WMOC 2017: Swedish Masters stronger in the Long Distance

Orienteering was one out of 19 sports in action on the penultimate day of the World Masters Games, in Auckland, New Zealand. In the Woodhill Forest took place the Long Distance Final of the World Masters Orienteering Championships 2017, in which Sweden was the great winner after achieving eight World titles.

The World Masters Orienteering Championships 2017 have come to an end. The masters' big party gathered in Auckland close to 1800 athletes from 40 countries, for a week full of excitement and fun, with the highest points falling on Monday, with the Sprint Finals and today, with the Long Distance Finals. A total of 1558 competitors were in action at the last major moment of the Championships, of whom 848 were in the direct fight for the medals and the remainder competing in the B and C Finals.

With 183 representatives, Sweden lined up in the A Finals with the widest team and managed to combine quality with quantity, as demonstrated by the eight gold medals achieved, as well as five silver and four bronze medals. Finland won four gold medals, five silver and five bronze medals, while Australians and Norwegians won three gold and one silver medals; here, Norway were at a disadvantage, getting only one bronze medal against three of the Australians. In addition to the four countries already mentioned, athletes from Great Britain, Bulgaria, Russia, Switzerland and New Zealand, the host country, also won gold medals.

Among the 23 World Long Distance Champions, six won their second gold medal at these Championships, after their triumphs in the Sprint Final on Monday. In this situation it's possible to see the Australians Jo Allison (W40), Natasha Key (W45) and Warren Key (M55), the Finnish Petteri Muukkonen (M40), the Swedish Birgitta Billstam (W70) and the Norwegian Paul Forseth (M85). As a matter of curiosity, Petteri Muukonen and Natasha Key were the only athletes to keep the world titles achieved in 2016, in Estonia.

Long Distance World Champions

W/M35 – Paivi Autio (Finland) and Samuli Salmenoja (Finland)

W/M40 – Jo Allison (Australia) and Petteri Muukkonen (Finland)

W/M45 – Natasha Key (Australia) and Ivaylo Ivanov (Bulgaria)

W/M50 – Carina Svensson (Sweden) and Mats Nylund (Sweden)

W/M55 – Carey Nazzer (New Zealand) and Warren Key (Australia)

W/M60 – Kjellrun Sporild (Norway) and Stefan Carlsson (Sweden)

W/M65 – Irina Stepanova (Russia) and Markku Pietikäinen (Finland)

W/M70 – Birgitta Billstam (Sweden) and Robin Sloan (Great Britain)

W/M75 – Anne-Beate Persson (Sweden) and Heinz Keller (Switzerland)

W/M80 – Unni Dirro Bøhlerengen (Norway) and Sivert Axelsson (Sweden)

W/M85 – Signe Nyman (Sweden) and Paul Forseth (Norway)

M90 – Rune Isaksson (Sweden)

Complete results and further information HERE.

Joaquim Margarido

WMOC 2017: Australia achieved 12 out of 23 Sprint World titles

With 12 gold, 2 silver and 3 bronze medals, Australia had a blazing presence in the Sprint finals of the World Masters Orienteering Championships 2017, taking place in Auckland, New Zealand. Individually, the highlight goes to Natasha Key, Petteri Muukkonen and Tsvetan Todorov, who defended successfully their world titles achieved in 2016.

The World Masters Orienteering Championships (WMOC), the biggest sport within the 2017 World Masters Games, saw today the first of two finals of its competitive program. One day after the qualifying series, the Sprint final took place at the famous Albert Park, in the heart of Auckland, New Zealand, together with the University City Campus. A total of 1553 competitors took part in the Finals, of which 841 were in the A finals – those giving access to the world titles -, representing 32 countries.

As said before, Australia was the great winner of the day, with its representatives reaching a total of 12 gold medals, six in the men's sector and the same in the women's. Natasha Key and Herrmann Wehner were the stars of the vast array of 114 Aussies in the A Finals, the first one being able to hold the Sprint World Title in the W45 class, reached in August 2016, in Tallin (Estonia), and the second one by achieving the gold in the M90 class. It was still in the W45 class that a podium was completely filled by the colors of Australia, achievement only equated by Sweden in the M80 class.

Australia tops the medal list

Natasha Key was not the only athlete to defend successfully the world title as both Finn Petteri Muukkonen (M40) and Bulgarian Tsvetan Todorov (M50) did so, with the particularity of Todorov's gold being achieved for the third year in a row. Overall, there was 15 countries winning medals in this first Finals, ten of them having achieved gold medals. With 12 gold medals, 2 silver medals and 3 bronze medals, Australia has shown a huge ascendant over the other countries. Following on the top 10 list is Sweden (2 gold medals, 8 silver medals and 3 bronze medals), Norway (2 gold, 2 silver and 2 bronze), Finland (1 gold, 1 Silver, and 3 bronze), Bulgaria and Denmark (1 gold and 1 silver each), the United States and Switzerland (1 gold and 2 bronze each), Japan (1 gold and 1 bronze) and the Czech Republic (1 gold medal).

Finally, two or three notes of curiosity. The tightest triumph came at the M35 class, where the Australian Matthew Crane beat the Norwegian Rune Olsen for just 4 seconds. The Czech Jana Hankovska also didn't take it easy in the W75 class, winning over the Russian Liudmila Labutina by the difference of 7 seconds. In the M45 class, the fight for the gold involved three athletes, with the Australian Grant Bluett holding the win with a 10-second lead over the Bulgarian Ivaylo Ivanov and eleven seconds over the Austrian Michael Stockmayer. On the other hand, the widest advantage belonged to the Norwegian Inger Vamnes, in the W80 class, leaving the second-placed New Zealand's Ann Scott at 7:35. The 2:52 advantage of Natasha Key over her compatriot Catherine McComb in the W45 class, or the triumphs of the Australians Sue Haley (W85) and Hermann Wehner (M90), for margins higher than 2 minutes, deserve also a word.

Sprint World Champions

W/M35 – Anna Sheldon (Australia) and Matthew Crane (Australia)

W/M40 – Jo Allison (Australia) and Petteri Muukkonen (Finland)

W/M45 – Natasha Key (Australia) and Grant Bluett (Australia)

W/M50 – Su Yan Tai (Australia) and Tsvetan Todorov (Bulgaria)

W/M55 – Pavlina Brautigan (United States) and Warren Key (Australia)

W/M60 – Jenny Bourne (Australia) and Geoff Lawford (Australia)

W/M65 – Silvia Baumann (Switzerland) and Keld Johnsen (Denmark)

W/M70 – Birgitta Billstam (Sweden) and Greg Chatfield (Australia)

W/M75 – Jana Hankovska (Czech Republic) and Toshio Onoe (Japan)

W/M80 – Inger Vamnes (Norway) and Peo Bengtsson (Sweden)

W/M85 – Sue Healy (Australia) and Paul Forseth (Norway)

M90 – Hermann Wehner (Australia)

Complete results and further information HERE.

[Photo: Malin Fuhr / orienteering.org]

Joaquim Margarido