds

5. Chun Ho Ho 16 points / 95 seconds

6. Ng Kok Hei 15 points / 43 seconds

7. Kwong Kwok Wah 15 points / 48 seconds

8. Ho Hing Ling 15 points / 227 seconds

9. Liang Chi Hang 14 points / 27 seconds

10. Kwong Man Fai Timothy 14 points / 29 seconds

Find HERE the complete results, maps, solutions and further information.

Photo courtesy of Wai Kit Choi.

[The Portuguese Orienteering Blog appreciate the efforts of Solomon Luk and Chun Ho Ho in sharing such useful information]

Joaquim Margarido

   

Aurora Borealis PreO 2017: Antti Rusanen was a "cool" winner

After an intense fight with Marko Määttälä, Antti Rusanen was the winner of the Aurora Borealis PreO 2017. The event took place under temperatures around - 24º Celsius and was attended by 27 brave competitors.

The Vuosaari Golf course, in Helsinki, Finland, hosted yesterday the 4th edition of the Aurora Borealis PreO, “the coolest event ever”. Set by Ari Tertsunen – in a brand new map with his signature – the course offered 22 tasks, plus a timed station with three more tasks. Between the 27 competitors that headed to Vuosaari, it was possible to find the winners of the event's previous editions, Aleksei Laisev (Keravan Urheilijat), Pinja Mäkinen (Koo-Vee) and Anna Jacobson (OK 77). Antti Rusanen, Pekka Seppa, Martti Inkinen, Marko Määttälä or Esko Juntilla were also some of the big names of the World of TrailO that attended the event.

After a hard and challenging course, under temperatures of - 24º C, Antti Rusanen and Marko Määttälä were able to finish their courses without mistakes, keeping the big decision for the timed station. Here, again, none of both competitors missed one single task, but Rusanen answered in 11 seconds, being three seconds faster than his closer opponent and getting quite "cool" a victory. With the same time in the timed controls but less one point than the winner, Pinjä Makinen took the third place. One final note: Just seven seconds separated the bronze from the 7th place. 

Results

1. Antti Rusanen (Keravan Urheilijat) 22 points / 11 seconds

2. Marko Määttälä (Kaustisen Pohjan-Veikot) 22 points / 14 seconds

3. Pinja Mäkinen (Koo-Vee) 21 points / 11 seconds

4. Petteri Suominen (Helsingin Poliisi-Voimailijat) 21 points / 12 seconds

5. Aleksei Laisev (Keravan Urheilijat) 21 points /14 seconds

6. Esko Junttila (Muuramen Rasti) 21 points /15 seconds

7. Ari Uotila (Kokemäen Kova-Väki) 21 points / 18 seconds

8. Eero Hakanen (Rasti-Jyry) 21 points / 27 seconds

9. Juha Villikka (Koo-Vee) 21 points / 153 seconds

10. Martti Inkinen (Rajamäen Rykmentti) 20 points / 19 seconds

Complete results, solutions, puncher legends and maps, both from Elite and Elite-B classes, available at https://www.trailo.fi/tulokset/2017/loppiais-preo-6-1-2017/.

Joaquim Margarido

Swedish TrailO Championships 2016: Gold for Jens Andersson, Marit Wiksell and William Rex

Three races and three different winners in the Swedish Trail Orienteering Championships 2016. Jens Andersson got the gold in the Night PreO, Marit Wiksell was the winner of the TempO competition and William Rex was the most accurate in the PreO.

The Swedish TrailO season finished this weekend with the National Championships, in Vänersborg. Organized by the clubs Vänersborgs SK and Kungälvs OK, the event called the attention of sixty athletes competing for the Night PreO, TempO and PreO national titles. The first race took place on Friday night and saw Jens Andersson (OK Roslagen) get his first individual gold in a National event. The course ended with 9 competitors with the same number of correct answers (21 out of 22), being the winner the fastest one in the timed controls. There, Jens Andersson got the gold with 26 seconds, 11 seconds faster than Magnus Sterner (Strängnäs Malmby OL), second placed. Ola Jansson (Björklinge SOK) spent 39 seconds to answer correctly the three timed tasks and reached the bronze. The first non-Swedish in this competition was the Norwegian Sigurd Dæhli (Løten OL), 9th placed with the same 21 points as the winner but all the three timed tasks missed and a score of 203 seconds.

The TempO competition took place on Saturday and counted a qualification and the Final. Marit Wiksell (Rehns BK) did a quite impressive performance during the qualification, answering the 25 tasks (5 timed stations, 5 tasks each) in 161 seconds and missing just one task. The World Champion Lars Jakob Waaler (Porsgrunn OL), from Norway, was faster than Wiksell, but answered wrongly to eight tasks and stayed out of the final. In the decisive race, Wiksell was able to manage the good advantage of more than 60 seconds over her most direct opponents, Erik Stålnacke (IFK Göteborg) and the Norwegian Geir Myhr Øien (Ringsaker OK), reaching the gold with the overall time of 304 seconds, against 363 seconds from Øien and 384 seconds from Stålnacke, the silver medalist. Jens Andersson was able to reverse the 11-second disadvantage to Martin Fredholm, reaching the bronze medal.

To finish the 2016 Swedish TrailO Championships, the PreO competition offered a challenging course with 24 tasks and the “bonus” of a timed station with three more tasks. William Rex (OK Landehof) managed to be the one answering correctly to all tasks, thus getting the gold. Eight competitors finished one point behind the winner, with Geir Myhr Øien being the fastest in the timed controls with 87 seconds, followed by Erik Lundkvist (HJS-Vansbro OK) with 103 seconds. Lundkvist got the silver medal, while the bronze went to Desiree Rex (OK Landehof) with 109 seconds in the timed controls.

Results

Night PreO

1. Jens Andersson (OK Roslagen) 21 points / 26 seconds

2. Magnus Sterner (Strängnäs Malmby OL) 21 points / 37 seconds

3. Ola Jansson (Björklinge SOK) 21 points / 39 seconds

4. William Rex (OK Landehof) 21 points / 40 seconds

5. Christian Enberg (Linköpings OK) 21 points / 44 seconds

TempO

1. Marit Wiksell (Rehns BK) 304 seconds

nc Geir Myhr Øien (Ringsaker OK NOR) 363 seconds

2. Erik Stålnacke (IFK Göteborg) 384 seconds

3. Jens Andersson (OK Roslagen) 443 seconds

4. Martin Fredholm (OK Linné) 447 seconds

5. Robert Jakobsson (Tidaholm SOK Sisu) 512 seconds

PreO

1. William Rex (OK Landehof) 24 points / 177 seconds

nc Geir Myhr Øien (Ringsaker OK NOR) 23 points / 87 seconds

2. Erik Lundkvist (HJS-Vansbro OK) 23 points / 103 seconds

3. Desiré Rex (OK Landehof) 23 points / 109 seconds

4. Marit Wiksell (Rehns BK) 23 points / 149 seconds

nc Sigurd Dæhli (Løten OL) 23 points / 169 seconds

5. Erik Stålnacke (IFK Göteborg) 23 points / 169 seconds

Complete results at https://preoresultat.se/.

[Photo: Marit Wiksell / facebook.com]

Joaquim Margarido

WTOC 2016: Moments (4)

© Joaquim Margarido

WTOC 2016: Double gold for Sweden

Martin Fredholm and Michael Johansson got the PreO World gold in the Open and Paralympic classes, respectively. Both athletes repeated the excellent performances from the first day of this competition, tasting once more the sweet flavour of success.

The World Trail Orienteering Championships 2016 knew today its last individual winners. The aeolic park of Tolvmanstegen hosted the decisive course, which offered 28 controls and the extra of a three-task timed station. Quite long and physically demanding, the course proved to be very selective, with different types of tasks exploring the competitors' skills and allowing to select the best of the best.

With twenty points after the first day of competition, a leading group of eight competitors fought for the medals very thoroughly, with just one of them performing perfectly once again, which allowed him to get the gold. With 48 points and 40,5 seconds overall, the Swedish Martin Fredholm completed his thirteenth presence in as much editions of the World Trail Orienteering Championships in the best way, recovering, in front of his public, a gold that he hadn't won for ten years. After the bronze medal reached last year in Croatia, the Norwegian Martin Jullum climbed one step on the podium, leading a six-competitors group with 47 points and 34,5 seconds. With more 9,5 seconds than Jullum, the Latvian Janis Ruksans got the bronze medal. Stig Gerdtman and Marit Wiksell, both from Sweden, reached the fourth and fifth positions, and the Finn Pinja Mäkinen closed the podium in the sixth place. Jens Andersson, from Sweden, stayed out of the podium by narrow six seconds.

In the Paralympic class, the Russian Pavel Shmatov wasn't able to deal with the pressure of a two-point advantage reached on the first day and, with two mistakes today, dropped to the second position with 46 points and 122 seconds overall. With a clean race, the Swedish Michael Johansson joined Shmatov in the lead, but a better performance in the timed stations eventually gave him the gold for the second time in his career. Ola Jansson, Sweden, finished third, one point behind the winner. The fight for the immediate positions was really tight, with two athletes counting 44 points. Faster in the timed stations, the Czech Jana Kostová finished fourth with 66 seconds, just half of a second (!) better than the Ukranian Vladislav Vovk, the World Champion in 2015. The last place of the podium was occupied by the Dane Søren Saxtorph with 42 points.

Results

Open class

1. Martin Fredholm SWE 48 points / 40,5 seconds

2. Martin Jullum NOR 47 / 34,5

3. Janis Ruksans LAT 47 / 44

4. Stig Gerdtman SWE 47 / 47,5

5. Marit Wiksell SWE 47 / 91

6. Pinja Mäkinen SWE 47 / 112,5

Paralympic class

1. Michael Johansson SWE 46 points / 74,5 seconds

2. Pavel Shmatov RUS 46 / 122

3. Ola Jansson SWE 45 / 44,5

4. Jana Kostová CZE 44 / 66

5. Vladislav Vovk UKR 44 / 66,5

6. Søren Saxtorph DEN 42 / 89,5

Joaquim Margarido

WTOC 2016: Moments (3)

© Joaquim Margarido

WTOC 2016: Jullum and Shmatov lead the PreO

The beautiful forest of Saltö hosted the PreO competition’s first day. After twenty challenging controls, Martin Jullum and Pavel Shmatov are in the lead of the Open and the Paralympic classes respectively.


The PreO competition of the 13th World Trail Orienteering Championships started today, with a demanding course in the idyllic forest of Saltö, beside the sea. 61 competitors in the Open class and 38 in the Paralympic class faced a really challenging course, with twenty one controls and a bonus three-task timed station. With one control voided, there were eight competitors in the Open class who solved all the tasks successfully, with Martin Jullum, Norway being the fastest in the timed station and so taking the lead. With the first and the seventh competitors 15 seconds apart from each other, Sweden has four athletes in the ‘pole position’ for the decisive day on Friday, including the current European Champion, Stig Gerdtman and the former World Champion, Martin Fredholm. Defending his World title, the Italian Michele Cera is also in the leading group.

In the Paralympic class, the Russian Pavel Shmatov was the only one who answered correctly to all the tasks, having a comfortable two-point lead over three former World Champions: Jana Kostová, Czech Republic (2013), Michael Johansson, Sweden (2014) and Vladislav Vovk, Ukraine (2015). How will Shmatov deal with the pressure? Five years later, the world title is close to return to Russia, but there’s still half of the game to play.

Results

Open class

1. Martin Jullum NOR 20 points/15 seconds

2. Marit Wiksell SWE 20/16

3. Martin Fredholm SWE 20/19

4. Janis Ruksans LAT 20/25

5. Stig Gerdtman SWE 20 / 25.5

6. Ivo Tisljar CRO 20/29.5

7. Michele Cera ITA 20/30

8. Jens Andersson SWE 20/89

9. Pinja Mäkinen FIN 19/18

10. Johanne Biering DEN 19/19.5

Paralympic class

1. Pavel Shmatov RUS 20 points/95 seconds

2. Vladislav Vovk UKR 18/31

3. Michael Johansson SWE 18/33.5

4. Jana Kostová CZE 18/37.5

5. Ola Jansson SWE 17/21.5

6. Søren Saxtorph DEN 17/48.5

7. Yehor Surkov UKR 17/49

8. Arne Ask NOR 16/35

9. Laima Lazinskiene LTU 16/48.5

10. Pekka Seppä FIN 16/110

To see the complete results, please visit the event's webpage at http://live.woc2016.se/blog/2016/08/24/official-preliminary-results-of-day-1/.

Joaquim Margarido

Falco Cup 2016: Jullum and Vovk were the winners

Two wins and a third place gave to Martin Jullum the victory in the Falco Cup 2016 overall. Remo Madella won one stage, finishing second. Vladislav Vovk got the win in the Paralympic class.

During the weekend, took place in Druskininkai, Lithuania, the Falco Cup 2016. Preceding the World Trail Orienteering Championships WTOC 2016, the event brought together 86 competitors from 15 countries, offering a rich and varied program that included one TrailO Relay, one TempO stage and two PreO stages, the latter scoring for the Unofficial European Cup in Trail Orienteering 2016.

With six timed stations of four tasks each, the TempO stage had in the Italian Remo Madella (Vivaio Ori) the big winner with a total of 205 seconds. Madella did no mistakes throughout the race, compensating a relative lack of speed with a remarkable accuracy. With an average of nearly two seconds faster than Madella in the course's 24 tasks, the Swedish Lennart Wahlgren (Rehns BK) turned out to get a 60 second penalty, equivalent to two incorrect answers, finishing 13 seconds after Madella. In the third position, with 21 more seconds than the winner, stayed the Norwegian Martin Jullum (Halden SK), penalized in 30 seconds due to a wrong answer.

Jullum wins also the TrailO Relay

In the PreO competition, Jullum didn't give any chances to his opponents, being the most accurate and also faster in the two-stage race. With 21 points out of 23 and the incredible time of 10 seconds in the three-task timed station, Jullum ended the first day in the lead, having behind him the Slovak Ján Furucz (Farmaceut Bratislava), the British Charles Bromley Gardner (BAOC) and the Czech Libor Forst (VŠSK MFF UK Praha), with the same points but weaker performances on the timed station. On the second day Jullum was, once again, the most accurate, being the only competitor to reach 22 points, again with two wrong answers. The Norwegian Sigurd Dæhli (Løten OL), the Ukrainian Mykola Opanasenko (OSK Prolisok), Ján Furucz and Remo Madella finished by this order in the following positions, with less one point. The conversion in seconds of the results achieved in the two PreO stages and the resulting sum of the times of the three stages, showed Martin Jullum as the big winner in the Open Class of Falco Cup 2016 with 486 seconds, less 194 seconds than Madella and less 254 than Dæhli, second and third placed, respectively.

As Jullum, the Ukrainian Vladislav Vovk (Ukraina) won also two of the three stages and was the winner of Falco Cup 2016 in the Paralympic class. Current PreO World Champion, Vovk opened the competition in the best way with the fastest time among the 25 competitors in the TempO stage. The Lithuanian Laima Lažinskiene (Kaunas RSK) won the first stage of PreO with two points more than Vovk, but the Ukrainian rectified in the final stage of the program, winning with a point ahead of the Latvian Guntis Jakubovskis and three points on Lažinskiene. Overall, Vovk was the big winner with a total of 1456 seconds, against 1639 seconds from Jakubovskis, second, and 1841 seconds from Laima Lažinskiene, who finished third.

Final note for the TrailO Relay, held last Friday and attended by 23 teams. Three teams finished with a total of 29 points, with the Norwegians Sigurd Dæhli, Geir Myhr Øien and Martin Jullum to be faster in the timed controls and taking the victory. The second place went to a mixed team composed by the Japanese Noritoshi Matsuhashi and the Swedish Ola Wiksell and Martin Fredholm, while the third position went to Ukraine with Mykola Opanasenko, Anton Puhovkin and Vitaliy Kyrychenko.

Results

Open class

1. Martin Jullum (Halden SK, NOR) 486 seconds

2. Remo Madella (Vivaio Ori, ITA) 680 seconds

3. Sigurd Dæhli (Løten OL, NOR) 740 seconds

4. Ján Furucz (Farmaceut Bratislava, SVK) 748 seconds

5. Martin Fredholm (OK Linné, SWE) 792 seconds

6. Geir Myhr Øien (Ringsaker OK, NOR) 832 seconds

Paralympic class

1. Vladislav Vovk (Ukraina, UKR) 1456 seconds

2. Guntis Jakubovskis (IADC Ausma, LAT) 1639 seconds

3. Laima Lažinskiene (Kaunas RSK, LTU) 1841 seconds

4. Nataliia Salakhova (Ekaterinburg, RUS) 1905 seconds

5. Andrejs Šulcs (OSKB Leonardo, LAT) 2061 seconds

6. Vladimir Troian (Rostov-on-Don, RUS) 2162 seconds

Junior class

1. Romas Bazelis (RASKK Vilniaus SM, LTU) 1989 seconds

2. Kristaps Mierlauks (TSK Spriditis, LAT) 2377 seconds

3. Rimantas Stanaitis (RASKK Vilniaus SM, LTU) 2601 seconds

Complete results and further information at http://wtoc2017.lt/2015/07/31/pre-wtoc2017/.

[Archive photo]

Joaquim Margarido

  

5 Days of Italy 2016: Golden weekend for Keresteš and Kacin

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

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

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

Results

ECTO #5 – Italian PreO Championships

PreO

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

ECTO #6 – Italian TempO Championships

TempO

1. Emil Kacin (OK Azimut SLO) 399 seconds

2. Remo Madella (Vivaio ITA) 418 seconds

3. Jan Furucz (Farmaceut Bratislava SVK) 423 seconds

4. Dušan Furucz (Farmaceut Bratislava SVK) 461 seconds

5. Libor Forst (MatFyz Praha CZE) 464 seconds

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

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

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

9. Krešo Keresteš (OK Trzin SLO) 483 seconds

10. Sigurd Dæhli (Løten Orienteringslag) 486 seconds

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

[Photo archive]

Joaquim Margarido