Jukola 2016: Historical victory for Koovee

Mother of all relays, the Jukola called to Lappeenranta, this year, 1717 teams for a night as exciting as windy and rainy. In the end of seven hard legs – with the arena run-through being a newness in 68 editions of the popular Relay -, Koovee got the winning, inscribing its name for the first time ever in Jukola's table of honour.

In a cold and rainy night, orienteering's heat was stronger in Lappeenranta, where 1717 teams from 16 countries took part in the 68th edition of Jukola Relay. With Jerker Lysell running the first leg, Rehns BK was the first team taking the lead, with less than one minute advantage on Halden SK, Angelniemen Ankkuri and IFK Moras OK. Even closer than the precedent, the second leg didn't aport important moves in the lead, with Jan Troeng (OK Linné) being first, in front of a group of 26 teams in a one minute interval. Often decisive, the third leg – the long night leg, with 14,1 km – didn't bring big changes in the lead, although some teams launch here some of its major trumps. In a particular fight that included Timo Sild (Koovee), Olav Lundanes (Halden SK), Baptiste Rollier (Kalevan Rasti) or Anders Nordberg (Nydalens SK), Gustav Bergman was the fastest, giving the lead to OK Ravinen.

Jani Myllärinen kept the Koovee's good pace, achievieng a 56 seconds advantage on Halden SK in the end of the fourth leg and Jani Lakanen could save the lead in the end of the fifth leg. Malungs OK Skogsmårdarna was now second, at 53 seconds to the lead. Halden SK, Kalevan Rasti and Södertälje Nykvirn were the following teams, respectively 1:10, 1:44 and 2:03 behind Koovee. The penultimate leg was really impressive, with Olexandr Kratov performing amazingly and getting a 4:38 gap to the second placed, Kalevan Rasti. The Ukranian was the key for a victory that Daniel Hubmann would confirm in the last leg with the time of 8:03:46 overall. Fredrik Bakkman was the fastest in this leg, making IFK Lidingö SOK ascended to the final second place, 1:20 behind Koovee. Kalevan Rasti – with Thierry Gueorgiou in the last leg – got the third place, the same as at 10 Mila, last May. With this result, Koovee see is name as Jukola winner for the first time ever in its history and Daniel Hubmann got the triumph for the second year in a row, after his victory in front of Kristiansand OK last year. Kristiansand OK finished this time in the 26th position, with more 31:57 than the winner.

Results

1. Koovee (Anjala, Sild, Sild, Myllärinen, Lakanen, Kratov, Hubmann) 8:03:46 (+ 00:00)

2. IFK Lidingö SOK (Dent, Dahlgren, Haines, Sandberg, Østerbø, Sandberg, Bakkman) 8:05:06 (+ 01:20)

3. Kalevan Rasti (Asikainen, Airila, Rollier, Prochazka, Hertner, Petrzela, Gueorgiou) 8:06:14 (+ 02:28)

4. Malungs OK Skogsmårdarna (Rost, Lööf, Bäckman, Carlsson, Östlin, Andersson, Lind) 8:09:17 (+ 05:31)

5. Halden SK (Ruedlinger, Huovila, Lundanes, Björlo, Hovind, Wingstedt, Dæhli) 8:09:30 (+ 05:44)

6. IFK Göteborg (Eden, Pilblad, Högstrand, Bråten, Jonasson, Bejmer, Kinneberg) 8:09:41 (+ 05:55)

7. Södertälje Nykvarn (Pawlak, Ohlsson, Lundanes, Enmark, Börjeskog, Street, Leandersson) 8:13:05 (+ 09:19)

8. Frol IL (Lyngen, Vister, Indgaard, Skjeset, Sirum, Skogstad, Indgaard) 8:15:02 (+ 11:16)

9. OK Linné (Löfås, Troeng, Andersson, Troeng, Andersson, Sjöberg, Ridefelt) 8:15:24 (+ 11:38)

10. Hildenkiertäjät (Patana, Hall, Liukkonen, Kivela, Koistinen, Novikov, Novikov) 8:15:38 (+ 11:52)

See the complete results and further information at http://www.jukola.com/2016/en/.

[Photo: © Tommi Joutjärvi / facebook.com/jukolanviesti]

Joaquim Margarido

Venla 2016: Halden SK got the winning

For the fifth time in its history, the norwegian team of Halden SK won the Venla Relay. After four intense legs, Sabine Hauswirth, Hollie Orr, Anni-Maija Fincke and Mari Fasting proved to be the fastest of the 1391 teams that lined at the start. The Finnish teams of Tampereen Pyrintö and SK Pohjantähti finished second and third, respectively.

Sara Hagström was the first to complete the 7,1 km of the first leg, launching the Falköpings AIK OK team to a 4 seconds lead on the norwegian team of Halden SK, with Sabine Hauswirth as first athlete. This leg was quite close, with the first 26 teams separated by less than one minute. On the second leg, Kajsa Risby (OK Kåre) and Anna Forsberg (Göteborg Majorna OK) did an excellent job, getting a 47 seconds gap to the third team, Angelniemen Ankkuri, an advantage of 1:29 and over on the MS Parma and the following teams. The third leg brought new changes in the race's head, with Sofia Haajanen (SK Pohjantähti) and Anni-Maija Fincke (Halden SK) performing better than the concurrence and giving to their clubs the leadership with the same time. Paimion Rasti, Tampereen Pyrintö, IFK Lidingö SOK and Järla Orienteering were the following teams, with more 0:33, 0:42, 1:09 and 1:50, respectively, than the leaders.

The last leg was amazing, with a start field that included some of the stronger athletes currently, like Mari Fasting (Halden SK), Marika Teini (SK Pohjantähti), Natalia Gemperle (Alfta ÖSA OK), Saila Kinni (Tampereen Pyrintö), Anna Bachman (IFK Lidingö SOK), Judith Wyder (Göteborg Majorna OK), Catherine Taylor (OK Linné), Lisa Risby (OK Kåre), Svetlana Mironova (Koovee) or Tove Alexandersson (Stora Tuna OK). In the first half of the race, Mari Fasting did a couple of small mistakes and Marika Teini was able to keep some advantage on the next teams, but Fasting was faster in the second half, achieving for Halden SK a well celebrated winning with the time of 3:06:04 overall. In the second position, with more 53 seconds than the winner, stayed Tampereen Pyrintö, with SK Pohjantähti being third with 3:07:46. Last edition's winner, Domnarvets GoIF, finished 20th, with more 11:21 than Halden SK.

Results

1. Halden SK (Sabine Hauswirth, Hollie Orr, Anni-Maija Fincke, Mari Fasting) 3:06:04 (+ 00:00)

2. Tampereen Pyrintö (Lotta Karhola, Sonja Kyrölä, Venla Harju, Saila Kinni) 3:06:57 (+ 00:53)

3. SK Pohjantähti (Heini Wennman, Marttiina Joensuu, Sofia Haajanen, Marika Teini) 3:07:47 (+ 01:43)

4. Koovee (Johanna Hulkkonen, Ulrika Uotila, Mia Niittynen, Svetlana Mironova) 3:09:42 (+ 03:38)

5. Göteborg Majorna OK (Viktoria Ernstsson, Anna Forsberg, Lina Strand, Judith Wyder) 3:09:43 (+ 03:39)

6. Alfta ÖSA OK (Galina Vinogradova, Sara Eskilsson, Josefine Engström, Natalia Gemperle) 3:10:09 (+ 04:05)

7. Stora Tuna OK (Anna Mårsell, Johanna Erlandsson, Julia Gross, Tove Alexandersson) 3:10:13 (+ 04:09)

8. IFK Lidingö SOK (Johanna Sanderi, Annica Gustafsson, Helena Karlsson, Anna Bachman) 3:10:18 (+ 04:14)

9. Paimion Rasti (Evelina Hirvonen, Salla Fagerudd, Inga Dambe, Saara Norrgraan) 3:10:19 (+ 04:15)

10. IFK Göteborg (Isia Basset, Anna Nähri, Elin Månsson, Kirsi Nurmi) 3:11:28 (+ 05:24)

To see full results and further information, please visit the event's webpage at http://www.jukola.com/2016/en/.

[Photo: © Tommi Joutjärvi / facebook.com/jukolanviesti]

Joaquim Margarido

Two or three things I know about it...

1. Preparing the MTBO World Cup 2017 and the World MTBO Championships 2018, the Austrian Orienteering Federation organized last weekend, the MTBO Austria Cup. With the Austrian Championships of Middle Distance taking place on Saturday and MTBO Austria Cup Long Distance closing the event, both competitions scored for the IOF MTBO World Ranking and had been attended by 300 competitors from seven different nations. Important tests for those who will be present next month in Portugal, in the World MTBO Championships, the event had in the Austrian Marina Reiner (Naturfreunde Villach – Oriente) its brightest star. On the first day she got a close win of 9 seconds on the Lithuanian Karolina Mickeviciute (OK Fortuna) and on the second she was 1:12 faster than the Slovakian Stanislava Fajtova (VBA ŠK VAZKA Bratislava). Reiner got her first title in Middle Distance, overthrowing the legendary Michaela Gigon, now second in the national competition. The Men Elite class saw the six times individual World Champion Ruslan Gritsan (Shimano Bergamont), Russia, winning the first day's competition, 37 seconds ahead of the Austrian Tobias Breitschädel (ASKÖ Henndorf). On the last day, Andreas Waldmann (OLT Transdanubien), Austria, got a comfortable 1:40 winning on the Czech Vojtech Stransky. Results, maps, photos and much more to know at http://www.wmtboc2018.at/wre2016/.

2. Well known for its carpets, beautiful white houses and tasteful wine, Arraiolos hosted the Portuguese Orienteering Championships of Middle Distance and Relay 2016. Organized by GafanhOri, Gafanhoeira Orienteering Club – Arraiolos, the event took place last weekend, attracting 430 competitors. João Mega Figueredo (CN Alvito) and Mariana Moreira (CPOC) got the Middle Distance titles in the Elite class, followed respectively by Tiago Gingão Leal and Liliana Oliveira, both from GD4C. Rafael Miguel (OriEstarreja) and Patrícia Casalinho (COC) closed the podium. 114 teams took part in the Relay, with GD4C (Tiago Gingão Leal, Filipe Farinha and Alfredo Gualdino) and CPOC (Vera Alvarez, Beatriz Moreira and Mariana Moreira) taking the gold in the Men Elite class and Women Elite class, respectively. ADFA and CN Alvito followed the GD4C in the Men class, while COC and GC4C were second and third, respectively, in the Women class. Complete results and further information at http://gafanhori.wix.com/cndme2016.

3. The Italian Luca Dallavalle is, since last 13th June, the new leader of the IOF MTBO World Ranking. World Champion in Sprint - title achieved in August 2015 in Liberec, Czech Republic -, Dallavalle replaces in the first position the Russian Anton Foliforov, after a long reign of 759 consecutive days. The changes in the Men ranking are punctual, with the French Baptiste Fuchs and Cédric Beill to register the most significant falls. The Portuguese Davide Machado moved up one position and occupies now the 19th place. In the women's ranking, the Czech Martina Tichovská and the British Emily Benham continue to occupy by this order the two first positions. Here too, the changes are minor, with the Swedish Cecilia Thomasson, who decided not to compete this season, recording the biggest loss. The Spanish Monica Aguilera keeps the upward trend and, after a four-position profit, occupies now the 36th place. The complete rankings can be consulted at http://ranking.orienteering.org/Ranking.

4. To improve the IT quality at Championships and World Cup events, the IOF Council has decided on the immediate implementation of a new set of recommendations. “The aim is to secure high quality events. With today’s online possibilities, IT is the most important component for increasing and improving the visibility of orienteering. It has unfortunately also proven to be the most complex and sensitive part of event organisation”, says IOF CEO Tom Hollowell. The new recommendations have three main parts; IT Quality Requirements documents, which the IT Commission has been developing, will be finalised and included in the contracts between the IOF and event organisers, an IT Senior Event Advisor role will be instituted for all major events, and the IOF office will accredit and contract with service providers for timekeeping, punching and GPS systems. The background to these recommendations is trouble with punching and timekeeping systems at events during the last few years. The recommendations are based on an analysis of the overall scope of IT requirements, carried out by the IT commission at the request of the IOF Council, following the cancelled World Cup event in Sweden last summer. “The recommendations are aimed at facilitating the work of event organisers regarding the wide range of IT systems at an IOF major event, and will hopefully reduce the number of IT related errors organisers have had to deal with”, says Tom Hollowell.

[Photo: Paul Grün / picasaweb.google.com]

Joaquim Margarido

Riccardo Rossetto: "The main goal is to be in good shape for the World Championships"

Riccardo Rossetto is, today, the guest of honor of the Portuguese Orienteering Blog. At the age of 24, the Italian faces the challenge of another season with the ambition to do better and win a solid place in the world of MTB orienteering's firmament. Here, he looks on the last World Cup round, projects his feelings about the World MTBO Championships and... keeps his dreams as they are.

The first question is always the easiest. Who is Riccardo Rossetto?

Riccardo Rossetto (R. R.) - I was born in 5th November 1991 in Schio, a small city near the Venetian Prealps, north of Italy. Since I was young, my parents involved me in steep trekking or Alpine Skiing. The only TV programs I was allowed to watch were the Ski World Cup and the Giro d' Italia. Since then I’m an enthusiast of sports, especially Skiing. In my free time, I like to meet little unknown bands’ gigs. I’m attending the last year of Environmental Engineering (Bachelor) in Trento. I share my time between studies and trainings, but fortunately I don’t work.

How did Orienteering come to your life? Was it love at first sight?

R. R. - I’ve ever had the passion for trekking maps. I was used to imagine the reality from the maps and then go through it to see the difference. However, orienteering as a sport came lately in my life: the first time was in the high school, when I tried a short race in couple with a friend. I still remember my disappointment because we finished second although we were really strong in running. We had trouble to find a control, missing the first position. In that period I was doing MTB Cross Country and I didn’t think about a future in this sport.  The real MTBO partnership started in 2009.

Could you tell me something else about that “partnership”? Was there a moment, a “click”, when you said to yourself: “That’s it, MTBO is my sport”?

R. R. - So… it started in 2009. In a trip through the Alps I met a friend of my father with a holder on his bike and a touring map inside. I was surprised because I didn’t imagine that would be possible to read a map while biking. I was about to be sick of cross country and I would like to try a new sport. So in September I did my first MTBO race with ASD Misquilenses. The first impact was strange, because I couldn’t read well while biking. However, the result was immediately brilliant. I was surprised and even more that I could easily improve my performances in the following years. Surely, the Junior World MTBO Championship in Italy (2011), where I got a silver medal in the Long Distance, gave me a great impulse to commit myself with the sport. It wasn’t easy at all because I had a knee problem that hindered my trainings and that lasts until the last year.

What do you see in MTBO that makes it so special?

R. R. - The fast decisions you have to make. If you choose wrongly you can lose minutes. It’s mentally hard to decide about the best route choice in a few seconds; sometimes you have to follow your instinct because it's impossible to check all the pros and cons in a detailed way.

In a land of MTBO huge names, what does it mean to be an Italian MTB orienteer and belong to the national team?

R. R. – We are a small team. Usually, we travel with a single van so we stay strictly in contact to each other for 6, 8 weeks a year. It’s like a family where every people counts for the group. Surely Laura Scaravonati, Giaime Origgi and Luca Dallavalle are a reference for me and a great help to improve as athlete.

Is there a MTB orienteer that you see as your idol?

R. R. - Yes, Luca Dallavalle has always been my idol since I started MTBO because, besides being really strong physically, he is also really smart to simplify the map in his head.

What does he have that you (still) don't?

R. R. - A little bit of all.

We could see you performing really well in France, during the World Cup first round. Did you expect the 6th place in the Long Distance?

R. R. - No, I didn’t. It was a race with difficult weather conditions that penalized the last athletes to start. I wasn’t happy with my race because I lost three minutes in the last four controls. After my arrival I saw that also some athletes from the red group had problems in the final controls so I began to think that my race wasn't as bad as that.

Two mispunches in the Middle and the Relay are quite disappointing, I believe. Anyway, would you like to share with us your thoughts about those two races?

R. R. - In the Middle I was trying to push harder than I could and during a downhill I lost the circle of my control so I jumped to the next one. In addition to this, I realize that I had also cut accidentally through a vineyard. The relay was a damned race for the Italian team. This time, Luca did a mispunch and my race was influenced for a bad crash where the frame of the bike got broken. But I don't feel sad for these results because I tried to do my best, maybe pushing a bit over the limit.

The next big challenge it's called World MTB Orienteering Championships. Can you feel already some good vibrations about that?

R. R. - Yes, the season has been positive so far but the main goal is to be in good shape for the WMTBOC. I’ve been training very well and I have programmed a vacation period before the event.

You've been to Portugal several times and you know the country quite well. What kind of event are you expecting?

R. R. - Sure, Portugal has organized a lot of important events these years and the standards are always excellent. I’m sure that this WMTBOC will confirm the past work.

What are your main goals? Does your bet go to a particular distance?

R. R. - I want to prepare the Sprint race. My aim is to reach the top 10. In the other distances I would be happy to finish in the top 20.

Who will be your major opponents?

R. R. - The adversaries could be the external factors. I have to keep the right concentration and not distract myself. At least, I like both the Portuguese terrain and the hot weather.

You are now the 25th placed in the IOF MTBO World Ranking and the 19th in the World Cup. How close to the top positions do you expect to be in the end of the season?

R. R. - I always think that reaching the top 30 is a good thing. Nevertheless the human species always want to outdo themselves so I expect to be in the top 20 in both rankings in the end of the season.

Would you like to share with us your biggest dream?

R. R. - When you reveal your dream it becomes a purpose. That's why I want to keep my dreams as they are.

Joaquim Margarido

Galina Vinogradova: A moment, a comment...

“During the first three legs I was in the quarantine and I had no exact information about the race's development. There was a screen in the quarantine, but Russia didn’t appear in the list of the team's positions, so I thought that my team would either be in the lead or had been disqualified. Then I could hear the speaker saying that our team (Andrei Khramov) was in the 2nd position. But in any case I thought that we would fight for the medals.

I took the first control together with Helena Jansson and Rahel Friederich. I felt comfortable with their speed. After the 9th control Maja Alm took the lead. I kept in touch before the last forking (13-14-15-16), a few seconds behind. When I punched control 16, I thought that Maja made a gap. I saw a girl on the street – in fact from Bulgaria, on her way to the 9th control – and I thought she was Maja. Before the last control, I looked around and I could see another girl, but I didn’t realize that she was Maja Alm. And only when I met my team-mates in the marked route to the finish, I realized that I was the first one.

But Orienteering is not just running, you have to wait until the SI-card has been reading. This time, the organizers made it quickly, I could confirm that punching was OK and our team had won the gold medal.”

Galina Vinogradova, Russian Federation

2016.05.21 – Sprint Relay; EOC 2016, Bruntál, Czech Republic

[Photo: Petr Kadeřávek / kade.cz/EOC2016]