Angus Robinson lives close to
Melbourne, studies at Victoria University to become a Paramedic
and... is the current MTBO world junior champion in Sprint distance.
In this Interview he takes us from his debut, at the age of 12,
joining the Bayside Kangaroos Orienteering Club, to the gold at
Liberec, in the Czech Republic, last August.
What do you see in MTB Orienteering
that makes it so special?
Angus Robinson (A. R.) - I like
having to be both physically and navigationally 'fit' in order to
race well, the fact that it doesn't rely solely on the amount of
training you do on the bike adds another level of difficulty that a
lot of other sports lack.
Have you a training routine? How is,
in your case, a typical week?
A. R. - I follow my coaches
training program which varies depending on how full my week is and
whether there is a race or not, but generally it involves 5-6 rides a
week of various lengths, as well as hill sprints and interval
training. I do a combination of MTB, MTBO and road training as the
trails are not always convenient to get to each day.
What do you like the most: Long
Distance or Sprint?
A. R. - Sprint would have to be
my favourite discipline. The speed of navigation, intensity and
pressure on each minor decision is something I always look forward to
in a sprint distance race.
I can imagine your gold medal this
year, in Czech Republic, as the best moment in your career so far. Do
you have another significant moments that you'd like to talk? And
what about the worse?
A. R. - The gold medal has
definitely been a great moment for me, and it will be hard to beat.
Other significant events would be racing at previous JWOCs in Estonia
and Poland, as they were necessary to build experience and control my
nerves making it easier in the lead up to racing in Czech Republic.
My worst experience in MTBO would have to be my first ever race,
where I got completely lost, thankfully I persisted with the sport
and improved relatively quickly. Just because you struggle in the
first race doesn't mean you can't orienteer.
Talking now about the gold medal, an
historical one, the first ever for the Australian Junior MTBO. How
did you prepare for the competition?
A. R. - In the lead up to major
competitions I try to do as much orienteering as I can, which usually
involves riding old maps from previous events and just cycling as
much as I can as well as studying old Czech maps of the expected
areas.
Was the gold medal in your plans?
A. R. - At JWOC Poland 2014 my
best result was 10th in the sprint, so this year I went in with the
mindset that I could improve my result given I had another year of
training, experience and maturity to race with, but I wasn't sure by
how much.
What about the JWMTBOC overall?
A. R. - The competition was very
well run overall and the training maps represented the competition
areas quite well which was nice. The terrain was very steep and hilly
in the Middle and Long making for tough racing. The navigation was
very interesting and technical as well, especially having to change
my thought process about not riding off tracks.
If I asked you a moment - the great
achievement of the Championships -, what would be your choice?
A. R. - It would have to be
winning the Sprint bar far!
How important is the Junior World
title for you? And for the Australian MTBO?
A. R. - Having trained for such
a long time, travelled to many events each year and made sacrifices
to my studies and other areas of my life, it is nice to know that it
has all been worth it. I hope I can use my gold to increase this
great sports popularity in Australia, making it more well known and
competitive. In Australia the sport is very limited, with only a
small number of competitors at each race. I'm working with various
orienteers on how to better publicise MTBO in order for it to grow,
and therefore produce more athletes to compete on the world stage,
hopefully my gold medal will help to do this. It's always difficult
to gauge my level of fitness in the lead up to JWOC as I don't get a
chance to race against many other competitors at that level
throughout the year, so I just have to be as fit as I can be and hope
it is good enough when I get there.
Have you some goals already designed
for the next season? Are you able to be a new Adrian Jackson?
A. R. - Having only won one gold
medal, I try not to compare myself to other riders and just race as
well as I can and hopefully do it again at some point throughout my
career.
Would you like to share the biggest
wish for the future?
A. R. - I hope to represent
Australia as best I can at future races and would love to take home
some more medals. Also in the future I hope Australia can become more
highly recognised within MTBO as a country that can achieve great
results each year.
[Photo: WMTBOC 2015 /
www.wmtboc2015.cz/sprint/photovideo/]
Joaquim Margarido
