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

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

Bosse Sandström: "Fair play is very important in our sport"

It's been over seven months, but for Bosse Sandström it looks like it was still yesterday. Main figure of the 2016 World Trail Orienteering Championships, he was the course setter of four great days of the best and most challenging Orienteering. This is part of the memories he shares today to the Portuguese Orienteering Blog. But there's more!

I would start by asking you to introduce yourself. Who is Bosse Sandström?

Bosse Sandtröm (B. S.) - I'm 56 years old, born, raised and live near Lysekil, on the west coast of Sweden. I work in a metallurgic factory and as a firefighter. I'm divorced and I have four sons. My hobbies are orienteering, photography and travelling, and to be able to combine all of my hobbies at once is really nice.

You were the course setter of the last World Trail Orienteering Championships, held in Strömstad, Sweden. What came to mind when you first received the invitation to play such an important role? How hard was it to say yes?

B. S. - I didn't hesitate one second. I saw it as an honour to be able to play such an important role.

What was the most difficult part of the course planner's job?

B. S. - I was the sole course planner and, to be honest, it was a little bit too much responsibility and it felt like a great pressure on my shoulders. But I had good help from my staff, especially Knut Ovesen, who volunteered as my mentor.

If you had the chance to go back, would you do anything differently?

B. S. - I probably wouldn't have been course planner for all competitions, because the last year before WTOC I felt as though I had three jobs. Every free weekend was dedicated to planning and I also took some days off work to be able to do a good job with the courses. On the other hand, I must admit I'm a little bit of a control freak, so I would probably have nosed in their work anyway… (laughs). Seriously, I am very happy with my work, and to be able to present the venues, Saltö and Tolvmanstegen, was very satisfying. And with the TempO competition, I deliberately made the controls easier than previous WTOCs, to speed up the answering time, making competitors make mistakes when I made some controls a little bit trickier. As I understand, the competitors appreciated that.

Could you mention one or two of the strongest moments of the Championships from the course planner´s point of view?

B. S. - Some words from Jana Kostova moved me. She said, after the competition at Saltö, “On this course I did not feel I had any disadvantage, sitting in a wheelchair”.

Is there any organizational issue in a TrailO competition which always runs on the edge of a knife, that's quite easy to escape your control?

B. S. - It's very important to bring a chair when you plan controls, to get the view of wheelchair users, and avoid any disadvantages for them. Fair play is very important in our sport. It's better to void a nice control if it's not solvable for wheelchair users.

You've been part of the strong start field in Lipica, a few days ago, for the Unofficial European Cup in Trail Orienteering 2017's kick off. How “free” did you feel there, without WTOC's concerns?

B. S. - As soon as WTOC was over, I put it behind me, so I could enjoy every competition after that very much. And since the trip to Lipica was a small vacation for me, I appreciated the Vilenica cave and I also took a trip to Venice.

Are you happy with your performance at Lipica TrailO? Did you like the courses and the maps?

B. S. - Both yes and no. I know I'm a little bit slow in TempO and, as I didn't compete so much in 2016 (for obvious reasons), I was a little bit rusty. But only three wrong answers and placing 25th was a little surprise. But four wrong answers on the PreO competition on Sunday was at least two too many. The maps and courses were of good quality, but courses were tricky, in a good way.

How beautiful can Trail Orienteering be?

B. S. - TrailO is a relatively small sport, and, if you compete a lot, you get a lot of friends from different countries, which is very nice. And to be able to solve a tricky course and not fall into the course planner's pitfalls is a very good feeling. Too bad this does not happen too often for me.

Is Trail Orienteering going in the right direction? If you had the power, would you change anything?

B. S. - Yes, I think so. The maps are getting better, and we had, at least in Sweden, in recent years many education possibilities for course planners, so there will also be better courses. And the new Relay format is a good continuation for TrailO.

Would you like to share your goals for the season?

B. S. - As I'll compete more in 2017 than I did in 2016, I hope to climb up the Swedish rankings. I also plan to compete in all ECTO competitions this year. I am also planning for our district's Championships in June, using one of the WTOC venues. And since I'm allowed to be coach again for the Swedish national team - despite the fact that Swedes didn't take any medals in Croatia, where I was coach, and last year when I wasn't able to be coach, Sweden took six gold, three silver and two bronze, in ETOC and WTOC -, I will try to lead my team to more medals.

Do you have any tips or advice to the WTOC 2017 Lithuanian organizers?

B. S. - I'm sure that they have everything under control by now, only four months before competition, but one thing I experienced was how good it is to have fine relationships with landowners. The attendant of reservation on Saltö was very helpful both before and during competition.

If, hypothetically, your Federation invited you to be the course planner of the next Swedish European or World Trail Orienteering Championships, would you accept?

B. S. - No, and for two reasons. It was a little bit too much work, and since my district federation is small, I feel we can’t summon marshals once again for such a big competition.

Joaquim Margarido

Athlete of the Year 2016: Tove Alexandersson

2016 was the peak of Tove Alexandersson’s orienteering career so far, which before this season was packed with merits, yet no gold medal at a World or European Championships (WOC, EOC). She crushed that history, becoming both World Champion and European Champion in Long and Middle distance. In addition, she spent the winter winning the World Cup in SkiO overall and two gold medals in the European SkiO Championships.

100 metres before the finish line a silent smile appears on Tove Alexandersson’s face. Listening to the speaker’s words and the crowd of Swedish spectators cheering her, she realises she is on her way to fulfil the goal, the dream, for 2016. Becoming World Champion in both Middle and Long.

The moment she realised she had won the World Championship in the Long distance just two days after the victory in the Middle, is the moment that stands out the most for Tove Alexandersson, looking back at 2016. Winning a World Championship is obviously something special, even though

it might be hard to pick out one moment with two gold medals at the European SkiO Championships, two golds in EOC, the two victories at WOC and overall World Cup victories in both FootO and SkiO all in one season.

But not for Tove. She had many goals during the season, but they all led up to the World Championships on Swedish home ground in Str.mstad-Tanum. She put asphalt running to one side, and moved to Halden for six months to get access to as similar terrain as possible. All with one

thing in mind:

– I really wanted to win, she says very earnestly, in a voice that tells everything about the many times she previously had started at a WOC race as favourite, but at best made it into second.

The season starts on ski

As one of very few athletes, 24-year-old Tove Alexandersson competes on top level in both FootO and SkiO. In SkiO, she is five times World Champion and four times European Champion. The prestigious overall World Cup, which only takes place every second year, was missing though. Tove’s winning instinct was not satisfied with that, and now that the SkiO and FootO did not overlap as in previous years, 2016 would be the year for an overall SkiO world cup victory:

– The two previous times I have finished second overall in the world cup, close behind the winner. So I was craving for the win this time, Tove says.

The plan was simple. With three World Cup rounds, the last one also being the European SkiO Championships, it was all about doing stable races in all nine competitions. And that she did, finishing outside the top three only once and winning five times. However, it was no walk over:

– It was a very tough competition against Mariya Kechkina from Russia. She achieved top results at all events and so I had to perform well at every competition, Tove says.

The battle turned out in favour of Tove, who achieved her goal for the SkiO season in the form of the overall World Cup victory, 20 points ahead of Mariya Kechkina. In addition, the European SkiO Championships led to medals in all five distances: gold in Sprint and Relay, silver in Middle, and bronze in Long and Sprint relay.

– Satisfying, as Tove describes the results.

A sign of what it could lead to

Just after the European SkiO Championships were over, Tove’s focus went immediately from skiing to running. Two races were in her sights and nothing less than victory would count. The WOC Middle and the Long distance on home ground in Sweden:

– I dreamed about gold on Long and Middle before the season began. This year I really had the belief it would come true. I knew I had the capacity, Tove says.

To reach her big goal she took some drastic decisions. She decided to skip the Sprint races at WOC, and six months before the championships she moved to Halden in Norway to train in as relevant forest terrain as possible.

Two months after her overall victory in the SkiO World Cup, the FootO one started in Poland. Three weeks later this was followed by EOC in the Czech Republic. At the EOC Long distance, she got a feeling for what the orienteering season could lead to:

– Standing at the starting line at EOC Long distance, I felt stronger than I had for many years. I was fresh and injury free. I had a fantastic feeling and it was amazing to win, Tove says about her first gold medal at EOC.

Only three days later, her good shape continued, crushing the opponents at the EOC Middle distance with a two-minute win. In the months between EOC and WOC, Tove continued her good training flow and used O-Ringen as a last test before WOC:

– After EOC, I could train just as I wanted to. I ran O-Ringen to adjust the last technical details. My orienteering technique proved to be brilliant, which boosted my confidence before WOC. Looking at the results, it also went pretty well, Tove says with a laugh about her superior victory in the Swedish five-day event.

Mission completed – two times gold

Only victory counts when Tove Alexandersson starts a race and to achieve that, preparation is essential to her. Therefore, watching the WOC Sprint races from the TV did not make her hungry to run them. She knew she was not prepared to run those races.

On the other hand, she was as prepared as anyone could be for the WOC Middle distance:

– I had planned to avoid pushing too hard at the beginning because I was in such good shape. But I did exactly what I had planned not to do, and went off at really high speed. I managed to keep up the high speed without any big mistakes, but only because I had got so used to the terrain in my preparations, she says.

Even though Tove did not stick exactly to her plan, she could happily make the classic Scandinavian roll at the finish line after “the toughest Middle distance I have ever done”. And at last; her fourth medal at a WOC Middle was the kind Tove likes the most. Gold.

Two days later, the challenge was different but the goal the same. There was even a little more at stake:

– Before WOC, I considered Middle and Long to be of the same value, but during the championships I became aware that the Long distance meant the most to me.

The Long distance started with a short leg to the first control followed by a 3-kilometre leg:

– I lost some time going straight on the long leg. I saw the option to go around to the right but considered it way too far. The next part of the course went without error. At the spectator control I heard the speaker saying I was three seconds behind. I did not hear who I was behind, just that victory was within reach. It was a very special situation knowing I was so close to fulfilling my dream!

And then we are back to the highlight of the year:

– I am so proud that I could keep my concentration after the spectator control. It was a fantastic moment to run over the finish line knowing I was World Champion in both Middle and Long, she says with a big smile.

Training by herself together with others

It requires a lot of mental strength to continue from the spectator control with the knowledge that only three seconds separate you from victory. Tove proved she possesses that strength, which was founded in her junior years:

– When I was in the Swedish junior national team, the coach Anneli Östberg meant a lot for my progress. She gave me the basis of how to handle stress and nervousness during events, which has helped me perform at big competitions.

As for the physical and technical part, Tove takes care of her training all by herself:

– I have never had a physical or technical trainer. Since I was little, I have always been interested in and reflected on training. I am the one that knows me and my body the best.

It does not mean she does all her training alone. For instance, she mentions her training group for the past five years in Falun as important to her. But no-one dictates when and what to train. She is aware that she can improve with the help of others and is looking forward to next autumn, when the French legend Thierry Gueorgiou will become the o-technical coach for the Swedish national team.

A runner in the same category as Gueorgiou who has inspired Tove is the Swiss icon Simone Niggli-Luder:

– She has been the biggest inspiration to me. She was complete as an orienteer. I am happy that I had some years competing against her and saw her in action.

Attention and acknowledgement

In the last two years, Tove has had convincing overall victories in the FootO world cup. Even though the long 2016 season had begun to take its toll, Tove managed to secure her third win in a row in the last world cup round in Switzerland.

Her success is not only being noticed within the orienteering community. The media attention at the World Championships on home ground and nominations for several sport prizes in Sweden have made her name one which most Swedes have heard. The limelight does not blind her:

– Of course it is an acknowledgement of my achievements to get these nominations, but the publicity for the sport of orienteering that comes from it means just as much to me. I really do not need that much attention, Tove says with a laugh.

But she cannot run away from the attention as the big star of Swedish orienteering. People have expectations of her winning every time she starts a race, but the biggest pressure comes from herself.

A winner’s instinct that cannot be satisfied

No wonder Tove describes 2016 as the best season in her career so far. Though it does have moments she would change if she could:

– At the EOC relay I went out in second position on the last leg and if I had not run to the wrong control at one point, we [the Swedish relay team] would have had victory within reach. I really fret about that, she says.

The mistake at the EOC relay touches a sore point for Tove Alexandersson, still missing victories in relays as part of the Swedish team. For her Swedish club, Stora Tuna OK, she has won the Swedish relay championships, but both the big relays Jukola and Tiomila are goals for the future.

The missing WOC relay title will not affect her preparations for next year. It is the Middle and Long distances that are in her heart. Possessing the World Champion title in both, she is considering taking up the Sprint again at WOC 2017 in Estonia.

Before thinking too much about WOC 2017, she has a SkiO season ahead during which she needs to defend two European Champion titles in Imatra, Finland, and two World Champion titles in Krasnoyarsk, Russia. As always, only one thing is on her mind. To win.

Text: Henrik Rindom Knudsen

Photo: Remy Steinegger

[See the original article at http://orienteering.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/orienteering-world-webb.pdf. Published with permission from the International Orienteering Federation]

Jens Andersson: "The good thing with TrailO is that you can enjoy this type of advanced orienteering regardless of your physical shape"

Jens Andersson won, last weekend, the Swedish Night PreO title, closing the best way a successful season. A season that is passed in review along a pleasant talk and that helps us to know a little better the athlete and the man.

I would start by asking you to present yourself? Who is Jens Andersson?

Jens Andersson (J. A.) - I was born 1966 in Degerfors, a small town in Värmland, Sweden. My dad started to do orienteering (Foot-O) in the early 1970’s, I also tried it and I was hooked immediately. My mom and little brother also joined soon and since then we have been a “hardcore orienteering family”. From the very beginning I was talented technically but I had to train hard to improve my running speed in order to have a chance on easier courses. I gradually improved and my peak as a junior was my 4th place in the Nordic Champs 1986. As a senior I managed to get some individual top-10 places in the Swedish Champs 1989-1990 and also won gold in the Swedish Relay Championships 1990 with my club OK Tyr. We also won the 10-mila Relay twice, 1989 and 1990. However, I never qualified for any international championship as a senior and when I graduated from University as a Chemical Engineer in 1991 and started to work full time it was difficult to maintain the focus and training time needed to stay in the top.

Since 1990 I am married with Carolina, also a former elite orienteer and we have a son and a daughter. After 15 years living in the small town Norrtälje, 70 km north of Stockholm, we have recently moved back to Värmland where I grew up. We have built a new house by a beautiful lake, far out in the forest. Professionally I am a sales person in an international Chemicals Distribution company, meaning quite a lot of travelling. When I am not working I relax by spending time with my family and by doing all four orienteering disciplines. I also try to keep myself in shape by doing cross-country skiing, cycling, ice-skating, swimming, triathlon etc.

How did you meet the TrailO and why your interest for such a “quiet” discipline?

J. A. - I had understood from the publicity during WOC in Sweden 2004 that TrailO was no longer only for handicapped people. So I became interested to try it since I have always been good at map-reading and interested in maps. During O-Ringen 2009 I was injured in my leg after three days so I decided to try TrailO for the remaining days. After these two days I understood that this was a discipline that suited me perfectly and I was curious to see what level I could reach.

What's the best part in TrailO?

J. A. - I love detailed and challenging orienteering, both in FootO and TrailO. However, the good thing with TrailO is that you can enjoy this type of advanced orienteering regardless of your physical shape. I also like the equality aspect of TrailO – no gender or age restrictions. In this discipline you get the chance to compete against old childhood idols like Sigurd Daehli and, at the same time, against young talented women like Marit Wiksell and Iva Lovrec.

Could you tell me something about the first steps?

J. A. - During my first year I did some really good races but there were also total disasters, mostly since I did not really understand how the correct positions on the objects corresponded with the control description. I also often punched too many Z’s in the beginning and I had to adjust my own “zero tolerance”. When I won the Elite class in O-Ringen 2010 I felt that it was a breakthrough for me. One week after that I won the Public competition in ETOC in Bollnäs which had the same controls as the “Real” championship class. My result would have given me a 4th place in the Open Class in ETOC, beating world class athletes like Kontkanen, Fredholm, Gerdtman, Jullum etc. Then I knew I could go far in this discipline.

Your results along 2016 are quite impressive. How did you prepare the season?

J. A. - I was very uncertain on my status before this season. My family’s new house project took a lot of time in 2015 so I did not compete as much as needed and it affected my position in the Swedish ranking list. Nevertheless, since I did quite well in some of my main competitions in 2015 (1st in O-Ringen, 2nd in Swedish Champs) I hoped to qualify at least for the ETOC in 2016. At that stage I had no real ambitions to qualify for WTOC in Sweden, that would just be a bonus.

Unfortunately, it became clear that also the 2016 season would mean private restrictions on the number of competitions for me. The house project continued to take a lot of time and I got a new job with more travelling than before. Somewhat disappointing, especially since I knew that I need to compete frequently to maintain a high level at the time controls. In the end I was a little bit surprised, but very glad that I managed to qualify both for ETOC and WTOC this year.

How hard is to get a place in the Swedish TrailO team?

J. A. - Extremely hard, especially in the Open class. I think we are approximately 10 athletes having the ability to make it to the podium in the Open class of any International Championship.

Did you expect the PreO bronze medal in the European Championships? What memories do you keep from the competition?

J. A. - I can’t say that I expected a medal but I knew that I had a good chance when I managed to qualify. From the bulletins I thought that the type of orienteering would suit me fine, lots of small hills, depressions and detailed form lines. I also knew that the courses would be demanding with short time limits and many controls. In my last ETOC and WTOC 2014 I was very nervous and that affected my performance in a bad way. This time I told myself that I am as good as anyone of my competitors and that I would enjoy every moment of the competitions. I actually succeeded and did not feel overly nervous at all, just the little “edge” you need to perform well.

My greatest memory from the ETOC PreO-competitions was that they were the best TrailO-competitions I have ever experienced: The competition areas were ideal and “hand-picked” exclusively for elite TrailO, the map quality was excellent and we faced fair, but demanding orienteering including the zero-controls. No “guessing”. Besides, the Sport Ident-punching, the results came directly without waiting for hours as it has been too many times before. It was also beautiful nature in the Czech mountains and I managed to get some nice running and hiking sessions during the week in Jesenik.

Are you happy with your 7th place in Strömstad, in the PreO competition?

J. A. - A 7th place in the World Championships is not bad, of course, but it was a little disappointing to be just outside the podium and also being behind all the other Swedes. However, it was entirely my own fault since I missed one of the time controls the first day.

Was the TrailO Relay a good experience?

J. A. - Yes, both in ETOC and WTOC I did really good performances myself, but unfortunately my team mates were not that lucky. I really like the Relay format, the mix of PreO and TempO. My personal opinion is that such a format could be added to the individual program as TrailO’s “middle distance” in the future.

If I asked you to choose the Trail Orienteering achievement of 2016, what would it be?

J. A. - I would say the Slovakian Relay performance in WTOC. Three perfect races, leaving all other teams without any chance at all. Really impressive!

Looking to your page on Facebook, I can see that you're also a fan of MTBO. How do you adjust your orienteering activity?

J. A. - Yes, I really enjoy doing MTBO since I love both orienteering and cycling. The special thing about MTBO is the big difference in speed depending on the track conditions and that is very difficult to read the map when the riding is rough. This means very interesting route choice problems and also the need to optimize the speed and to get the “orienteering flow” in dense path networks. It is also important to memorize as much as possible while riding on good paths/roads.

In what way can TrailO be important for the other disciplines?

J. A. - If you really want to improve as an orienteer, regardless of discipline, it is always good to train with a map in your hand and then TrailO is a good alternative, both PreO and TempO. Otherwise, I think especially ambitious Foot-O runners can improve their ability in detailed contour line orienteering by doing PreO. In addition it is also a good way of maintaining the orienteering and doing competitions even if you are injured as a foot orienteer.

Next year it will be the turn of Lithuania to host the World Trail Orienteering Championships. Are you ready to fight for a place in the Swedish team? What kind of event are you expecting?

J. A. - I really would like to qualify but unfortunately it does not look so positive for me. I am not even Top-10 in the national ranking now since I have too few good results besides ETOC and WTOC. Unfortunately, ETOC and WTOC-competitions doesn’t count in the Swedish ranking and that’s where I have my best races this year. Furthermore, I am not sure if I will have the time available to do the number of competitions needed to qualify. I’ll have to see how much travel time there will be in my new job a then see how much time that will be left for travelling to TrailO-competitions.

What are your goals for 2017?

J. A. - No specific goals for the moment, I’ll wait and see how much TrailO I’ll be able to do next year. At least I hope for a medal in the Swedish TrailO-Championships and also doing good in the Swedish MTBO masters championships. I also hope for a lot of snow this winter so I can do some SkiO also.

Are we going to see you next the TrailO family in the future?

J. A. - We'll see. You never know what the future will bring, but I'll keep on enjoying TrailO and all the other orienteering disciplines as long as I can and as long as it is fun.

Now that the season is ending, I'll ask you to make a wish to all orienteers in 2017.

J. A. - I’d like to make a wish to all TrailO-colleagues out there: Whenever you feel the urge to make a protest/complaint after a competition, please think twice! Is it really that important? Do you have a strong case? I think all these protests, arguments and jury discussions after our competitions are hurting the image of our sport as it takes hours and hours and sometimes changes the results completely. Also a message to all course setters – please, listen to experienced advisers and remove/change controls that he/she says may be questionable. Maybe a few controls less or maybe somewhat easier, but in the end it can give better competitions and save hours of jury meetings and hard feelings.

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: Sweden

We don't need too many words to highlight the brilliant performance of Sweden in the 13th World Trail Orienteering Championships. Three gold medals (out of five), one silver and one bronze give the perfect image of the Swedish power in Strömstad, in its home country. And if we remember that Martin Fredholm missed the last task of the TrailO Relay, thus losing the silver medal, and Stig Gerdtman stayed 3.5 seconds away from the bronze medal in the PreO, Open Class, then the size of the Swedish domination could have been even greater.

+ Michael Johansson, no doubt. He managed to keep cool head in the decisive stage of PreO competition, recovering the two-point disadvantage for the Russian Pavel Shmatov and reaching the gold for the second time in his career. Gold multiplied by two in the TrailO Relay, although here with a wrong answer in the PreO segment, but without impact on the final result.

- It's hard not to elect Lennart Wahlgren as the weakest link of the the Swedish team. His 14t place in the TempO competition is quite far from what he's able to do.

Results

TempO

Qual Blue

5. Marit Wiksell 209 seconds

15. Erik Stålnacke 308,5 seconds

Qual Red

3. Martin Fredholm 169 seconds

4. Lennart Wahlgren 210 seconds

Final

2. Marit Wiksell 256,5 seconds

10. Martin Fredholm 321 seconds

11. Erik Stålnacke 340,5 seconds

14. Lennart Wahlgren 353 seconds

PreO

Open

1. Martin Fredholm 48 points / 40,5 seconds

4. Stig Gerdtman 47 points / 47,5 seconds

5. Marit Wiksell 47 points / 91 seconds

7. Jens Andersson 47 points / 118,5 seconds

Para

1. Michael Johansson 46 points / 74,5 seconds

3. Ola Jansson 45 points / 44,5 seconds

7. Inga Gunnarsson 41 points / 136,5 seconds

17. Rolf Karlsson 37 points / 196 seconds

TrailO Relay

Open

4. Sweden 221,5 seconds

Marit Wiksell (6 points / 35,5 seconds)

Jens Andersson (7 points / 47,5 seconds)

Martin Fredholm (7 points / 78,5 seconds)

Para

1. Sweden 334,5 seconds

Inga Gunnarsson (7 points / 149 seconds)

Ola Jansson (7 points / 63 seconds)

Michael Johansson (6 points / 62,5 seconds)

Joaquim Margarido

Jorge Valente: "If Portugal can, why can’t we?"

TrailO, a challenging and vibrant Orienteering discipline, continues to add new and young athletes to its ‘cause’. In Strömstad, Sweden, we met 16 years old Jorge Valente, a natural born talent and a potential winner. He tells us about an outstanding experience and his motivation to continue to improve.

I would start by asking you who is Jorge Valente?

Jorge Valente (J. V.) - I was born in Madrid, Spain, on the 11th September 1999. After 17 years, I still live here, in a town near Madrid. Right now I’m finishing my last course before entering the University, yet I’m not 100% sure about what am I going to study there, although it will probably be either physics or mathematics (or even both at the same time!). I like playing computer games, basketball, hanging out with my friends, and of course, doing both foot orienteering and trail orienteering.

I can imagine that your connection to orienteering has a lot to do with your family, particularly with your father. Am I right? Would you like to tell about how everything starts?

J. V. - Certainly, I started doing orienteering since I can remember. I went to races with my family for a long time until my mother and sister stopped, six or seven years ago. Since then it has been mostly my father and I. For my dad it all started before I was born. My uncle was a P.E. teacher and knew about the sport and participated in some races. This is how my dad knew orienteering, and since then he hasn’t stopped going to races.

And what about trail orienteering? Was it a matter of curiosity?

J. V. - As it couldn’t be otherwise, it was with my dad that I discovered the trail orienteering. He told me about this new orienteering discipline and I decided to give it a try.

What memories do you keep from the first experience? What happened than? Don't you ever thought in giving up?

J. V. - The first one was in Italy, during the World Masters Orienteering Championships, in 2013, and it was quite a disaster. At the first control, just after receiving the map and the control card, I stepped off the path and ran straight to the kites, just as if it was a foot-o event. I got very surprised when I was told that I wasn't allowed to do that. “How am I going to solve it then?”. Since then, I started learning with each event. First I had a lot of mistakes because of not paying enough attention to the kites' position... but, anyway, I never thought of giving up. It was fun.

When do you “weigh” the foot orienteering and the trail orienteering, which is the heaviest? Why?

J. V. - I have to outweigh foot-O over trail-O, since I've been in foot-o for nearly 14 years and in trail-o around 2. What I like the most in foot-o is that it’s quite easy for you to see why didn’t you win and what you have to do to make it better (maybe run faster, take better decisions, improve your map reading…), while in trail-o you might have three mistakes and fall down completely in the standings, but you still don’t understand why did you fail those controls or, more importantly, what should you do in order do not fail again those kind of controls.

You headed Strömstad with just a couple of races, both in Spain and Portugal. How did you receive the invitation to represent Spain?

J. V. - In Spain there is just one national trail-o event each year, and it’s during the National Championships. Due to the high costs of the participation in the WTOC, there are not enough people to make a full process of selection. As I had good results in the Spanish competitions, I talked to the Spanish coach showing my interest of going to the WTOC and he decided to select me. I felt like it would be an interesting experience to be in a World Championships, and it would also make me to improve a lot in trail-o.

What goals did you set to the first experience at the highest level? Were the results as you expected?

J. V. - My goal wasn’t really the result but the event itself. I wanted to perform well overall, never mind how I ended up in the standings. On the TempO I would maybe have expected something better, but on the PreO my expectations were a little worse than I actually ended up doing.

How was your week in Strömstad? Being quite young, how did you feel in the middle of a crowd of “old chaps”?

J. V. - I think I never felt uncomfortable with the situation there. Maybe sometimes a little bit shy and nervous for being in a WTOC with such good competitors, but, after all, we were all the same, TrailO competitors, whatever our age or physical condition. The atmosphere was much calmer than I had expected. It’s a place with much more focus and quietness than what you find in a foot-o event, where there is noise everywhere and you are moving around the arena.

How do you evaluate the WTOC 2016 overall? Would you like to point the best and the worst?

J. V. - Overall I think it was an amazing Championship. The best part was the online results' system, which allowed to live the competition much closer to reality than before. This was especially outlined during the TrailO Relay, where you could see with your eyes the development of the event that decided the final results. About the negative aspects, I can’t come up with anything really bad. Maybe the timetable, quite heavy, making it hard to do other things while there. It might have been a good idea to change earlier the team officials meeting, so that your afternoon was a bit calmer.

I have a particular question for you: How did you live the TrailO Relay's final moments, particularly when your father was doing the TempO station?

J. V. - My dad and I were on the 3rd leg for our respective countries, and we were together in the quarantine when Libor [Forst, the SEA] announced the starting order for the final TempO station. I was a bit disappointed with the position for Spain, but this feeling disappeared when more and more countries were mentioned but not Portugal. Fourth position! That already was an incredible result. But then, after completing my own TempO tasks, I found out that Portugal was actually third and only a fraction behind Sweden! When my dad headed to the station I was really nervous, and when he nailed it I was overcome with joy. It was incredible!

Do you consider the Portuguese silver medal as the big achievement of the Championships or there are other moments that you would elect as the best?

J. V. - It was, undoubtedly, the greatest moment of the WTOC.

Did you agree with me if I told you that this medal is a little bit of Spain too?

J. V. - I completely agree. This medal for Portugal means that TrailO will grow a lot there; there will be more people interested, more money to invest on new events and training, and so on. And this will also bump up TrailO in Spain because of how close we are to each other. If Portugal can, why can’t we? With improvements in quality and quantity in Portuguese TrailO, Spanish TrailO will learn faster and we can probably put on more and better Pre-O and Temp-O events in Spain

Is part of your goals for the next year a presence in Lithuania?

J. V. - Yes. Before coming to the WTOC 2016 I wasn’t really into TrailO, but now I’m much more motivated for the next TrailO events and I'm already looking forward to Lithuania next year.

Are we going to see you part of the trail-o family for a long time?

J. V. - As long as there are events in Spain and Portugal.

Joaquim Margarido