Two or three things I know about it...

1. Brian Porteous is about to leave the IOF's Presidency. In accordance with the IOF Statutes, member federations having members on the current Council need to declare whether they will seek re-election 6 months prior to the General Assembly. Ahead of the IOF Congress and XXVIII Ordinary General Assembly on 26 August, 2016, in Strömstad, Sweden, the current IOF Council members have now formally announced who will be seeking re-election. Are in this case the current Senior Vice President Leho Haldna (Estonia), the two current Vice Presidents Michael Dowling (Australia) and Astrid Waaler Kaas (Norway), and Ting-wang ‘Dominic’ Yue (Hong-Kong), Laszlo Zentai (Hungary), Maria Silvia Viti (Italy), Owe Fredholm (Sweden), Niklaus Suter (Switzerland), Tatiana Kalenderoglu (Turkey) and Mikko Salonen (Finland). The most remarkable announcement is that IOF President Brian Porteous will not be seeking re-election, so the IOF General Assembly will elect a new President in August. Member federations have now the opportunity to nominate additional candidates for the IOF Council. Nominations need to reach the IOF Secretary General at least 4 months prior to the General Assembly, i.e. by April 26th at the latest. Everything to check at http://orienteering.org/iof-president-brian-porteous-to-step-down-after-the-general-assembly-in-august/.

2. The International Orienteering Federation (IOF) are in the planning process of developing the IOF LiveCenter from only offering GPS tracking and livestream into a fan page where new and current fans of orienteering can follow the sport 365 days a year. “This is a first concept test of this new Channel, a Minimal Viable Product (MVP) with the minimal first features that will give you as a user a feel for the new product”, can be read in the new fan page for orienteering, at http://andmark.no/projects/2016/IOF/#/. The initiative's promoters are now testing this very early version to learn how the users experience the features presented and what should be prioritize in the further development. So, an invitation: “Help us develop this page. For us to learn, we hope, you will take the time to fill in the questionnaire. This will help us in the development of the channel so it will give you and hopefully many others a larger interest in following orienteering more closely in the future.”

3. The Swedish Annika Björk (OK Linné) and William Lind (Malungs OK Skogsmardarna) won the Antalya O’ Days 2016, last weekend in Antalya region, Turkey. Four days and three events scoring for the World Ranking were the organizers' offer, in beautiful terrains near the sea. The winners of Middle Distance WRE, on second day, were William Lind and Kirsi Nurmi (IFK Göteborg). Miika Suominen (Rajamaen Rykmentti) and Emma Silvennoinen (Paimion Rasti) took the first place on the Long Distance WRE stage, on third day. In the last day of competition, Riccardo Scalet (5 Days of Italy 2016) and Liga Valdmane (Rehns BK) reached the top positions. Overall, Daniel Hajek (Malungs OK Skogsmardarna) and Kristin Olovsson (Rehns BK) took the second position, while Jesper Lysell (Rehns BK) and Emine Sezgünsay (Istambul Orienteering SK-IOG) were third. The event registered the participation of 1335 athletes, 140 of whom in the Men/Women Elite classes. For further information and complete results, please consult the event's webpage at http://www.orienteering.org.tr/.

4. With the approach of Spring, come to an end the most important orienteering events in the Iberian Peninsula or, at least, those who attract more athletes from around the world. Caños de Meca, Barbate, hosted one of the greatest events on the list, spreading the attention for three stages, the last one in... Morocco. That's true, the AOM's 7th edition got “back to basics”, which means, “going back to our roots, offering original & quality events on the technical side, without too much fanciness around”, in the organizers' words. A festive Night Relay Mass Start opened the program, with Gaute Friestad and Jan Sedivy (Kristiansand OK) winning the Men Long difficult class and Venla Harju and Lotta Karhola (Team Finland) being the fastest in the Women Long difficult class. Elli Virta and Topi Penttinen (Trian) won the Mixed Long difficult class, with Nadiya Volynska and Oleksandr Kratov (Koovee – Orion) on the second place. More than 300 athletes participated in the Middle Distance race on second day, with Matthias Kyburz (Switzerland) and Emma Johansson (Domnarvets GoIF) taking the first place in the Elite classes. Finally, the Middle Distance – King of MoroccO, called to the other side of the strait of Gibraltar almost 150 athletes. The winners in the Elite classes were Veli Kangas (Team Finland) and Nina Temyakova (Paimion Rasti). Everything to know at http://andaluciaomeeting.com/.

[Photo: Erik Borg]

Joaquim Margarido

Tamer Mehanna: "Orienteering in Egypt has a short time but a long story"

Orienteering in Egypt is unanimously considered a story of success. The sport seems to be well implemented, clinics and events are being held in a successful way and Orienteering is calling the attention of new participants, social media and official entities. Behind all this work, the name of Tamer Mehanna appears naturally. Specialist in sport field, master degree in sport training and PhD in sport psychology, he's the true engine of Orienteering in Egypt and the Portuguese Orienteering Blog's invited today.

I would start by asking you about the main steps before the establishment of the Egyptian Orienteering Federation.

Tamer Mehanna (T. M.) - In 2010 I was in Germany studying sport training, and one of the sports was orienteering. I liked it very much, founding it really interesting and healthy for our people in Egypt. After my return back home, I started searching everything about orienteering. I found the IOF’s webpage and sent an email, asking for help in order to start making orienteering popular in Egypt and establishing a National Orienteering Federation. They wanted to know the details of my plan and I sent them a document with eight goals. I can see now that we were able to reach them all, with our international event in Luxor was the goal number 8. Now we have new dreams and some goals more to achieve.

Did you feel, since the beginning, that Orienteering in Egypt would be a reality in such a short term? Where was the secret of your success?

T. M. - Yes I felt that. WOW! I didn’t really imagine all love for this new sport. They love it so much from the first map, people of all ages - begin with 8 years, adults and to 70 years old -, it is a family sport. Now they're asking me to organize more events in short time and we'll have a new one, next July. To achieve your goals, you should believe in yourself. The secret of our success is in our belief that we can do all the necessary to achieve our goals. Nothing can stop you, just go and go further. Be a real fighter.

What were the main challenges you've faced and how did you overcome?

T. M. - Of course, everything was new and we started by explaining to everyone what kind of sport Orienteering was and how to do it. We tried not depending on government's support, finding our own sponsors, attracting media and making everything by ourselves to spare our ideas all over the country.

From the first clinic in Ismaelia, the 11th and 12th June 2014, up to now, there's a lot of actions including 15 seminars in many cities in Egypt, four orienteering clinics for coaches and advisers, twelve orienteering clubs, almost two thousand competitors so far, programs on the National TV...

T. M. - Orienteering in Egypt has a short time but a long story. One year and a half ago, orienteering was just an idea in my mind. No one knew what it was, how to do it. But I set up a plan to make it known by most of people in our country and I succeeded.

May I have your opinion on the recent Egypt International Orienteering Championships, in Luxor, a few days ago. How important was it for Orienteering in Egypt?

T. M. - It was the greatest dream in our list and the first step to build our orienteering system in Egypt as a real orienteering country. The way it was carried proves that we can do it, we can organize big events and we have a good system here to make orienteering more popular, attracting not only athletes from abroad but also more Egyptian to do orienteering in next events.

What's next?

T. M. - In fact, we have a lot of dreams on a local, regional and international level. On a local level, I hope to have a big national event in every city in Egypt and we'll join Universities, Schools, Clubs and Youth Centers to celebrate the World Orienteering Day. On higher levels, we plan to host the first Arabic Orienteering Championships and we hope we'll able to organize also the first African Orienteering Championships, bringing many countries to our events.

Is the creation of a National Team to compete in major IOF events in your plans right now?

T. M. - We plan to build our national teams and participate in WOC, JWOC, WMOC and MCO. And we'll try to have a Training Camp in Sweden before the WOC 2016.

How do you expect to see Orienteering in Egypt in 2020?

T. M. - I expect a strong orienteering system in Egypt by 2020, strong national teams and real African orienteering system too. I also plan to apply to organize a big event like WOC or JWOC.

In personal terms, how are you living this experience? Does it completely fulfills your interests and ambitions?

T. M. - Orienteering is my life, now. It is my way and my process to support targeted action steps. The limit is not the sky; I'll try to go as far as I can.

[Photo: Tamer Mehanna's courtesy]

Joaquim Margarido

ESOC 2016: Moholdt and Kechkina win Middle Distance Mass Start

After the Sprint title achieved last Monday, Lars Moholdt took his second gold in the European Ski Orienteering Championships, in an exciting Middle Distance Mass Start hold this morning. Also Mariya Kechkina performed astonishingly, being first in the Women class.

Lars Moholdt did it again. On the second individual race of the European Ski Orienteering Championships ESOC 2016, the Norwegian showed himself at the highest level, winning his second gold medal in the competition. A quick look to the final results reveal immediately how tight was the fight for the best places, with all six athletes on the podium separated by less than one minute. Moholdt's gold was everything but easy. Erik Rost, Sweden, managed to keep the leadership in the first half but, in the decisive part of the race, Moholdt and the Russian Andrey Lamov - defending here the European Middle Distance title - joined to the Swedish, fighting hardly for the first place. It would be Moholdt to reach the gold with the time of 45:50, with Lamov taking the silver, one second before Rost, third placed. In the Women class, the Russian Mariya Kechkina was the fastest in the first control, keeping the leadership until the very last one. All athletes did some small mistakes and the unpredictability as the winner remained for a long time, with the Swedish Tove Alexandersson waiting for a slip in the lead. In the end, the Russian was first with the time of 37:51, achieving the first European title of her career so far. Tove Alexandersson, repeated the silver from last European Championships and Tatyana Oborina, Russia, took the third position.

Russia fulfilled the JWSOC Men's podium, with Sergey Gorlanov beating clearly Vladislav Kiselev this time and changing positions relatively to the Sprint race. Unable to defend the Middle gold achieved last year, in Lenzerheide, Switzerland, Aleksandr Pavlenko finished third. In the JWSOC Women, Tuuli Suutari (Finland) performed amazingly and took an impressive gold over Liubov Balandina, Russia, and Klara Yngvesson, Sweden, the six first athletes separated by 50 seconds. At EYSOC, another competition day but the same winners. Nicola Mueller, Switzerland, took the gold in a really tight fight, with the six leading athletes separated by 45 seconds in the final standings. The Russian Igor Linkevich was second, repeating the same position as last Monday. In a more comfortable mood, the Russian Aleksandra Rusakova won the Women class over the Finnish Sanni Oikkonen by 37 seconds.

Tomorrow is rest day and the competition will return Friday with the Long Distance finals. Everything to follow at http://www.skio2016.at/.

Results

ESOC Men

1. Lars Moholdt (Norway) 45:50 (+ 00:00)

2. Andrey Lamov (Russia) 46:12 (+ 00:22)

3. Erik Rost (Sweden) 46:13 (+ 00:23)

4. Eduard Khrennikov (Russia) 46:23 (+ 00:33)

5. Andrey Grigoriev (Russia) 46:32 (+ 00:42)

6. Stanimir Belomazhev (Bulgaria) 46:49 (+ 00:59)

ESOC Women

1. Mariya Kechkina (Russia) 37:51 (+ 00:00)

2. Tove Alexandersson (Sweden) 38:36 (+ 00:45)

3. Tatyana Oborina (Russia) 39:38 (+ 01:47)

4. Hana Hancikova (Czech Republic) 39:50 (+ 01:59)

5. Alena Trapeznikova (Russia) 39:55 (+ 02:04)

6. Iuliia Tarasenko (Russia) 40:29 (+ 02:38)

JWSOC Men

1. Sergey Gorlanov (Russia) 30:15 (+ 00:00)

2. Vladislav Kiselev (Russia) 31:50 (+ 01:35)

3. Aleksandr Pavlenko (Russia) 32:46 (+ 02:31)

JWSOC Women

1. Tuuli Suutari (Finland) 29:01 (+ 00:00)

2. Liubov Balandina (Russia) 29:36 (+ 00:35)

3. Klara Yngvensson (Sweden) 29:42 (+ 00:41)

EYSOC Men

1. Nicola Mueller (Switzerland) 24:34 (+ 00:00)

2. Igor Linkevich (Russia) 24:50 (+ 00:16)

3. Pyry Hyppola (Finland) 24:53 (+ 00:19)

EYSOC Women

1. Aleksandra Rusakova (Russia) 24:21 (+ 00:00)

2. Sanni Oikkonen (Finland) 24:58 (+ 00:37)

3. Siiri Saalo (Finland) 25:01 (+ 00:40)

[Photo: Orienteering.lt / facebook.com/orienteering.lt/photos]

Joaquim Margarido

ESOC 2016: One day after the silver, Lamov and Trapeznikova reach the gold

Andrey Lamov and Alena Trapeznikova offered to Russia the European title of Mixed Relay, in a tough race held this morning in Obertilliach, Austria. The following positions were occupied by Sweden and Norway.

One day was enough to Andrey Lamov and Alena Trapeznikova ceased to be “the first of the last” to go to “the first of the first”. Deconstructing the charade, after having take the silver in the Sprint race that opened the 9th edition of the European Ski orienteering Championships, the two Russian athletes formed the winning couple in the Mixed Relay race that filled the ESOC’s program today. A title that meant, to Russia, recovering the top spot in this distance (after wins in 2012, 2013 and 2014, followed by the 4th place last year in Lenzerheide, Switzerland), having also the sweet taste of novelty for Lamov and Trapeznikova.

With the female members of each team skiing on the first leg, the equality was the dominant note. But the biggest surprise was reserved just for the initial moments, with the super-favorite Sweden losing more than a minute and a half to the front group, thanks to the unhappy performance of Tove Alexandersson. Constituted by Andrey Lamov and Alena Trapeznikova, the Team Russia 1 took the command of the operations in the first half of the second leg, managing to keep it till the end. In this and the next legs, the Swedish were able to shorten to 33 seconds the difference to the Russians, but wouldn’t go beyond that.

If it’s true that the relative positions of the top two were perfectly defined at the entrance to the 6th and final leg, is no less true that the fight for the bronze medal was red hot. Finland and Norway leave for the decisive leg in third place with the same time, with the Czech Republic, Bulgaria and Switzerland few seconds away. Oeyvind Watterdal would be the strongest within this particular group, offering the third place to Norway. Lamov was the winner in 48:37, while Ulrik Nordberg took the second position with more 1:10. Finished the race 14 of the 15 teams that lined at the start, with the home team, Austria 1 (Anna Nilsson Simkovics / Johann Kugler, reaching the 10th place.

Results

1. Russia 1 (Andrey Lamov / Alena Trapeznikova) 48:37 (+ 00:00)

    Russia 2 (Eduard Khrennikov / Mariya Kechkina) 48:46 (+ 00:09)

2. Sweden 1 (Ulrik Nordberg / Tove Alexandersson) 49:47 (+ 01:10)

    Sweden 2 (Markus Lundholm / Magdalena Olsson) 50:49 (+ 02:12)

3. Norway 2 (Oeyvind Watterdal / Marta Ulvensoen) 51:15 (+ 02:38)

4. Bulgaria 1 (Stanimir Belomazhev / Antoniya Grigorova) 51:26 (+ 02:49)

5. Finland 2 (Janne Hakkinen / Mira Kaskinen) 51:30 (+ 02:53)

    Russia 3 (Andrey Grigoriev / Tatyana Oborina) 51:35 (+ 02:58)

    Finland 1 (Ville Petteri Saarela / Sonja Moersky) 51:45 (+ 03:08)

    Finland 3 (Jyri Uusitalo / Marjut Turunen) 51:54 (+ 03:17)

6. Czech Republic 1 (Jakub Skoda / Hana Hancikova) 51:58 (+ 03:21)

ESOC continue tomorrow with the Middle Distance Mass Start. All results and further information at www.skio2016.at.

[Photo: IOF / orienteering.org]

Joaquim Margarido

ESOC 2016: Moholdt and Alexandersson took the first gold

Lars Moholdt and Tove Alexandersson are the European Ski Orienteering Championships 2016's first winners. In a tough Sprint race, Andrey Lamov and Alena Trapeznikova were second. Vladislav Kiselev and Anine Ahlsand were the best in the Junior World Championships.

Started yesterday in Obertilliach, Austria, the last big competition of the present Ski Orienteering season. In an exciting week, not only the 9th European Ski Orienteering Championships (ESOC) will be held, but also the 21st Junior World Ski Orienteering Championships (JWSOC) and the 9th European Youth Ski Orienteering Championships (EYSOC) as well as the final round of the World Cup 2015-2016. Fighting for the European and World titles in Sprint, Mixed Sprint Relay, Long Distance, Middle Distance (Mass start) and Relay there are 290 entered athletes from 21 countries, overall.

In a really strong start field for the Sprint race, Erik Rost (Sweden), Andrey Lamov (Russia) and Stanimir Belomazhev (Bulgaria) were pointed as favorites to the final victory, but in the end Lars Moholdt (Norway) was the fastest. The current World Champion of Long Distance completed his course in 15:40, against 16:16 from Lamov. Ulrik Nordberg (Sweden) and Christian Spoerry (Switzerland) took the bronze, ex-æquo. Defending his european Sprint title, Belomazhev was disqualified. In the Women class, Tove Alexandersson (Sweden) showed once again why she is the World Ranking's leader, winning clearly with a time of 16:32. Somehow surprisingly, the Russian Alena Trapeznikova, 19th placed in the IOF World Ranking, took the silver medal with more 31 seconds than Alexandersson, while Mariya Kechkina and Tatiana Oborina, both from Russia, were 3rd and 4th placed. Gold medalist last year in Lenzerheide, Switzerland, Iullia Tarasenko (Russia) couldn't get better than the 8th position.

In the other competitions, Vladislav Kiselev (Russia) repeated his Junior World title in Sprint, beating his team mate Sergey Gorlanov by 7 seconds. In the JWSOC Women, the Norwegian Anine Ahlsand was also able to keep the title achieved last year in her home country, winning over the Finnish Noora Raisanen. The EYSOC Men had in the Swiss Nicola Mueller the big winner, after having been second placed last year. Also in the EYSOC Women, the Russian Aleksandra Rusakova, second placed in Hamar, Norway, could rise now a single but really important step on the podium, enough to reach the gold. Marina Vyatkina, Russia, was second. Excepting JWSOC Women, Russia was present in all podiums, collecting in the first day two gold medals, five silver and two bronze overall.

Today is time to follow the ESOC Sprint Relay and the JWSOC Mixed Sprint Relay at http://www.skio2016.at/.

Results

ESOC Men

1. Lars Moholdt (Norway) 15:40 (+ 00:00)

2. Andrey Lamov (Russia) 16:16 (+ 00:36)

3. Ulrik Nordberg (Sweden) 16:24 (+ 00:44)

3. Christian Spoerry (Switzerland) 16:24 (+ 00:44)

5. Erik Rost (Sweden) 16:32 (+ 00:52)

6. Jorgen Madslien (Norway) 17:08 (+ 01:28)

ESOC Women

1. Tove Alexandersson (Sweden) 16:32 (+ 00:00)

2. Alena Trapeznikova (Russia) 17:03 (+ 00:31)

3. Mariya Kechkina (Russia) 17:38 (+ 01:06)

4. Tatyana Oborina (Russia) 17:53 (+ 01:21)

5. Magdalena Olsson (Sweden) 18:28 (+ 01:56)

6. Hana Hancikova (Czech Republic) 18:48 (+ 02:16)

JWSOC Men

1. Vladislav Kiselev (Russia) 16:23 (+ 00:00)

2. Sergey Gorlanov (Russia) 16:30 (+ 00:07)

3. Audun Heimdal (Norway) 16:52 (+ 00:29)

JWSOC Women

1. Anine Ahlsand (Norway) 15:24 (+ 00:00)

2. Noora Raisanen (Finland) 15:57 (+ 00:33)

3. Doris Kudre (Estonia) 16:02 (+ 00:38)

EYSOC Men

1. Nicola Mueller (Switzerland) 12:21 (+ 00:00)

2. Igor Linkevich (Russia) 13:18 (+ 00:57)

3. Nicolai Vlasov (Russia) 13:45 (+ 01:24)

EYSOC Women

1. Aleksandra Rusakova (Russia) 13:01 (+ 00:00)

2. Marina Vyatkina (Russia) 13:38 (+ 00:37)

3. Lea Widmer (Switzerland) 13:59 (+ 00:58)

[Photo: Orienteering.lt / facebook.com/orienteering.lt/photos]

Joaquim Margarido