10MILA 2017: IFK Göteborg is the winner

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

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

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

Results

Men Relay Kavlen

1. IFK Göteborg 10:57:14 (+ 00:00)

2. OK Linné 11:05:49 (+ 08:35)

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

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

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

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

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

8. IFK Lidingö SOK 11:15:41 (+ 18:27)

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

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

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

[Photo: Mårten Lång / svenskorientering.se]

Joaquim Margarido

10MILA 2017: Stora Tuna OK wins Women Relay

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

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

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

Victory of IK Hakarpspojkarna in the Youth Relay

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

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

Results

Women Relay Damkavlen

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

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

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

4. SK Pohjantähti 4:26:20 (+ 01:16)

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

6. IFK Lidingö SOK 4:26:25 (+ 01:21)

7. IFK Göteborg 4:26:41 (+ 01:37)

8. Alfta-Ösa OK 4:26:51 (+ 01:47)

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

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

Youth Relay Ungdomksvalen

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Joaquim Margarido

Portuguese Orienteering Championships 2017: Mariana Moreira was the brightest star

Confirming her predominance in the Portuguese orienteering panorama in recent years, Mariana Moreira achieved the Middle Distance title for the fourth year in a row, in the Women Elite class. In the Relay, COC – Clube de Orientação do Centro recovered the Portuguese title in the Men Senior class, while CPOC – Clube Português de Orientação e Corrida, got the title for the second year in a row in the Women Senior class.

The 23rd edition of the Portuguese Orienteering Championships of Middle Distance and Relay took place last weekend in the city of Vendas Novas. Organized by the ADFA – Associação dos Deficientes das Forças Armadas and the Portuguese Orienteering Federation, the event was attended by 436 athletes, representing 40 clubs. This event was sadly marked by the fact that the Men Elite class didn't find results, following a protest concerning a technical error and the consequent avoidance of the course.

On a fantastic weekend for orienteering's practise, Mariana Moreira (CPOC) performed at the highest level, achieving her fourth Middle Distance title so far. The athlete won with a time of 31:07 and a 1:32 advantage over Raquel Costa (GafanhOri), second-placed and almost seven minutes over the third-placed, Rita Rodrigues (CMo Funchal). In the remaining classes, a special word goes to José Fernandes, athlete from the Clube de Orientação do Minho, for is third title in a row in the M55 class, and to Alexandra Coelho (GD4C), Luísa Mateus (COC) and José Grada (Ori-Estarreja), who revalidated their titles in the W45, W55 and M75, respectively. In all of the 26 national titles awarded, the COC was the great “beneficiary” with eight individual titles and eight collective titles.

COC gets eight Relay titles

Mariana Moreira was again in evidence in the Relay race, contributing decisively to the victory of her club in the Women Senior class. The CPOC got an initial advantage of more than two minutes over the GD4C, but a disastrous second leg almost knocked out the aspirations of Oeiras' team. In the decisive leg, however, Mariana Moreira was far above all her opponents, recovering a disadvantage of approximately seven minutes and offering the victory to CPOC with the overall time of 1:57:55. COC and GD4C occupied, by this order, the remaining places on the podium. As for the Men Senior class, the COC dominated from start to finish, getting the overall time of 1:36:37. Despite an impressive last leg, Tiago Romão was unable to recover the ten minutes that separated him from the lead, achieving for the CMo Funchal the second position with the time of 1:41:56. Ori-Estarreja closed the podium, nine minutes after the winners.

Overall, COC was again the great winner, achieving eight national Relay titles. Clube de Orientação do Minho and CPOC, with two titles each, and Pinhal Novo Secondary School, Grupo Desportivo dos Quatro Caminhos, ADM - Ori-Mondego and Clube de Orientação e Aventura do Litoral Alentejano, with one title each, fill the list of National Champions of Relay 2017.

Results

Middle Distance

Women Elite

1. Mariana Moreira (CPOC) 31:07 (+ 00:00)

2. Raquel Costa (GafanhOri) 32:39 (+ 01:32)

3. Rita Rodrigues (CMo Funchal) 37:52 (+ 06:45)

4. Emília Silveira (CN Alvito) 41:07 (+ 10:00)

5. Inês Pinto (GD4C) 41:57 (+ 10:50)

Relay

Men Senior

1. COC (Paulo Franco, Gildo Silva and Celso Moiteiro) 1:36:37 (+ 00:00)

2. CMo Funchal (Rita Rodrigues, Miguel Silva, Tiago Romão) 1:41:56 (+ 05:19)

3. Ori-Estarreja (António Amador, Bruno Nazário, Rafael Miguel) 1:45:59 (+ 09:22)

4. GafanhOri (Manuel Dias, Raquel Costa, Manuel Horta) 1:54:33 (+ 17:56)

5. CN Alvito (Paul Roothans, Sérgio Ferreira, João Mega Figueiredo) 1:56:36 (+ 19:59)

Women Senior

1. CPOC (Betariz Sanguino, Beatriz Moreira, Mariana Moreira) 1:57:55 (+ 00:00)

2. COC (Catarina Castelão, Inês Domingues, Helena Lima) 2:03:53 (+ 05:58)

3. GD4C (Inês Pinto, Liliana Oliveira, Inês Alves) 2:13:57 (+ 16:02)

4. .COM (Zélia Viana, Ana Castanheiro, Paula Serra Campos) 2:29:50 (+ 31:55)

5. Ori-Estarreja (Joana Marques, Cristina Nazário, Inês Aires) 2:33:00 (+ 35:05)

Complete results and further information at http://cnvendasnovas.weebly.com/.

[Photo: Fernando Costa]

Joaquim Margarido

WTOC 2016: Slovakia and Sweden got the Relay titles

With the Swedish team showing all its strength, the TrailO Relay had an expected winner in the Paralympic class in the final competition of the 2016 World Trail Orienteering Championships. In the Open class, Slovakia was a wonderful surprise in taking the gold.

The 2016 World Trail Orienteering Championships have come to an end. Returning to the windmill park of Tolvmanstegen, the competitors finally faced a TrailO Relay race, an event being held for the first time ever in WTOC history. Nine teams in the Paralympic class and eighteen in the Open class took part.

Slovakia made trailO history. After some impressive results in the last two years, the Slovakian team of Marian Miklus, Dusan Furucz, Ján Furucz had a perfect race with no mistakes in the 21 tasks, and were quite fast in the timed controls with 102 seconds overall, good enough for the gold. Like Slovakia, Portugal also had a clean race, but were not as fast or accurate enough in the TempO station to get the gold, finishing with 91 seconds more than the winners. However, this was also a historical moment for Portuguese Trail Orienteering – and Portuguese Orienteering in general - getting its best result ever in a world competition. Finland, with 213 seconds, was placed third. Sweden were out of the medals by a short 8.5 seconds, taking fourth place. Norway and Croatia, in fifth and sixth places respectively, closed the podium.

In the Paralympic class, the Swedish team – Inga Gunnarsson, Ola Jansson, Michael Johansson – confirmed its tag as favourite for the gold, winning with the time of 334.5 seconds after one wrong answer in the course’s 21 tasks. Ukraine also missed one task but was far from Sweden in the TempO stations and finished second with 67.5 seconds more than the winners. As in the Open class, Finland took the bronze medal with 423 seconds overall. Russia, the Czech Republic and Latvia took the remaining places on the podium in this order.

Results

Open class

1. Slovakia (Marian Miklus, Dusan Furucz, Ján Furucz) 102 seconds

2. Portugal (Edgar Domingues, Jorge Baltazar, João Pedro Valente) 193 sec

3. Finland (Martti Inkinen, Pinja Mäkinen, Antti Rusanen) 213 sec

4. Sweden (Marit Wiksell, Jens Andersson, Martin Fredholm) 221,5 sec

5. Norway (Sigurd Dæhli, Lars Jakob Waaler, Martin Jullum) 245 sec

6. Croatia (Zdenko Horjan, Tomislav Varnica, Ivo Tisljar) 280 sec

Paralympic class

1. Sweden (Inga Gunnarsson, Ola Jansson, Michael Johansson) 334,5 seconds

2. Ukraine (Iryna Kulikova, Yehor Surkov, Vladislav Vovk 402 sec

3. Finland (Kari Pinola, Tuomo Markelin, Pekka Seppa) 423 sec

4. Russia (Dmitry Dokuchaev, Eduard Oginskii, Pavel Shmatov) 443,5 sec

5. Czech Republic (Pavel Dudik, Bohuslav Hulka, Jana Kostová) 503,5 sec

6. Latvia (Guntis Jakubovskis, Valdis Strods, Andrejs Sulcs) 554,5 sec

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

  

Night Hawk 2016: Maps

Map Men 1-2 Night

Map Men 3 Night

Map Men 4 Night

Map Men 5 Day

Map Men 6-7 Day

Map Men 8 Day

Map Women 1-2 Night

Map Women 3 Night

Map Women 4 Day

 Map Women 5 Day

Map Women 6 Day

Joaquim Margarido

Night Hawk 2016: Nydalens SK and NTNUI are the winners

With victories in Men and Women classes, respectively, the Norwegian teams of Nydalens SK and NTNUI were the great names of the Night Hawk relay's fourth edition.

The surroundings of the Norwegian capital, Oslo, hosted the fourth edition of the Night Hawk. With the participation of 189 teams, the race saw the Norwegian teams of Nydalens SK and NTNUI reaching the victories in the Men and Women classes, respectively. In the Men class, the Nydalens SK settled things already in the third leg, with Øystein Sørensen to escape from their opponents and an expressive advantage of 8:35 over the second team classified, the Sävedalens AIK. Finishing the night segment with a 6:22 lead over the Södertälje-Nykvarn Orientering and 7:09 on the Halden SK, Nydalens SK's athletes were able to handle the pressure from their opponents in the chasing start, finishing with an overall time of 6:17:16. Ikkalisten Nousev-Voima and Sävedalens AIK were ranked second and third, respectively, with more 8:42 and 9:51 than the winners.

The women's race was held in a more balanced way, with three different teams to lead at the end of each of the three legs of the night segment. With half of the race to contest, the lead belonged to Byåsen IL with 8 seconds on the NTNUI and 2:51 on Frol IL. In the daytime segment things began to be defined in the 4th leg, with NTNUI to reach an advantage of more than 1 minute, later extended to 5:58 in the 5th leg, to finish with a lead of 1:32 over the team of Halden SK, second placed. The third position went to Fredrikstad SK, with 3:03 more than the winners.

Fossum IL, Nydalens SK, Asker Skiklubb and Kongsberg OL also deserve a note, by winning the Mastermen, Masterwomen, Boys and Girls classes, respectively.

Results

Men

1. Nydalens SK (Håverd Haga, Anders Vister, Øystein Sørensen, Anders Nordberg, Eirik Langedal Breivik) 6:17:16 (+ 00:00)

2. Ikkalisten Nouseva-Voima (Aleksi Karppinen, Ville Parkkinen, Vesa Taanila, Eetu Savolainen, Olli-Markus Taivanen, Mikko Knuuttila) 6:25:59 (+ 08:42)

3. Sävedalens AIK (Johan Wikström, Sergey Fedatsenka, Marcus Millegård, Andrey Salin, Jonas Palm) 6:27:07 (+ 09:51)

4. Ärla IF (Emil Andersson, Viktor Silvemark, Robbin Kantarp, Petter Eriksson) 6:28:08 (+ 10:51)

5. Fredrikstad SK (Herman Ryen Martinsen, Christian Riddervold Kahrs, Håvard Lucasen, Hans Petter Mathisen, Audun Bjerkreim Nilsen, Mattias Karlsson) 6:28:36 (+ 11:19)

Women

1. NTNUI (Maren Jansson Haverstad, Linn Hokholt, Sigrid Alexandersen, Linn Hokholt, Audhild Bakken Rognstad) 4:49:59 (+ 00:00)

2. Halden SK (Bodil Helgerud, Hanna Haugen Nordbrøden, Kine Hallan Steiwer, Lizzie Ingham, Hollie Orr) 4:51:32 (+ 01:32)

3. Fredrikstad SK (Mia Mathisen Bekhus, Marie Olaussen, Emma Johansson, Marir Kahrs, Heidi Østild Bagstevold) 4:53:03 (+ 03:03)

4. Nydalens SK (Ragne Wiklund, Anine Ahlsand, Malin Sørensen, Anne Margrethe Hausken Nordberg) 4:58:11 (+ 08:12)

5. Byåsen IL (Ragnhild Eide, Emma Arnesen, Ingeborg Eide) 5:03:56 (+ 13:57)

Complete results and further information at http://nighthawk.no/.

[Photo: Aapo Laiho / nighthawk.no]

Joaquim Margarido

  

Mari Fasting: A moment, a comment...

“When I had punched the last control and was on my way to the finish, I saw my team mates waiting for me in the run-in. Then it was no doubt... I was first! I was first and all alone on the last leg!

We did it! Together we were the best team in Venla 2016!

What a great victory for all of us!”

Mari Fasting, Norway

2016.06.18 – Venla Relay 2016, Lapeenraanta, Finland

[Photo: Jukka Kosonen / lappeenriento.kuvat.fi/]

Jonas Leandersson: A moment, a comment...

“When I woke up I was told we were in the lead. It was great to see all guys running so well, being offensive and following our plan.

The race itself was a great experience and I tried to just enjoy going out in the lead with Kalevan Rasti. Early on in the race I focused a lot on making the perfect technical race, but when I made a small mistake I saw Eskil from IFK Göteborg in front of me in the forest. After about half the course we caught up with Kalevan and Thierry again, and I thought to myself that this will be a fight till the very end.

At the end of the race I put my focus on staying close to Eskil. The plan was to be the first one to punch at the last control, but it turned out to be Eskil's plan too. Even though he punched first, I knew that there was still a chance if I just pushed hard enough the last 100 meters. And after that no one could say who will be the strongest; sometimes you got all the extra power you need, and sometimes you don’t. Fortunatly, this time I did the strongest finish.

The moment when I crossed the finish line and realized that we were the winners of 10mila 2016 was one of the best moments of my career so far. I just went with the moment, screaming out the happiness and the relief I felt inside of me. To be able to do this together with the guys and the club is just fantastic.”

Jonas Leandersson, Sweden

2016.05.15 – 10MILA 2016, Falun-Borlänge, Sweden

[Photo: Stina Loman / orientering.se]

Jukola 2016: Historical victory for Koovee

Mother of all relays, the Jukola called to Lappeenranta, this year, 1717 teams for a night as exciting as windy and rainy. In the end of seven hard legs – with the arena run-through being a newness in 68 editions of the popular Relay -, Koovee got the winning, inscribing its name for the first time ever in Jukola's table of honour.

In a cold and rainy night, orienteering's heat was stronger in Lappeenranta, where 1717 teams from 16 countries took part in the 68th edition of Jukola Relay. With Jerker Lysell running the first leg, Rehns BK was the first team taking the lead, with less than one minute advantage on Halden SK, Angelniemen Ankkuri and IFK Moras OK. Even closer than the precedent, the second leg didn't aport important moves in the lead, with Jan Troeng (OK Linné) being first, in front of a group of 26 teams in a one minute interval. Often decisive, the third leg – the long night leg, with 14,1 km – didn't bring big changes in the lead, although some teams launch here some of its major trumps. In a particular fight that included Timo Sild (Koovee), Olav Lundanes (Halden SK), Baptiste Rollier (Kalevan Rasti) or Anders Nordberg (Nydalens SK), Gustav Bergman was the fastest, giving the lead to OK Ravinen.

Jani Myllärinen kept the Koovee's good pace, achievieng a 56 seconds advantage on Halden SK in the end of the fourth leg and Jani Lakanen could save the lead in the end of the fifth leg. Malungs OK Skogsmårdarna was now second, at 53 seconds to the lead. Halden SK, Kalevan Rasti and Södertälje Nykvirn were the following teams, respectively 1:10, 1:44 and 2:03 behind Koovee. The penultimate leg was really impressive, with Olexandr Kratov performing amazingly and getting a 4:38 gap to the second placed, Kalevan Rasti. The Ukranian was the key for a victory that Daniel Hubmann would confirm in the last leg with the time of 8:03:46 overall. Fredrik Bakkman was the fastest in this leg, making IFK Lidingö SOK ascended to the final second place, 1:20 behind Koovee. Kalevan Rasti – with Thierry Gueorgiou in the last leg – got the third place, the same as at 10 Mila, last May. With this result, Koovee see is name as Jukola winner for the first time ever in its history and Daniel Hubmann got the triumph for the second year in a row, after his victory in front of Kristiansand OK last year. Kristiansand OK finished this time in the 26th position, with more 31:57 than the winner.

Results

1. Koovee (Anjala, Sild, Sild, Myllärinen, Lakanen, Kratov, Hubmann) 8:03:46 (+ 00:00)

2. IFK Lidingö SOK (Dent, Dahlgren, Haines, Sandberg, Østerbø, Sandberg, Bakkman) 8:05:06 (+ 01:20)

3. Kalevan Rasti (Asikainen, Airila, Rollier, Prochazka, Hertner, Petrzela, Gueorgiou) 8:06:14 (+ 02:28)

4. Malungs OK Skogsmårdarna (Rost, Lööf, Bäckman, Carlsson, Östlin, Andersson, Lind) 8:09:17 (+ 05:31)

5. Halden SK (Ruedlinger, Huovila, Lundanes, Björlo, Hovind, Wingstedt, Dæhli) 8:09:30 (+ 05:44)

6. IFK Göteborg (Eden, Pilblad, Högstrand, Bråten, Jonasson, Bejmer, Kinneberg) 8:09:41 (+ 05:55)

7. Södertälje Nykvarn (Pawlak, Ohlsson, Lundanes, Enmark, Börjeskog, Street, Leandersson) 8:13:05 (+ 09:19)

8. Frol IL (Lyngen, Vister, Indgaard, Skjeset, Sirum, Skogstad, Indgaard) 8:15:02 (+ 11:16)

9. OK Linné (Löfås, Troeng, Andersson, Troeng, Andersson, Sjöberg, Ridefelt) 8:15:24 (+ 11:38)

10. Hildenkiertäjät (Patana, Hall, Liukkonen, Kivela, Koistinen, Novikov, Novikov) 8:15:38 (+ 11:52)

See the complete results and further information at http://www.jukola.com/2016/en/.

[Photo: © Tommi Joutjärvi / facebook.com/jukolanviesti]

Joaquim Margarido

Venla 2016: Halden SK got the winning

For the fifth time in its history, the norwegian team of Halden SK won the Venla Relay. After four intense legs, Sabine Hauswirth, Hollie Orr, Anni-Maija Fincke and Mari Fasting proved to be the fastest of the 1391 teams that lined at the start. The Finnish teams of Tampereen Pyrintö and SK Pohjantähti finished second and third, respectively.

Sara Hagström was the first to complete the 7,1 km of the first leg, launching the Falköpings AIK OK team to a 4 seconds lead on the norwegian team of Halden SK, with Sabine Hauswirth as first athlete. This leg was quite close, with the first 26 teams separated by less than one minute. On the second leg, Kajsa Risby (OK Kåre) and Anna Forsberg (Göteborg Majorna OK) did an excellent job, getting a 47 seconds gap to the third team, Angelniemen Ankkuri, an advantage of 1:29 and over on the MS Parma and the following teams. The third leg brought new changes in the race's head, with Sofia Haajanen (SK Pohjantähti) and Anni-Maija Fincke (Halden SK) performing better than the concurrence and giving to their clubs the leadership with the same time. Paimion Rasti, Tampereen Pyrintö, IFK Lidingö SOK and Järla Orienteering were the following teams, with more 0:33, 0:42, 1:09 and 1:50, respectively, than the leaders.

The last leg was amazing, with a start field that included some of the stronger athletes currently, like Mari Fasting (Halden SK), Marika Teini (SK Pohjantähti), Natalia Gemperle (Alfta ÖSA OK), Saila Kinni (Tampereen Pyrintö), Anna Bachman (IFK Lidingö SOK), Judith Wyder (Göteborg Majorna OK), Catherine Taylor (OK Linné), Lisa Risby (OK Kåre), Svetlana Mironova (Koovee) or Tove Alexandersson (Stora Tuna OK). In the first half of the race, Mari Fasting did a couple of small mistakes and Marika Teini was able to keep some advantage on the next teams, but Fasting was faster in the second half, achieving for Halden SK a well celebrated winning with the time of 3:06:04 overall. In the second position, with more 53 seconds than the winner, stayed Tampereen Pyrintö, with SK Pohjantähti being third with 3:07:46. Last edition's winner, Domnarvets GoIF, finished 20th, with more 11:21 than Halden SK.

Results

1. Halden SK (Sabine Hauswirth, Hollie Orr, Anni-Maija Fincke, Mari Fasting) 3:06:04 (+ 00:00)

2. Tampereen Pyrintö (Lotta Karhola, Sonja Kyrölä, Venla Harju, Saila Kinni) 3:06:57 (+ 00:53)

3. SK Pohjantähti (Heini Wennman, Marttiina Joensuu, Sofia Haajanen, Marika Teini) 3:07:47 (+ 01:43)

4. Koovee (Johanna Hulkkonen, Ulrika Uotila, Mia Niittynen, Svetlana Mironova) 3:09:42 (+ 03:38)

5. Göteborg Majorna OK (Viktoria Ernstsson, Anna Forsberg, Lina Strand, Judith Wyder) 3:09:43 (+ 03:39)

6. Alfta ÖSA OK (Galina Vinogradova, Sara Eskilsson, Josefine Engström, Natalia Gemperle) 3:10:09 (+ 04:05)

7. Stora Tuna OK (Anna Mårsell, Johanna Erlandsson, Julia Gross, Tove Alexandersson) 3:10:13 (+ 04:09)

8. IFK Lidingö SOK (Johanna Sanderi, Annica Gustafsson, Helena Karlsson, Anna Bachman) 3:10:18 (+ 04:14)

9. Paimion Rasti (Evelina Hirvonen, Salla Fagerudd, Inga Dambe, Saara Norrgraan) 3:10:19 (+ 04:15)

10. IFK Göteborg (Isia Basset, Anna Nähri, Elin Månsson, Kirsi Nurmi) 3:11:28 (+ 05:24)

To see full results and further information, please visit the event's webpage at http://www.jukola.com/2016/en/.

[Photo: © Tommi Joutjärvi / facebook.com/jukolanviesti]

Joaquim Margarido

Tiomila 2015: "Double" for Sweden, ten years later

IFK Göteborg and Domnarvets GoIF were the big winners of Tiomila's 70th edition, offering to Sweden a tasty "double" that have not been seen since 2005. At Skepptuna, not far from where the first edition in 1945 was ran, the races lined up to unpredictability and excitement, with the winners to be found in the last meters.

Orienteering “classic” for excellence, Tiomila called this year to Sweden the best of the best (again), being a great party for 5.297 participants distributed by Men, Women and Young relays. And it was precisely the youngsters who opened the hostilities with 257 teams classified at the end and the victory belonging to the Norwegian team of Nydalens SK. Ragne Wiklund, Ingvil Ahlsand, Lukas Liland and Elias Jonsson needed 1:57:52 to complete their course, imposing to Konnerud IL by the wide margin of 6:25. It was the third time that a Norwegian team won the Young Relay and Nydalens SK's debut in the highest place of the podium.

Who had passed through the highest place of the podium and repeated it for the fourth time in the sixteen previous editions was the Swedish team of Domnarvets GoIF in the Women's race. With Elin Dahlin, Karolina Højsgaard, Dana Safka Brozkova, Lena Eliasson and Emma Johansson, the Swedish covered the whole course in 3:57:09 against 3:57:48 of the Swedish Järla Orientering. Very technical and all of them with loops, the first three legs were important for the definition of the candidates to the victory. At the end of the third leg it was possible to see eight teams still struggling for the victory. In the lead, Karolin Ohlsson retained an advantage of 40 seconds for Järla Orienteering over Leksands OK - with Helena Jansson running an absolutely fantastic third leg and recovering 51 positions in the table, after more than three minutes (!) earning to all her most direct opponents.

The fourth leg, with 10.5 km, reduced to six the number of pretenders to the final victory, with Järla Orientering still in the lead, but with the Alfta-Ösa and Domnarvets GoIF with differences less than 10 seconds. In the decisive leg, Sara Eskilsson soon proved unable to hold one of the first three places for Alfta-Ösa, so the fight for victory was between Elin Hemmyr Skantze and Emma Johansson. Skantze stayed in the lead in the first half of this last leg, but the victory eventually smiled to the Domnarvets GoIF athletes, thus recovering the title they won in 2013. Who was very early out of the race was the Danish team of OK Pan Århus, the big winner in 2014 and that couldn't do best than the 24th place this year.

The most waited moment

With the night settling down slowly, it was given the start for the men's race. Jesper Lysell would be the fastest in the first leg, giving to BK Rehns the first advantage. But everyone knew that the first great moment was saved for the third leg, a 16.5 km long distance without loops, in which to keep in contact with the head of the race would be essential. The teams with higher aspirations launched to this leg some of their most valuable assets and Södertälje-Nykvarn came into the lead, with Andreu Blanes Reig, followed by Kalevan Rasti, with Kiril Nikolov. But the lesson was well studied and only 1:16 separated the 50 (!) first teams at this stage of the race. Out of the race were, however, teams like the Vehkalahden Veikot (Janne Weckman and Tero Föhr), the OK Ravinen (Gustav Bergman), the Järla Orientering (Olle Boström) and ... the Nightfoxes International, a real women Dream Team who dared to face the Long Night and ended out of the race when Tove Alexandersson was disqualified precisely in this third leg.

From the sixth leg, to keep in touch with the head of the race became even more difficult for many and, in that moment, followed in the lead a very compact group of ten elements, separated by 1:12. Mattias Karlsson was giving the lead to the Halden SK, but the usual suspects - Kalevan Rasti, IFK Lidingö SOK, Vaajakosken Tera, Södertälje-Nykvarn - remained in the fight for the victory, very close to the leadership. Fabian Hertner, takes the lead to Kalevan Rasti at the end of the eighth leg with an advantage of 2:09 over the second-placed IFK Lidingö SOK, but loses the precious minutes to his opponents in the next leg. Everything will be decided on the last leg and there were “five cocks for a perch”. Fredrik Johansson (IFK Lidingö SOK), Magne Dæhli (Halden SK), Thierry Gueorgiou (Kalevan Rasti), Wojciech Kowalski (IL Tyrving) and Eskil Kinneberg (IFK Göteborg) are separated by 14 seconds. A new day was born and by the end of this long line, 17.5 km away, the laurels are waiting only one of them. Thierry Gueorgiou is the favourite and he is about to repeat the successes of 2013 and 2014. But ...

Surprise!

Fredrik Johansson leaves very fast, moves away from the group. But then he makes a mistake, yet another mistake and quickly realizes he's out of the race. The next to fall will be Kowalski: facing the small loop alone, while Dæhli, Gueorgiou and Kinneberg have the same combinatorial and go together. The rest of the race will be a game of cat and mouse with the Norwegians to slow down towards the limit and to force Thierry Gueorgiou to pay the costs of the race. Everything ends up decided in a Sprint, with the King losing the parade to his two direct opponents. Eskil Kinneberg takes his bet until the end, beating Magne Dæhli for three seconds. The IFK Göteborg write, for the first time, its name in the Tiomila's Book of Honour.

As for the Portuguese, there were six athletes in the race, with different results. Tiago Romão and Tiago Aires ran for the Swedish team IFK Umeå and concluded on the 59th place. Both secured key legs of their team, with Romão improving 21 places in the third leg and Aires to lead the team from the 62nd place to 59th final place with more 1:59:46 than the winner. Tiago Gingão Leal ran the first leg of the CopenhagenO team, leaving it in the 143rd position, at 8:23 to the leadership. The Danes were to finish in 118th place with a final time of 13:27:05. Diogo Miguel also ran the third leg, leaving the Köping-Kolsva OK team in 132nd place, precisely the same as when he started. Bruno Nazário concluded the 5th leg in 160th place, contributing to the 133rd final place of Köping-Kolsva OK. Finally, Carolina Delgado ran the first leg of the Danish group of CopenhagenO, passing the testimony in the 159th place. Anita Sørensen made the team to fall sixty positions in the second leg and Camilla Larsen was disqualified in the third leg.

Results

Men

1. IFK Göteborg 10:13:50

2. Halden SK 10:13:53 (+ 00:03)

3. Kalevan Rasti 10:14:02 (+ 00:12)

4. IFK Lidingö SOK 10:15:54 (+ 02:04)

5. Södertälje-Nykvarn 10:16:25 (+ 02:35)

Women

1. Domnarvets GoIF 3:57:09

2. Järla Orientering 3:57:48 (+ 00:39)

3. Stora Tuna OK 3:59:42 (+ 02:33)

4. Paimion Rasti 3:59:48 (+ 02:39)

5. Kalevan Rasti 4:00:19 (+ 03:10)

Young

1. Nydalens SK 1:57:52

2. Konnerud IL 2:04:17 (+ 06:25)

3. Turun Suunnistajat 2:04:33 (+ 06:41)

4. Fossum IF 2:04:38 (+ 06:46)

5. Södertälje-Nykvarn 2:04:49 (+ 06:57)

Please find the complete results and much more at http://www.10mila.se/index.php/en/.

[Photo: Jan Kocbach / worldofo.com]

Joaquim Margarido

10Mila 2014: Victory for Kalevan Rasti in Men's Relay

It is usual, in Portugal, to say that “first maize is for the sparrows”. And it was so, once again, in the men's competition of 10Mila's 70th edition, that called to Eksjö over than three hundred teams of ten athletes each. With the first seven legs to meet six different leaders, only at the final part of the Realy began to draw the victory of the Finnish team Kalevan Rasti.

After the Women's Relay, the 10Mila 2014 focused its attention on the male course, preparing for “the longest night”. Three hundred and eighteen teams of ten men each lined up at the start, with the favouritism to fall, by far, on the winners of four of the last five editions, the Finnish team of Kalevan Rasti. Afetr the start, the inaugural leg saw Antonio Martínez Pérez (IK Vista / Eksjö SOK 2) deliver the testimony in the first position, an historic achievement for the Spanish Orienteering and a fair prize to the work and effort of the great athlete. Julian Dent (IFK Lidingö SOK) and Wojciech Dwojak (IL Tyrving) stepped forward slightly on the second round, but in the next leg all the pretenders to the victory were again reorganized, with the first thirty-seven teams separate by “skinny” 47 seconds. With slight changes, the group remained relatively compact until the beginning of the sixth course, when the teams began to play their major trumps with the fall of the night.

At the end of the sixth leg, were eighteen in number the teams that followed in the front of the race, separated from each other by 1:07. With the teams of Halden SK and Kristiansand OK out of this group, the suspicions of a comfortable victory for the Finnish team of Kalevan Rasti swelled up. Suspicions that would be strengthened further when, in the eighth leg, the Finns played a major move, putting in evidence his “Chef de File”, Thierry Gueorgiou. With the best time, the great French athlete puts Kalevan Rasti in the leadership, launching Fabian Hertner for the penultimate track with a lead of 1:28 over Eric Börjeskog, of the Swedish team Södertälje - Nykvarn OF, and 2:01 over Fredrik Johansson, from the also Swedish team of IFK Lidingö SOK. The truth is that the things went not so well to Hertner and, in the end of the second longest route of this 10Mila edition (15,6 km), the Swiss delivered the testimony alongside with Johansson, the bronze medalist in the Long Distance final of the recent European Orienteering Championships, held in Palmela.


Prochazka made the difference

With the third team at distant 4:55 to the leadership, the Czech Jan Prochazka and the Finnish Mårten Boström faced in the decisive leg. This Boström, however, is far from the Boström who won emphatically the Sprint world title in Vuokatti, last Summer, while Prochazka is decisively stronger at the moment - he demonstrated it in Palmela, having been 4th place in the Long Distance Final and arriving, along with the Czech Republic team, to the silver medal in the Relay. So it was no surprise when we saw Prochazka to keep away Boström since the first meters, ensuring an advantage at the end of 1:51 and thus offering a much celebrated victory to the “Rossoneri” of the Kalevan Rasti. In the third position, at distant 7:11 of the winners, were classified the Swedes of Södertälje-Nykvarn OF, with Ralph Street in the last leg.

This edition of 10Mila still had the presence of three Portuguese athletes who, on the whole, had meritorious performances. At the service of the Swedish IFK Umeå, Tiago Romão ran the sixth leg, receiving the testimony from Oskar Malmberg at the 75th position to deliver in the end in the 73rd place. In the end the change was not significant and the Swedish team finished in the 75th place, at 2:35:19 of the winners. Luis Silva assured the penultimate leg of the Swedish group of MS Parma, coming in the 90th position and falling eight places until the end. Eero Jalli, his teammate, was much worse, finishing on the 119th place, with more 3:13:45 than the winners. Finally, Tiago Leal, on behalf of the Danish CopenhagenO team, also ran the 9th leg, exiting at the 175th position and improving four places in the end. The CopenhagenO, however, would in the end fall to the 188th place with more 3:25:03 than Kalevan Rasti, after a final leg less well done by Anders Bachhausen.

Results

1. Kalevan Rasti 11:12:13

2. IFK Lidingö SOK 11:14:04 (+ 1:51)

3. Södertälje-Nykvarn OF 11:19:24 (+ 7:11)

4. IFK Moras OK 11:21:23 (+ 9:10)

5. Vaajakosken Terä 11:23:53 (+ 11:40)

6. IFK Göteborg 11:24:55 (+ 12:42)

7. Hiidenkiertäjät 11:25:19 (+ 13:06)

8. OK Denseln 11:25:19 (+ 13:16)

9. OK Linné 11:26:43 (+ 14:30)

10. Järla Orientering 11:26:46 (+ 14:33)

Everything to know at http://www.10mila.se/

[Photo: kestävyysurheilu.fi/]

Joaquim Margarido

10Mila 2014: Pan Århus win women's Relay and make history

One of the orienteering highlights in the Spring, 10Mila celebrated 69 years of existence. Involving more than three hundred teams, the women's race saw the Pan Århus make history, leading to Denmark's first victory ever in this “classic”.

The Danish team of the Pan Århus made history again. After the victory in Venla 2013, Ita Klingenberg, Signe Søes, Maja Alm, Ida Bobach and Miri Thrane Ödum jumped once again into the spotlight, winning emphatically the 10Mila 2014. A historic result, because this was the first victory ever of a Danish team in 70 editions of the 10Mila.

Without one of the usual elements, Emma Klingenberg, it was the junior Miri Thrane Ödum who take the first leg, which made not really safely, passing the testimony in the 43th position with a disadvantage of 4:15 to the front group. The recovery began early, in the second leg, with Ita Klingenberg climbing 35 places and putting the Danish at 2:12 to the leadership, at the moment held by Sweden's IFK Lidingö SOK. It was then the turn of Ida Bobach do an equally brilliant race, coming forward and sharing now the lead, apart from IFK Lidingö SOK, also with the Swedish IFK Mora. The big moment arrived with the incredible performance of Maja Alm in the fourth leg, to leave behind her all the competitors and launch Signe Söes for the last lap with a lead of 4:09.

Having behind her the greatest names of the moment - Simone Niggli, Judith Wyder, Annika Billstam, Mari Fasting, Tove Alexandersson, Helena Jansson and Anastasia Tikhonova were just some of the big names “reserved” for their teams to run the decisive leg - the European Champion of Middle Distance knew to manage properly the lead, reaching the victory with the total time of 3:58:24 and a 4:06 advantage over Goteborg Göteborg OK and 4:17 over OK Tisaren, respectively second and third ranked.

Results

1. OK Pan Århus 3:58:24

2. Göteborg-Majorna OK 4:02:30 (+ 4:06)

3. OK Tisaren 4:02:41 (+ 4:17)

4. Järla Orientering 4:02:56 (+ 4:32)

5. SK Pohjantähti 4:03:12 (+ 4:48)

6. OK Linné 4:04:30 (+ 6:06)

7. IFK Lidingö SOK 4:05:19 (+ 6:55)

8. Halden SK 4:05:33 (+ 7:09)

9. Hidenkiertäjät 4:05:49 (+ 7:25)

10. MS Parma 4:05:53 (+ 7:29)

Everything to know at http://www.10mila.se/

[Foto: Jan Kocbach / worldofo.com]

Joaquim Margarido