POM 2014: Maps

Portugal O' Meeting 2014 (Gouveia)

Intermediate Distance, Vila Nova de Tázem (Day 1)

Middle Distance, Arcozelo da Serra (Day 2)

Middle Distance WRE, Arcozelo da Serra (Day 3)

Long Distance, Arcozelo da Serra (Day 4)

Sprint, Gouveia (Day 1)

Saudações orientistas.

Joaquim Margarido

POM 2014: Thierry Gueorgiou and Simone Niggli, the big winners

With almost 1700 participants, the Portugal O' Meeting 2014 is over. On the only Long Distance course of the event, Simone Niggli and Thierry Gueorgiou were the first to start... and the first to finish!

The19th edition of the Portugal O 'Meeting, the most important event of the national regular calendar of Foot orienteering, came to the end. The organization - of the CPOC – Clube Português de Orientação e Corrida and the Municipality of Gouveia – offered to the last day aLong Distance course, revisiting some of the most emblematic points of the previous days, in a perfect blend of technical complexity and physical capability.

The “chasing start” saw the leaders in Men Super Elite class and Women Elite class - respectively Thierry Gueorgiou (Kalevan Rasti) and Simone Niggli (OK Tisaren) - with comfortable advantages, such that only a cataclysm could dictate a reversal in the final standings. And it is true that the cataclysms happen - Simone Niggli is the perfect example, only 8th ranked in the previous stage -, it didn't happen in today's stage and both runners were even faster, increasing their advantages against the concurrence.

“A very positive test”

In Men Super Elite class, Thierry Gueorgiou was the only athlete to run down one hour and twenty minutes, concluding the 13.9 km of his course in 1:19:47. The second position today was to the Swiss Andreas Rüedlinger (Leksands OK), 2:21 behind Gueorgiou, while the third place went to the Czech Jan Petrzela (OK Kare), with the time of 1:22:12. With this results, Thierry Gueorgiou confirmed the lead and won the Portugal O' Meeting for the fourth time (third consecutive). But it was possible to watch true “flip-flaps” in the classification, from the sensational rise of Andreas Rüedlinger from the 17th place to the 6th place in the end, to the “tumble” of the Swede Oskar Sjöberg (OK Linné), from the 4th position to a place outside the top-10.

In the end, Thierry Gueorgiou was very satisfied with his victory, “even though that the start field of the competition wasn't stronger than previous editions.” For the multi-champion French, “the set of four races of the Portugal O' Meeting ended up for being a very positive test for the following moments, showing that I made very few mistakes and I'm in a good shape. Talking about this last course, Thierry said: “It was what I was waiting for, a mixture of all the terrains of the preceding stages, which became very interesting with the more technical parts of the second and third days and many options at the longest legs.” For the moment, the balance “is very positive”, but “we are facing the European Championship and there are still many things to improve. From now on, is to work even harder, still get much training volume and I hope that all this work can be rewarded”, he concluded.

“Technical demanding terrain”

Eighth placed at the end of the first stage, Jan Prochazka managed to rising steadily on the overall table, reaching the final second position. It's something that the athlete comments this way:

“After the first course I was quite surprised with my result, but the young Swedish guys started really strong, having doing a good job. I wasn't so much in front of the results since the beginning, but after the two Middle Distances I got a clear second position and I said to myself that I could keep it.”

Asked about the best of the four stages, Jan elects the second one, “nicer that the third stage, even if I stayed scared because of the problems with the readability of the map” and talk about this another experience in Portugal: “When I ran the Model Event, I didn't expect too much, but in the end it was quite technical demanding terrain and I enjoyed it a lot. Last weekend, at the Mediterranean Championships, I felt like I had lost some speed, but the three first stages at POM saying that my speed is getting better and better. I 'll work on it during the next month and I hope to be ready to run fast in the European Championships, which I think it would be very important.”

Lisa Risby, surprisingly (or not)

In the Women Elite class, Simone Niggli (OK Tisaren) was again in focus, making a great course in the time of 1:14:46 to 10,5 km of distance. The Swedish Annika Billstam (OK Linné) achieved the second fastest time, spending more one minute and a half to the winner, while the third placed was the Finnish Riina Kuuselo (Tampereen Pyrintö), redeeming from the less successful results in the previous stages and ending 2:11 behind the winner. Overall the four stages, Simone Niggli was the winner, what happens for the fifth consecutive time and the sixth time in general (the athlete won her first POM at the beginning of her brilliant career, in 2002).

Winner yesterday of the Middle Distance WRE course, Maria Magnusson ( Sävedalens AIK ) knew how to keep the second position, finishing with a little more than ten minutes from the winner overall. The Junior World Champion of Long Distance and Vice World Champion of Middle Distance, the very young Swedish Lisa Risby (OK Kare) also deserves the title of star of this edition of the Portugal O 'Meeting, climbing five places in the final stage and getting an honourable third position. Second placed at POM 2013, the Swedish Annika Billstam was sensational in this last stage, finnishing in the fourth final position. On the other hand was the Swedish Kristin Lofgren (Varegg), third in the start to the last stage and finally beated to the hardness of the course, falling to the 9th final position.

“Always worth to coming to the Portugal O' Meeting”

Like Thierry Gueorgiou, also Simone Niggli expressed her satisfaction in the end of the event: “Of course, I'm very happy and glad with this overall victory and I think that I did three good races and one very bad. Otherwise, I was stable all the week and at the weekend, and it was another nice experience in a very surprising and demanding terrains, so always worth to coming to the Portugal O' Meeting.” Retreating twenty-four hours, Simone also takes a brief look at the “very bad” course: “The problem was just not read carefully enough the map. I should have done it very slowly and read every stone on the map. The terrain was something unexpected and I didn't react on the right way, but things happen and I'm happy because I did a good race again today.”

How did the athlete react when looking at the map and realize that she would revisit, in the last part of the course, the yesterday's terrains, that is the next question. The athlete gives a laugh and answers: “Yes, when I saw it I was a bit... how to say... I didn't fear it but it came to my mind and I wanted to do it better. I think it was a very fair course and even though it was a 1:15000 map scale, you're able to read the map and the controls were right settled, so you could really find them without being a matter of luck. Perhaps I did my best race today, no big mistakes and... yeah, I'm very happy.” Are we going to see you continue to win the Portugal O' Meeting in the next five years? (laughs) “We'll see. I think that my shape will be worse and worse every year, but I have a lot of expeience and I hope to come back again in the next years.”

“This is what I love!”

For Maria Magnusson, to run to the victory meant to recover from an advantage of 6:05 to Simone Niggli. Impossible task? The athlete answers: “My focus was never on Simone, actually. I just focused on trying to do a good course. I felt my body very tired, but I was really full focused on the two Middle Distances and I was mentally very tired too. I didn't really big mistakes, I took it quite easy but I'm still happy. It wasn't my best course, but still a controlled course.”

To choose one of four stages is really easy: “Yesterday, of course (laughs). But I liked the second stage as well. I think it were really good Middle Distances, technically demanding, a top game. Every Middle Distances should be like these, and I really hope that orienteering keep on being technically demanding because I'm a little bit worried about the future. I can see more and more Sprint competitions, more and more easy running.” To compete at the Portugal O' Meeting wasn't in Maria's plans since the beginning: “My first plans were Slovenia, but since the test races for the European Championships were here, I went here instead. I expected a technical training camp, so this was, actually, much better than I expected. The competitions were so technical and so good, it was really nice. If it's up here again I'll surely return. This is what I love!”

Overall Results

Men Super Elite

1. Thierry Gueorgiou (Kalevan Rasti) 3:16:26

2. Jan Prochazka (Kalevan Rasti) 3:33:26 (+17:00)

3. Hannu Airila (Kalevan Rasti) 3:35:31 (+19:05)

4. Olli-Markus Taivanen (Pellon Ponsi) 3:39:45 (+23:19)

5. Jakob Lööf (MOKS) 3:41:14 (+24:48)

6. Andreas Rüedlinger (Leksands OK) 3:41:36 (+25:10)

7. Jan Petrzela (OK Kare) 3:41:54 (+25:28)

8. Andreu Blanes (Colivenc) 3:42:59 (+26:33)

9. Rassmus Andersson (OK Linné) 3:43:44 (+27:18)

10. Lauri Sild (Hiidenkiertäjät) 3:48:58 (+32:32)

Women Elite

1. Simone Niggli (OK Tisaren) 3:25:58

2. Maria Magnusson (Sävedalens AIK) 3:36:15 (+10:17)

3. Lisa Risby (OK Kare) 3:43:45 (+17:47)

4. Annika Billstam (OK Linné) 3:43:55 (+17:57)

5. Karoliina Sundberg (Lynx) 3:43:57 (+17:59)

6. Ulrika Uotila (Koovee) 3:44:12 (+18:14)

7. Outi Ojanen (Kangasala SK) 3:44:17 (+18:19)

8. Riina Kuuselo (Tampereen Pyrintö) 3:44:36 (+18:38)

9. Kristin Lofgren (Varegg) 3:51:57 (+25:59)

10. Anna Nähri (IFK Göteborg) 3:54:48 (+28:50)

All the information at http://www.pom.pt/en/

Joaquim Margarido

[Patrocinado por Orievents e Câmara Municipal de Gouveia]

POM 2014: Maria's Day!

On a day where the sun, although lightly, visited Gouveia and the Portugal O 'Meeting 2014, Maria Magnusson was the brightest star of the third stage of the event, interrupting a blistering series of triumphs of Simone Niggli. As for the Men Super Elite, here there were no surprises and Thierry Gueorgiou continues to be the “man of the moment”.

Arcozelo da Serra returned to live a lively and different day with the third stage of the Portugal O' Meeting 2014. Organized by CPOC – Clube Português de Orientação e Corrida and the Municipality of Gouveia, the event has put the bulk of attention on today's stage, a Middle Distance counting for the IOF's World Ranking. And what a course! At one of the most technical terrains that we ever have seen in Portugal, many were those who lost their chances in the very early part of the course.

This was not the case of Thierry Gueorgiou (Kalevan Rasti), winning with a time of 34:46, ahead of the Swedish Albin Ridefelt (OK Linné) and the Czech Jan Prochazka (Kalevan Rasti), with more 1:39 and 2:42 than the French, respectively. “To dive into the course was a mind-blowing experience”, so says Thierry Gueorgiou, the big winner today: “It was everything but easy to get in the map. From the beginning, I felt 'attacked' for the terrain, with many short controls very closed in an extremely difficult space, demanding maximum concentration. The idea of running fast had to be relegated the second plan, instead of reading the map. I did no mistakes, I think, but I was not fast in the initial part. After that, in the longest legs, yes, it was possible to push with some speed, but it was a super race in an atypical terrain, I really enjoyed.”

Confessing not be waiting for “such a surprise”, Thierry insisted on noted that "what has been fantastic in all three days of the Portugal O 'Meeting is that in all of them we had different terrains and different challenges have been offered and this is what I think it's great, this diversity of terrains in Portugal, giving me possibility to test my shape at different levels.” Talking of another victory, Gueorgiou stated that “it is something always good, especially in a difficult stage and having the need to recover some disavantadge when I passed through the spectators control. Hence have been forced to 'push' hard in the final part of the race , something very important at this moment of my preparation for the European Championship.” To interrupt this impressive number of of victories at the Portugal O' Meeting is something that the athlete refuses: “I will run seriously the last stage. In this moment of my preparation, my interest goes towards getting the best time. Tomorrow we'll have a very long course with 16 km, the scale of 1:15000, we would certainly visit different types of terrains and will be a beautiful and fun stage, I'm sure.”

“To win was a super-bonus!”

In the Women Elite class, the Sweden placed three athletes on the podium. Maria Magnusson (Sävedalens AIK) was the winner, with the incredible time of 34:50, while Annica Gustafsson (IFK Lidingö) was second, at distant 3:48 and the third placed was for another athlete of the IFK Lidingö, Helena Karlsson, with the record of 39:09. Simone Niggli (OK Tisaren) was far below of what she used to be, not going beyond the 8th place, 6:34 (!) behind the winner. “I didn't expect to win today at all. I was just expecting to do a good technical race, just like I did yesterday. That was my goal, but... I mean, to win was a super-bonus! And also to beat Simone Niggli, as I did for the first time ever and only four months after her retirement. I think it's OK (laughs).” This were the first words of Maria Magnusson, the big winner today, that talked also about to difficult “jump” into the course: “I stayed focused all the time. In a tricky terrain like this, you have to be calm and ignore that feeling that you're running too slowly. The important is to be concentrated all the time. I knew that and I knew that I was doing the right thing, I tried to be concentrated all the time and I gaigned there a lot of time”, Maria says.

There's still the chance to win the Portugal O' Meeting, which is seeing for the athlete “a possibility”. According her words, “the Swedish team had test competitions for the European Championships on day 1 and 3, and this days were very special for me. Tomorrow I expect a lot of fun, another nice competition and then we'll see.” Two final words, the first one to the very young Carolina Delgado (GD4C), the best Portuguese today with a time of 53:06 (62th overall), getting here the first victory of his career in a stage of the Portugal Cup in the Women Elite class. And also for the best Portuguese in Men Super Elite, the “returned” Diogo Miguel (Ori - Estarreja), ranked 58th at 12:39 to the winner.

Results

Men Super Elite

1. Thierry Gueorgiou (Kalevan Rasti) 34:46

2. Albin Ridefelt (OK Linné) 36:25 (+1:39)

3. Jan Prochazka (Kalevan Rasti) 37:28 (+2:42)

4. Hannu Airila (Kalevan Rasti) 38:15 (+3:29)

5. Oskar Sjöberg (OK Linné) 38:17 (+3:31)

6. Anton Östlin (MOKS) 38:21 (+3:35)

7. Lauri Sild (Hiidenkiertäjät) 38:53 (+4:07)

8. Olli-Markus Taivanen (Pellon Ponsi) 39:07 (+4:21)

9. Jonas Viytautas Gvildys (IGTISA) 39:17 (+4:31)

10. Antonio Martinez (Colivenc) 39:23 (+4:37)

Women Elite

1. Maria Magnusson (Sävedalens AIK) 34:50

2. Annica Gustafsson (IFK Lidingö) 38:38 (+3:48)

3. Helena Karlsson (IFK Lidingö) 39:09 (+4:19)

4. Marttiina Joensuu (SK Pohjantähti) 39:56 (+5:06)

5. Jannina Gustafsson (SK Uusi) 40:08 (+5:18)

6. Heini Wenman (SK Pohjantähti) 40:09 (+5:19)

7. Anna Josefine Engström (AOOK) 40:15 (+5:25)

8. Simone Niggli (OK Tisaren) 41:24 (+6:34)

9. Elin Mansson (IFK Göteborg) 41:25 (+6:35)

10. Ulrika Uotila (Koovee) 41:35 (+6:45)

Everything to check at http://www.pom.pt/en/.

Saudações orientistas.

Joaquim Margarido

[Patrocinado por Orievents e Câmara Municipal de Gouveia]

POM 2014: Thierry Gueorgiou and Simone Niggli start off on the right foot

It's now very difficult to find a title for the orienteering events in Portugal which does not include the names of Simone Niggli and Thierry Gueorgiou. It has been so in the recent years, so it was also the last weekend and its the same story in the opening stage of the Portugal O 'Meeting 2014. In a very technical terrain, the two athletes knew better than anyone to out into the field their outstanding qualities, demonstrating once again why they are the leaders of the IOF's World Rankings.

The winter is close to the end and the athletes are preparing the first major clashes of the season. In this way, the Portugal O' Meeting is on the route of the best world elite athletes. The prestige achieved by the Portuguese event is the cause that Simone Niggli and Thierry Gueorgiou, along with some other excellent elite athletes heading once more to Portugal. Awaiting them, it will have four days of the best orienteering, the first of which has already held today in Vila Nova de Tazem, in the municipality of Gouveia. Organized by CPOC – Clube Português de Orientação e Corrida and the Municipality of Gouveia, the opening stage had the participation of about 1600 athletes, for a high technical Mid Distance course, under adverse weather conditions.

Simone Niggli and Thierry Gueorgiou were uncontested winners, leaving the feeling in the air that we will see the two athletess at the highest place of the podium in the end of the four days of the event, as happened in 2012 and 2013. Gueorgiou was again at his best, dominating from the start to the finish and leaving his closest rival, the Swede Oskar Sjöberg, more than three minutes away. In the women's course, Simone Niggli was perfect in the second half of the route, recovering from an advantage of 45 seconds and relegating the Swedish Annica Gustafsson and Annika Billstam - the latter, 2nd in POM 2013 - for the immediate positions with 1:15 and 1:17 of difference , respectively.

Surprised!

In the end, Simone Niggli was a little surprised with the result : “It was a quite challenging course and I was very surprised when I saw that I won the Elite. I had huge problems in the begginning, I did a big mistake for the 6th control and also at the 7th control, and I think it was quite difficult course, even though there was a lot of paths. When you get in those stony places, you've to be very careful and some times I couldn't read the map very precisely, it was black.” About the second half of the course, the athlete leaves her analysis: “I didn't hear that I was 45 seconds behind, so perhaps that was good (laughs). What I knew is that I really had to take one control after another and I think that Annika [Billstam] has missing in the second part.” And some final words about the next days: “The results are not the most important, since I'm retired fron the competition and I'am looking for interesting terrains. I ran yesterday the Model Event and it was beautiful. I think the terrains will be a bit like that tomorrow and the other days. There are still many controls to do and I hope to make them as good as possible.”

Results

Men Super Elite

1. Thierry Gueorgiou (Kalevan Rasti) 45:58

2. Oskar Sjöberg (OK Linné) 49:15 (+3:17)

3. Erik Ivarsson Sandberg (IFK Lidingö) 50:14 (+4:16)

4. Albin Ridefelt (OK Linné) 50:27 (+4:29)

5. Lauri Sild (Hiidenkiertäjät) 50:42 (+4:44)

6. Oskari Liukkonen (Hiidenkiertäjät) 50:46 (+4:48)

7. Rassmus Andersson (OK Linné) 50:55 (+4:57)

8. Jan Prochazka (Kalevan Rasti) 51:26 (+5:28)

9. Anton Östlin (MOKS) 51:38 (+5:40)

10. Jakob Lööf (MOKS) 51:42 (+5:44)

Women Elite

1. Simone Niggli (OK Tisaren) 49:29

2. Annica Gustafsson (IFK Lidingö) 50:44 (+1:15)

3. Annika Billstam (OK Linné) 50:46 (+1:17)

4. Helena Karlsson (IFK Lidingö) 52:49 (+3:20)

5. Kristin Lofgren (Varegg) 53:38 (+4:09)

6. Elin Mansson (IFK Göteborg) 54:19 (+4:50)

7. Ulrika Uotila (Koovee) 54:56 (+5:27)

8. Karoliina Sundberg (Lynx) 55:07 (+5:38)

9. Outi Ojanen (Kangasala SK) 55:33 (+6:04)

10. Anna Bachman (IFK Lidingö) 55:39 (+6:10)

See all information at http://www.pom.pt/en/

Joaquim Margarido

[Patrocinado por Orievents e Câmara Municipal de Gouveia]

Portugal O' Meeting 2014: Orienteering's feast

A new edition of the Portugal O' Meeting is approaching and our country back to open doors to the World FootO Elite. The city of Gouveia will be the stage of an event that will have in the athlete Fernanda Ribeiro its “ambassador” and in the leaders of the IOF's World Rankings, Simone Niggli and Thierry Gueorgiou, the biggest stars.

The CPOC – Clube Português de Orientação e Corrida and the Municipality of Gouveia join forces to host the Portugal O' Meeting's 19th edition. The biggest event of the regular Foot-O calendar in Portugal back, once again, to show its scrolls, attracting to the granitic landscapes of the Serra da Estrela's foothill a large number of athletes, which number is currently 1633 participants from 21 countries. With 451 athletes registered, the Portuguese representation is naturally the most numerous, but both Spain and France, Finland, Switzerland or Sweden will bring to Portugal more than a hundred participants.

The excellent agreement between the CPOC and the Municipality of Gouveia, had in the organization of the Gouveia Orienteering Meeting, in February 2011, a first and auspicious episode. Confessing to unaware this region of Portugal, the winner in 2011 and current leader of the World Ranking, the French Thierry Gueorgiou, was truly amazed by the quality of the terrains. Will be hoping for another great event that Gueorgiou returns to Gouveia, this time for the Portugal O' Meeting - which he won in the last two editions and also in 2007. Beside him, will be the best orienteer of all time, the Swiss Simone Niggli, also leader of the World Ranking and the winner of the Portugal O'Meeting for five times (the last four editions and still in 2002). Gueorgiou and Niggli are unquestionably the great figures of this POM 2014, heading a list that includes the names of nine other top-50 world athletes.

Distributed by the first four days of March, the competition's program of the Portugal O' Meeting 2014 will include four stages of forest, a night Sprint and still a Trail Orienteering stage. The presence of the most medalist Portuguese athlete ever, Fernanda Ribeiro, is confirmed in Gouveia, as Ambassador of the event. In 2009, after having led the team that organized the 14th edition of the Portugal O 'Meeting, Luís Santos will again be the Event Director. The responsible is shown to be particularly pleased with the event's preparations and on the number of entries, “well over 1.200 participants that we have established as a minimum goal”, also reinforcing the idea of “excellent quality of the terrains”. Is also guaranteed the high organizational level, which CPOC has accustomed the Orienteering lovers and also the excellence of the technical work, based on the quality of the maps, mostly signed by Raquel Costa and Tiago Aires.

More information on the event page on http://www.pom.pt/en/.

Joaquim Margarido

[Sponsorized by Orievents and Municipality of Gouveia]

Susy De Pieri:"To love Trail-o that it matters"

Susy De Pieri was one of the greatest performers of the last World Trail Orienteering Championships, in Vuokatti (Finland). Participating at the TempO competition only, the young Italian athlete embraced the opportunity with both hands, reaching a brilliant 13th place. She is our guest today and talks about her experience.

For how long do you practice trail-orienteering?

Susy de Pieri (S. P.) - I met orienteering at school. I started by doing Foot-o but, after a few years, I tried Trail-o and ended up to embrace this discipline. In the beginning, it wasn't really interesting, the guidelines did not exist or simply did not work and we didn't know how to do the things. But we are improving slowly and there is a clear evolution since those early days.

Can you remember your first experience in Trail-o?

S. P. - I think it was in Verona, in the town centre, but it was a very easy course. I must admit that I like difficult challenges - also in Foot-o - and Trail-o wasn't, exactly, love at first sight. But it was important to realize the essence of the technical challenge for staying connected with Trail-o and doing it increasingly.

Looking to the evolution of Trail orienteering in italy, what is your oppinion?

S. P. - I joined the italian Trail-o Commission in 2007. It was a time with a special meaning for us, a real party with the world title won by Roberta Falda, in the Paralympic Class. But a medal is only a medal and we couldn't see a particular increase of Trail-o in Italy, in spite of the gold medal. We are a small group but a strong group and we fight for the development of the disciple.

And to develop it, what is missing ?

S. P. - At this time we try to find paralympic athletes. We promoted some competitions directed to this particular class of athletes and I hope the results of this effort can begin to emerge. The truth is that you need to understand the sport, to see Trail-o as a game. When I compete, I do it for the game, for fun. But people can always find obstacles here and there, that they don't want to get tired and things like that, whether or not paralympic.

How do you see the present moment of Trail-o? Are we going in the right way?

S. P. - At the moment I think that Trail-o is going in the right direction. There are a lot of peculiarities in a competition that are not regulated on guidelines, and we're trying at the moment to discuss it on the “Bearing Towards the C-Flag”, on Facebook. Athletes from different countries explain different point of view on different tasks and I think this is the first step to create a big movement.

The WTOC 2013, the organization, your performance... how do you analyse Vuokatti?

S. P. - The organisation was OK, I think. My performances?... I was so nervous, I was always talking with someone, trying to relax myself a little. It was my first World Championships and, finally, I wasn't ready for this type of terrain, I did a lot of mistakes. Honestly, I wasn't expecting the 13th position in TempO, for me it was very good. After the competition, Guido Michelotti and Remo Madella said to me that they were talking and they would be happy if I could reach the final... Fortunately, I've been better than they expected...

What about the next World Championships, which will be held in Italy?

S. P. - I don't have many information about the next WTOC, so... I know that we can find some good terrains in the region, the course planners are athletes from the Italian National Team... And that's all.

In the meanwhile, Portugal will receive the European Championships. Isn't it a little bit “strange” to see a very young country in Trail-o organizing such important event? What do you expect from ETOC 2014?

S. P. - It's not important that the competitions are organized by a novice country. It can be more important the spirit which you put in the organization, your capacity to “put youself on play” and to learn together.

TempO or PreO?

S. P. - I like Temp-O but... my love is Pre-O!

Still one question about Marco Giovannini and his Internet TempO Game. How do you see this chance of sharing a challenging time, being together with many other orienteers from a lot of countries, all of this staying at home, in front of your PC?

S. P. - I see the ITT Game as a very amusing training. It's only a game, but a very interesting one. No one else thought to make a website as Trailo.it. Marco Giovannini had a great idea (and he had a lot of work to do this). We haven't so much competition, so every kind of training is accepted with a great joy. Thanks a lot, Marco!

One last question : why don't we see in trail-orienteering such a high percentage of female competitors as we see in foot orienteering, for example?

S. P. - Honestly, I don't know. In my opinion, to be a woman or not is not important. The important thing is that there are people who love this sport. If you are man, woman, young, old, paralympic or not, it's irrelevant. To love Trail-o that it matters. To love it and giving example of this love, this is the way that Trail-o can grow and attract more people.

Joaquim Margarido

Jari Turto: "By the way... This is my discipline!"

After a long pause, the Portuguese Orienteering Blog is back to interview a trail-orienteer. For this special moment, we choose a truly special person, Jari Turto, the world champion in Vuokatti this summer and one of the most prominent people in this very special discipline.

The World Trail Orienteering Championships 2013 is over. Walking on the hotel lobby, I find Jari Turto, the new World Champion in the Open Class. I congratulate him and at the same time, I make him a suggestion. Two minutes after, we seat quietly, face to face, for a pleasant conversation that will take our next half hour. A conversation that is worth remembering.

But first, time to say that Jari Turto was born in Kokemäki, in southwestern Finland, in 1961. Married, three kids - “two of them are also orienteers” -, he is partner on Modultek, a software and service solutions company founded fourteen years ago and based in Pori. “My relaxing time is only in sports”, he admits, increasing the idea that free time isn't enough for one single hobby. His figure stands out in the middle of the crowd due to his height. Contrary to what most people think, this is “a disadvantage” for trail-orienteers, he claims from the top of his nearly two meters tall, “because you can see more than the planner, for example”. This and much more to realize next.

The world title, finally, in your home country. How do you feel right now?

Jari Turto (J. T.) - The feelings are great. This was my eighth Championships, actually, I got the bronze medal in 2008 but for many times I've finished one or two points away from the podium. Now the gold medal... it feels great!

What was the secret of your victory?

J. T. - I believe I was very strong during the two days. I have to admit that I have a very good orienteering background – both as foot orienteering as mapmaker, for several years – and I've practiced trail orienteering for ten years now. But I think that the main thing is that I love contours, that is my speciality. Some of those guys from trail-o call me “Mr. Contour”, because I can understand very well the contour lines in a tridimensional way. It's very easy for me to model the terrain from the map. I was at the foot-o junior national team for five years and I can remember that, at that time, I was already very good at reading maps. Running with a map is like having a video in my hands, which is, perhaps, an advantage in trail orienteering too.

Here in Vuokatti forest, in this kind of terrain, I can imagine that you felt like a fish in the water...

J. T. - Yes, yes. I must say that this terrains are different, but perfect for trail orienteering. In general, most of the controls are placed in very small areas, but here the visibility is very good, which is perfect for trail-orienteering. You can set a control at one hundred meters of distance, for example. It's a different kind of map reading. The measure in trail orienteering is the accuracy, how fast you are at map reading. It's a skill.

You said you started ten years ago. Can you remember how everything happened?

J. T. - Actually, I started in 2004, in Fin5 Orienteering Week, a five-day-event. During the rest of the day, we decided, me and my family (my children were around ten at that time), to participate in a trail orienteering competition. In fact, due to the difference of ages, we rarely had the chance to compete so close to one another, and that was an opportunity that we couldn't miss at all. I remember asking Hannu Niemi [the National Controller of WTOC 2013], whom I knew very well, what about trail orienteering. And he told me: “Try it”! Well, I tried and, after the course, I said to Hannu: “By the way... This is my discipline.”. My first participation in a World Trail Orienteering Championship was the year after, in Japan.

How do you see the progress of the discipline? Are we improving in the right way?

J. T. - Absolutely. We have done big steps to develop the discipline, not only in the nordic countries but all over the world. What I can say about the early years is that, sometimes, the courses and control settings were more a question of lottery. Those foot orienteers that tried the discipline at that time were right when they said that trail orienteering was a matter of luck. “This is not for me”, they said. Currently, I think that we have quite a good and solid system and method to set a course in an unambiguous way.

But still, we can see a lot of complains every time, everywhere...

J. T. - Of course, it depends on the planner, but the main thing is the map. If the map isn't good, you can't set an excellent course on that. You have to change the map, update the map. This is something that we do in Finland. The planner updates the map all the time, at least around the controls.

In this development process, what should be the next steps?

J. T. - That's a very important question. I've been in a so called “development team”, with Martin Fredholm, Hannu Niemi and some other people, and one question on which we lean on was, for example, how to manage with Temp-o if we have two or three hundred competitors (because we believe that, one day, we should be hundreds of competitors in a single event). It's not possible to use the method that we have now with these numbers. The main thing that I hope we can solve very soon is the electronic punching system, in some way, either using your mobile or your tablet, with some kind of apps, whatever. We should decrease one step to organize competitions...

A new technological order in trail-o, some kind of game, is that what you mean?

J. T. - No, no, no! It is and will always be trail-o. I can tell you my future vision of trail-o, perhaps in a ten or twenty years horizon. As you know, to plan and organize a competition today requires a huge effort. To have a good competition you must have good maps, solid controls, and everything... It's a lot of work to do. I have the following vision: The planner chooses a place in the forest to set the control and, with the help of a GPS, takes precisely its coordinates. The competitor gets into the terrain with a map and some kind of laser pen and a also a GPS device. There's no flags in the terrain. The competitor has to read the map, find the correct place where the control should be and point it out with the laser pen. Then he will have his coordinates which may or may not match, with a default tolerance, with the solution. Can you imagine how easy it could be for the planner, to set a trail orienteering course in these circumstances? The problem is that someone has to develop this equipment. Maybe in 2030... (laughs)

Another question: Temp-o or Trail-o?

J. T. - Both. Absolutely. Temp-o is fantastic! I've been one of the people who have developed the temp-o concept. I like that because it's also for young people and other people who don't want to take much time solving a problem. It's a different kind of challenge where speed is very important. The sad thing is that I couldn't take part of the competition here, in Vuokatti, because in the Finnish team you have excellent temp-o performers. In this kind of terrain, I think I could have good chances, but I'm not worried about that because they win medals [Pinja Mäkinen got the first world title in temp-o].

Next year, we're going to have the European Championships in Portugal. Do you think that we'll be able to organize an event with such importance?

J. T. - Why not? Of course, currently, your experience is limited, but when you and your team organize this kind of events you learn a lot. Knowledge it's not the only thing that you need, of course, but seeing you here, it's a demonstration of your interest in doing something and doing it very well. To be together with foot-o is another important thing, you can combine things like marketing, toilets, whatever. From ETOC I expect excellent terrains for trail-o and an excellent organization. Furthermore, I'm sure that Knut Ovesen and Ola Wiksell, the Senior Event Advisers, will give you the help you need.

For how long are we going to see you doing trail-o and winning gold medals?

J. T. - I'm an old guy (laughs). I no longer see as well as five years ago and some kind of limitations will begin to appear, of course. Some guys said that I'm lower and lower but I still think that I can be faster and faster. So, be careful! (laughs)

Joaquim Margarido

World Orienteering Championships 2014: Italy gets dressed

Italy’s Veneto and Trentino regions host 2014 WOC and WTOC. First World Orienteering Championships ever hosted in the country. A Sprint Relay event to make its debut in the city of Trento. The ‘5 Days of Italy’ event already scheduled.

Orienteering as a sport discipline was born in the Scandinavian Peninsula over a century ago. Its popularity has been growing at a rapid pace in the past years and in summer 2014 the first ever World Orienteering and Trail Orienteering Championships will take place in Italy.

From July 5 to 13, Trentino and Veneto regions in the north-eastern side of the country will be welcoming thousands of orienteering athletes, lovers and fans who will certainly enjoy landscapes through the Folgaria, Lavarone, Luserna and Asiago plateaus, plus the cities of Venice and Trento.

Sprint, Middle Distance, Long Distance, Relay and the new Sprint Relay are the five race events scheduled for the Italian championships, and the last one will be making its first official appearance as part of the discipline. Trento city centre, its narrow streets and ancient squares will be housing an exciting sprint relay event with teams of four athletes (2 male and 2 female) competing inside a relatively small area so as spectators and media can better follow and understand what is happening.

Trail Orienteering (TrailO) events are also scheduled along with the above mentioned races and some new titles of world champions will be awarded. TrailO can be enjoyed by all, including those with disabilities, and in this case the element of speed and the physical part are completely eliminated. Orienteering skills, terrain interpretation and map reading become way harder than usual and the key to success.

The 2014 WOC-WTOC will kick off on July 5 and the city of Venice will stage the Sprint event, part on the beautiful little island of Burano – famous for its lacemaking – and part through the canals, picturesque bridges and side streets in historical Venice. The Opening Ceremony will take place on July 6 in the town of Asiago and on the same day the ‘5 Days of Italy’ will start off. This event is open to amateurs, of any age group, who will have the opportunity to race on the same terrains where world’s best athletes will be fighting for medals.

As said, Trento will host the Sprint Relay event on Monday July 7, while the WTOC TempO qualification race will get on track in Alberè di Tenna, a little village not far from the city. The TempO final event is scheduled on the following day (rest day for the WOC athletes). The Long Distance race will take place in Lavarone (Trentino region) on July 9 together with the WTOC Day 1 events in close-by Luserna. All the athletes will move to the Asiago plateau (Veneto region) on July 11 for the Middle Distance race and WTOC Day 2. The village of Campomulo will host the eventual Relay event on Saturday July 12, while the WOC and WTOC closing ceremony will take place in Lavarone on Sunday.

On Thursday July 10, the IOF General Assembly will take place in Lavarone.

The Trentino and Veneto areas represent the heart of Orienteering disciplines in Italy. The National Orienteering Federation (FISO) is based in Trento and the first ever orienteering competition took place in Trentino region in 1974. Today, FISO counts over 10.000 active members.

In the past years, big orienteering events took place in this area, such as the World Masters Orienteering Championships 2004 in Asiago or the Junior World Orienteering Championships 2009 in Primiero.

Info and update, plus embargoed areas and general rules are available on www.woc2014.info and www.wtoc2014.info.

[Source: Press Office Newspower – mariofacchini@newspower.it]

XXI Iberic Championships 2013: Tiago Gingão Leal and Anna Serralonga won in Gouveia

Beautiful but tough and demanding! The first leg of the XXI Iberic Foot Orienteering Championship 2013, held in Gouveia, was just like this. On the sum of the 3 stages, Tiago Gingão Leal and Anna Serralonga were the winners, as in the collective competition, on this turning page, Portugal is in the lead.

The Iberic Foot Orienteering Championship is an annual meeting point for Portuguese and Spanish orienteers, and in 2013 the first leg of the competition was held on Serra da Estrela, highest mountain of Continental Portugal. On a very adequate setting for nature sports and with a very lucky weather conditions (sunny after a very long winter), the Clube Português de Orientação e Corrida and the Municipality of Gouveia served a pile of challenges to the 700 runners, with 2 forest events in Vale do Rossim and a very entertaining sprint in the town centre of Gouveia.

With top performances, Tiago Gingão Leal (Gafanhori) and Anna Serralonga (Grions – Girona) were the top runners on the first day of the competition, winning firstly the Middle Distance and afterwards, on the puzzling streets of the mountain town of Gouveia, the one of the Sprint distance. The event of Long Distance that closed the Championships would reveal itself particularly tough, having Diogo Miguel (Ori-Estarreja) and Anna Serralonga the great winners. On the general classification of the 2 days of the competition, this first leg of the Iberic Championships revealed Tiago Gingão Leal and Anna Serralonga has the worthy winners. Diogo Miguel and Tiago Romão (ADFA) were next on the male competition and Magalie Mendes (COC) and Alicia Cobo (Navaleno) closed the podium with this exact order.

Counting all classes that leads to the team classification, the Spanish runners took the lead, winning 11 of the 20 classes of competition. But on the collective classification, things are different and Portugal his a small step away of repeating the victory of 2012 on the Iberic duel, presenting its runners in Aranda del Rey (Madrid) on the next September, with 842 points against 729 to Spain.

“We had very beautiful terrains”

On the end, Serralonga was very happy with her victory but seemed even more pleased with the terrains: “We had beautiful terrains, very technical, just as I was waiting for. This was the reason why I came to Gouveia because I was told that these would be very special terrain.” She confessed to have her preference over the Middle Distance event, “the one who his more demanding technically and that includes always great challenges”. The athlete also revealed that the Sprint was very interesting “very amusing on the puzzle of streets”, and the Long Distance that although “I wasn´t expecting such a difficult race, it was a very nice training”.

Tiago Gingão Leal on the other hand said that “after some recent bad races, I confess that I was not expecting this. However, I felt well physically, the races had a high technical level and I managed to have good races.” Considering the Long Distance Race, the runner was particularly surprised with his result: “I lost motivation during the race for being so slow and not being used to this sort of terrain but when I went by the spectator control and understood that my race was being quite good, I tried then to end very strongly on the final part of the race. I am really very happy.”

Luís Leite and Júlio Guerra won TrailO Competition

TrailO assumed an important role with the first edition of the Iberic Championship in this challenging and inclusive discipline. In the north side of Vale do Rossim Dam, 50 portuguese and Spanish competitors fought for the first Iberic titles in Open and Paralympic Classes.

As it was expected, the fight for victory in the Open Class was extremely tight, with 3 participants ending on first place with the same number of points. In this case the timed controls solved this draw conceding the victory to Luís Leite from GD4C, followed by Nuno Pedro from CAOS and Nuno Rebelo from Ori-Estarreja. In the Paralympic Class the results were also tight and the 3 first places were occupied by Júlio Guerra, the most accurate, followed by Ricardo Pinto and Diana Coelho, all of them representing DAHP – Núcleo de Desporto Adaptado do Hospital da Prelada.

Joaquim Margarido

XXI Iberian Championships: Luis Santos' Preview

After the extraordinary international campaign of February in our country, Foot Orienteering at the highest level returns by the hands of Clube Português de Orientação e Corrida. It will be the Iberic Championships' first leg, travelling to Gouveia to its XXI edition. A little over a month to the big event, we checked with Luis Santos, Event Director in partnership with João Dias, the preparing work and the higher expectations.

For the third year, Gouveia receives an event organized by CPOC. What particular emotion do you feel with this return to Serra da Estrela?

Luís Santos (L. S.) - The strongest emotion is precisely that one. Making one of the most known places of our country in a place that orienteers can recognize as a top spot for orienteering. I love 350kms away, but it always confused me how was it possible the absence of a single orienteering map in Serra da Estrela. A few days ago I red again the ending paragraph of my interview after directing Portugal'O'Meeting 2009 were I said that the Iberic Championship in Serra da Estrela would be the next step after Mora's POM. But a bit afterwards, I abandoned the leadership of CPOC, and other choices were made afterwards. Although I had already done the prospection of all Serra da Estrela it was another club to bet in Manteigas (GD4C) with 2 new maps. We are now back to Serra da Estrela supported in a protocol with Gouveia municipality that took more than a year to build but finally with the capacity to make this project come true to what we believe may put Gouveia among the best portuguese municipalities to do orienteering.

How do you classify the terrains?

L. S. - The municipality has terrains good enough to make Gouveia one of the best municipalities to do orienteering in Portugal. However, we have to understand that in Gouveia we have winter maps and summer maps. This difference is not important in the rest of the country but it is important in Gouveia. We have done 2011 Meeting in lower lands (Folgosinho was a bit high but we had plan B if the weather wouldn't let us use it), the Iberic Championships in mid April will be in higher ground and in Portugal'O'Meeting next March 2014, all stages will be again on lower grounds. That is, we'll have an excellent map in Vale do Rossim, but at 1500m it is unthinkable to use such an high quality map in early March. So, Portugal'O'Meeting will be totally out of Serra da Estrela. But those who already know Arcozelo lands from 2011 Meeting certainly know that no one will be disappointed with the terrains that we are going to use in 2014, all with the quality work of Tiago Aires and Raquel Costa.

What are the benefits for the Iberic Championships of the offered conditions?

L. S. - Iberic Championships will help to know exactly what Gouveia has to offer. And if orienteers are thinking that we are going to spare the best maps for Portugal O' Meeting, you have to think again. We will have trail-O first edition on Iberic Championships and we will have sprint stage of the Iberic Championships counting for the first time for the Portuguese Cup, so these two stages will be more important than the extra events in POM. Long distance and middle distance will be in terrains that we won't be able to offer in Portugal'O'Meeting but I know runners will like them. So, the technical quality of the Iberic Championships will be at a very high level. Out of curiosity we made a change on the program using Vale do Rossim also for trail-O so now, only the sprint stage won't be there. I don't want to talk much about this place, but on the internet you can almost reach its beauty, so the best is to experience for yourself when you get there.

At a time when the entries reach more than a hundred participants, what do you expect?

L. S. - The economical context will not allow us to beat records of participants. We have our goals, but the main goal is to prepare an event where all can have a very good experience and an enjoyable weekend in Serra da Estrela. The proximity to Spain and the work of communication that we are doing in Spain would make us very pleased if we could have a high number of spanish runners, but as important as that is to break the tendencies of decline of recent numbers of portuguese participants. Si, I'll wait that the distance that separates Gouveia from all that are reading these lines, won't make them decide not to do Orienteering in Serra da Estrela.

Gouveia is not only the excellence of their terrains. Despite an intense program, for those who want to discover a little more of the region, what shouldn't miss at all?

L. S. - Gouveia is a part of the Natural Park of Serra da Estrela, that is one of the most beautiful parks of Portugal. As I think that every orienteer loves Nature surroundings, the fact of having the most part of the event on a protected area (with due permissions), it will be, by itself, a good reason to participate. Visits to the springs of Mondego and Zêzere are recomended, visits to the south and southeast part of Vale do Rossim, in Penhas Douradas, with its unusual rocky formations in a treeless but amazing location are very interesting. On the low lands of Gouveia I recomend the Ecological Park of Gouveia, the museums closeby to the City Hall buiding, the Park of Senhora dos Verdes (we'll get to that story on Portugal'O'Meeting...), the city maze of Folgosinho with a map on your hands, among others. Also recomended is the gastronomy namely with the well known Albertino Restaurant in Folgosinho and Restaurant Ponte dos Cavaleiros, where you can eat very well and cheap, and where orienteers are surprised by an Arcozelo orienteering map on the balcony for all who would like to see it.

You've made several references to the most important regular event of Portuguese Orienteering, the Portugal O' Meeting, which will be held next year in Gouveia. How do you link the both events?

L. S. - I have been making several references to both events on the previous questions, but both make part of a larger project that will naturally have its highest point with Portugal'O'Meeting but that may still have an international event in 2015. The project "Orienteering in Gouveia" has a goal to transform Gouveia on a training camps location with high references at several major points: high quality orienteering terrains, mountain maps, long distance suited maps, middle distance suited maps, high quality sprint maps, good logistic conditions in Parque da Senhora dos Verdes or Ecoresort in Vale do Rossim), and including one of the most experient portuguese players on the subject - Fernando Costa and Orievents.

Do you want to leave a message, an invitation to the XXI Iberic Championships?

L. S. - Serra da Estrela is a reference among all portuguese, but it may become a special place for each of you that will get to know better those terrains. Maybe you shouldn't loose yourself there for 3 or 4 hours on the map, but certainly we will do all that we can so you can have a very nice weekend in Serra da Estrela in this edition of the Iberic Championships.

All information at http://www.cpoc.pt/eventos.php?ev=Gouveia03.

[Photo: Miguel Barradas]

Joaquim Margarido

[This article is sponsorized by Orievents, Criobaby and Municipality of Gouveia]