Portuguese MTBO Championships 2016: Ferreira and Pontes got the Middle titles

João Ferreira and Susana Pontes got the Portuguese MTBO titles of Middle Distance in the Men Elite class and Women Elite class, respectively. Held last Saturday in Barcelos and organized by the Amigos da Montanha, the race registered the participation of 100 athletes, some from the neighboring Spain.

A little more than a month to the World MTBO Championships, that will take place in Portugal, the Portuguese Orienteering Federation and the Amigos da Montanha club organized once more a MTB orienteering weekend, calling to Barcelos a hundred of participants. The event program offered two Middle Distance stages, both scoring for the Portuguese MTB Orienteering Cup, with the extra of the Portuguese Championships of Middle Distance, taking place in the competition's first day.

In the Men Elite class, João Ferreira (CA Bairrada) got the national title for the second time in a row, beating Marco Palinha (CP Abrunheira) for nearly five minutes. After winning the national title of Sprint last April, the “bairradino” showed once more his good shape, climbing emphatically to the top of the podium. In the women's race, the winner was the Spanish Monica Aguilera (Tierra Trágame), but in the title's accounts Susana Pontes (COC) kept the gold in this distance for the eighth time in her career - the fourth time in a row -, imposing to Ana Filipa Silva (CPOC) by the short difference of 14 seconds. Luis Barreiro (NADA) and Tânia Covas Costa completed the Elite podiums in Men and Women class, respectively.

The stage on the second day had the same winners, with João Ferreira to feel in trouble to beat Daniel Marques (COC) and Monica Aguilera to back off easily Susana Pontes. In the sum of the two stages, João Ferreira and Monica Aguilera won the “Barcelos MTBO Open 2016” by a wide margin, relegating to the immediate positions Luis Barreiro and Marco Palhinha in the Men class and Susana Pontes and Ana Filipa Silva in the Women class.

Results

Middle Distance / National Championships

Men Elite

1. João Ferreira (CA Bairrada) 47:15 (+ 00:00)

2. Marco Palhinha (CP Abrunheira) 52:24 (+ 05:09)

3. Luis Barreiro (NADA) 54:04 (+ 06:49)

4. Paul Roothans (CN Alvito) 56:28 (+ 09:13)

5. Arnaldo Mendes (ADM Ori-Mondego) 59:20 (+ 12:05)

Women Elite

1. Monica Aguilera (Tierra Trágame) 59:23 (+ 00:00)

2. Susana Pontes (COC) 1:03:57 (+ 04:34)

3. Ana Filipa Silva (CPOC) 1:04:11 (+ 04:48)

4. Ana Varela Yañez (Brigantia Aventura) 1:06:06 (+ 06:43)

5. Tânia Covas Costa (.COM) 1:10:27 (+ 11:04)

Middle Distance Day 2

Men Elite

1. João Ferreira (CA Bairrada) 57:56 (+ 00:00)

2. Daniel Marques (COC) 58:09 (+ 00:13)

3. Luis Barreiro (NADA) 1:03:46 (+ 05:50)

4. Angel Garcia Garcia (Brigantia Aventura) 1:06:02 (+ 08:06)

5. Marco Palhinha (CP Abrunheira) 1:06:58 (+ 09:02)

Women Elite

1. Monica Aguilera (Tierra Trágame) 56:04 (+ 00:00)

2. Susana Pontes (COC) 1:01:43 (+ 05:39)

3. Ana Filipa Silva (CPOC) 1:04:10 (+ 08:06)

4. Tânia Covas Costa (.COM) 1:06:34 (+ 10:30)

5. Noémia Magalhães (Amigos da Montanha) 1:13:46 (+ 17:42)

Complete results and further information at http://www.amigosdamontanha.com/?it=event&cop=2065&co=4112.

[Photo: Orientação Amigos da Montanha / facebook.com/orientacaoamigosdamontanha/]

Joaquim Margarido

Florian Howald: "My heart beats for the Middle Distance"

To Florian Howald, being part of the Swiss Team is “a privilege” , even if it has prevented him from participating in the most awaited international Orienteering competition. But the World Championships are here and Howald won't miss it this time. The results achieved in the recent European Championships are promising and is ambitiously that the young Swiss looks on the Strömstad's battles.


I would start by asking you a quite simple and obvious question: Who is Florian Howald?

Florian Howald (F. H.) - I am a 25 year old Swiss who learned to love orienteering already as a child through my family. Since 2010 I live in Zurich to combine orienteering with my studies at ETH Zurich where I have one year left for my Master degree in Environmental Engineering. One of my hobbies is the Finnish language since I spend some weeks in Finland every year. Not surprisingly, I also love to relax in the sauna with some friends after a tough training day. Apart from orienteering, I really enjoy doing a nice tour on road bike and mountain bike. In winter I love to XC-Skiing a lot, especially in beautiful Finnish Lapland. I don't have a real life motto, but I answer to this question often with the following sentence: “Feel the Flow of Orienteering”. I think everyone of us has experienced such moments in the forest but still it's difficult to describe in words. The feeling of the focused and positive attitude when everything in the forest just 'flows' also helps me in other parts of life.

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

F. H. - My parents took my brother Severin and me already as children to orienteering races, and we liked it a lot. I have good memories about O-camps as a small boy, about family holidays in Scandinavia including orienteering and about winning races in M12; so it must have been love at first sight.

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

F. H. - I can't imagine other sport where the competition conditions (terrain) vary so much as in Orienteering. This variation in challenges makes the orienteer life really interesting, not only during competitions but more importantly also during the training period. I also like a lot that all over the globe in Orienteering you meet so much friendly people you can get along well with, even when you are fighting against each other during competitions.

Florian versus Severin. How important is your brother in your successful career?

F. H. - I admire my brother Severin a lot. He often shows me how to push my limits, even if the odds are against you. Earlier we were training a lot together, pushing us both forward as 'Team Howald' and sharing problems and work-a-rounds. Severin's passion for orienteering is unique and therefore he has always been and still is my most valuable person for discussing every aspect of Orienteering and other parts of life.

In a land of FootO huge names, what is to be a Swiss orienteer and be part of the National team?

F. H. - Being part of such a strong and very professionally coached Swiss Team I always see it positive and as a privilege. The level in our trainings and camps is extremely high, in the team discussions I can learn from experiences of World Champions and trying to challenge my teammates makes me much stronger. Downside is, of course, that I haven't been able to take part in a WOC yet, but EOC has showed me that being part of the Swiss Team pushes me forward a lot.

We could see you performing really well in the Czech Republic, during the European Championships? Did you expect such results?

F. H. - My result goals are usually defined in winter time, back then I expected from me that I will fight for top6 places in EOC. But when leaving to Jeseník I didn't think about results anymore. I knew that my shape was really good, probably the best shape I ever had so far. So I felt really confident and could just do the job without having any doubts about shape, etc.

I ask you to look back on the Relay gold. Can you remember the strongest moments of that amazing race?

F. H. - There were several moments. The emptiness in the finish after my first leg, happy about my race but not really about the result. Then the moment when Daniel misses and suddenly Baptiste is ahead and on 3rd place. That was a moment of mixed feelings. Then, on the last leg, at the last forking, where Martin made a gap to the other teams was a strong moment since I started to realize we could win this whole thing. The strongest moment though was the joy just after the finish line, telling Martin (who didn't know yet) we had the Gold and celebrating with my teammates.

The media emphasized the fact that the gold was achieved by the Swiss team 2. How intense was that particular battle against Daniel Hubmann and the Kyburz brothers, Andreas and Matthias?

F. H. - I never saw this as a battle between Swiss team 1 and Swiss team 2, but more as a fight of Switzerland against the other teams / nations. We were preparing together and this victory is also a result for the whole team. Of course there were jokes that, anyway, all guys want to be in Swiss Team 2 since last 2 EOCs (2012 and 2014) SUI2 was placed better than SUI1.

Bronze in the Sprint and 5th in the Middle Distance. Have you some thoughts about these two successful races?

F. H. - Recently I have had many sprint races where I was near the lead for some time in the beginning, loosing time and places towards the end to physical reasons or mistakes. I knew that it's a matter of time until I will run my perfect sprint race from start to finish. Before the sprint in Jeseník I felt so confident about the terrain that I thought why not do it today. Luckily after Sprint Bronze I had some time to relax, especially in my head. It was not so easy for me to get back the full focus for the following challenges but with the help of our coaches I did a good job. The Middle Distance was the race I enjoyed most since it was really interesting, with changing challenges and I was really happy with my 5th place.

If I asked you to choose the Orienteering Achievement of the EOC 2016, what would it be from your point of view?

F. H. - The two Gold medals for my teammate Matthias are of course outstanding, especially taking his first medal in a forest-discipline by winning the Middle Distance. I was also really impressed by the finish sprint of Merja Rantanen taking the Relay gold for Finland. Given the fact that she ran all the races during the whole week this was a great achievement.

How do you rate the EOC overall?

F. H. - The EOC was very well organized! The terrains were very interesting, often with varying challenges throughout the races. In my opinion we got offered a lot of pure orienteering with no compromises.

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

F. H. - Yes, indeed it's a challenge. I haven't been to a WOC before, so my main task now is to secure a place in the Swiss Team. But since I love the terrain around Strömstad and feel confident about its challenges, I'm really positive. I'm sure the Swedes will organize a great WOC so I would be so happy to have my debut in Strömstad.

Would you like to share your main goals? Does your bet go to a particular distance?

F. H. - My heart beats for the Middle Distance, and since the Swiss Team has five places (individual places for Matthias and Daniel) I will go hard for one of those. On the other hand I have had my best individual results so far in the Sprint, so I am of course not going to neglect my strengths there.

Who will be your main adversaries?

F. H. - For me, the main adversaries in orienteering are the terrain and the course; this won't be different in WOC in Sweden. Unless I won't be able to run the course in the best possible way, I'll be happy in the finish.

Would you like to share your biggest dream?

F. H. - Maybe a bit stereotype, but in orienteering I dream about standing on the podium and hearing the Swiss National Anthem after running a perfect race. This was so much fun in Czech Republic that I definitely want to experience it again, why not in some WOC or in EOC 2018 on home ground?!

Joaquim Margarido

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