ESOC 2017: Event's last gold medals for Sweden and Russia

Sweden and Russia honoured, once again, the position of leading nations of the European Ski Orienteering Championships 2017, achieving a gold medal each in the Relay that put an ending on the event.

The last Final of the European Ski Orienteering Championships 2017 knew several nuances, turning the victory's momentum into a constant fight along three exciting legs. In the Men Class, the first leg allowed Russia and Sweden to confirm the condition of natural favourites to the European title, followed by the Bulgarian team, led by Stanimir Belomazhev, and the vibrantly applauded home team, Finland, after a remarkable performance of Tero Linnainmaa. The particular duel between Ulrik Nordberg, Sweden and the Russians Eduard Khrennikov and Kiril Veselov, in the second leg, showed the plus sign clearly moving to Nordberg's side, who would pass the testimony to Erik Rost with a 1:25 advantage over the runner-up, Eduard Khrennikov, from Russia 2. But Rost didn't have an easy entry on the map and was eventually caught by Sergei Gorlanov in the second half of the final leg, against the impotence of Russian Andrey Lamov to shorten a nearly two-minute disadvantage to the lead. From this moment, there was a tremendous battle between the two top contenders, with the biggest experience of the Swedish adding value over the Russian's youth. In the end, gold for Sweden with the overall time of 1:30:11, with Russia finishing in second place, 15 seconds after the winners. The bronze medal was reached by Finland, with an overall time of 1:32:30.

In the Women class, Russia, Sweden and Finland took the lead since the beginning, with the two teams from each of the three nations finishing the first leg separated by only 17 seconds. Finland lost contact to the lead in the second leg, with Sweden and Russia fighting shoulder by shoulder and having a six-second difference between them at the start for the third leg. With everything ready to watch another exciting match between Tove Alexandersson and Mariya Kechkina, the great Swedish athlete, leader of the World Ranking and European Champion of Sprint and Long Distance currently, experienced lots of difficulties along the race, finishing in the third place. Russia recorded an overall time of 1:27:35 in the end, against 1:28:24 from Finland, after an amazing performance of Salla Koskela, faster than anyone in the last leg by more than two minutes. In the sum of medals achieved in this edition of the European Ski Orienteering Championships, Russia stand out with five gold medals, three silver medals and five bronze medals. Sweden, with three gold medals, three silver and two bronze, Norway, with one gold medal and Finland, with three silver medals and two bronze, closed the event's Board of Honour.

Results

Men

1. Sweden (Martin Hammarberg, Ulrik Nordberg, Erik Rost) 1:30:11 (+ 00:00)

2. Russia (Vladimnir Barchukov, Eduard Khrennikov, Sergey Gorlanov) 1:30:26 (+ 00:15)

3. Finland (Tero Linnainmaa, Jyri Uusitalo, Ville Petteri Saarela) 1:32:30 (+ 02:18)

4. Norway (Bjornar Kvale, Oeyvind Watterdal, Lars Moholdt) 1:32:56 (+ 02:44)

5. Latvia (Raivo Kivlenieks, Andris Kivlenieks, Nauris Raize) 1:35:16 (+ 05:04)

6. Czech Republic (Jakub Skoda, Petr Horvat, Radek Laciga) 1:35:17 (+ 05:05)

Women

1. Russia (Alena Trapeznikova, Polina Frolova, Mariya Kechkina) 1:27:35 (+ 00:00)

2. Finland (Mirka Suutari, Marjut Turunen, Salla Koskela) 1:28:24 (+ 00:49)

3. Sweden (Frida Sandberg, Magdalena Olsson, Tove Alexandersson) 1:28:52 (+ 01:17)

4. Czech Republic (Petra Hancova, Johanka Simkova, Kristyna Kolinova) 1:39:57 (+ 12:22)

Complete results and further information at http://skiofinland.fi/en.

Joaquim Margarido

JWSOC & EYSOC 2017: Kiselev take it all

In the Middle Distance, the last individual Final of the Junior World Ski Orienteering Championships 2017 and the European Youth Ski Orienteering Championships 2017, Russia and Finland shared equally the four gold medals. As in previous Finals, Liisa Nenonen, Vladislav Kiselev, Veronika Kalinina and Vaino Kotro were the strongest, but Kiselev was the only one to make it to the top of the podium for the third time in a row.

The competition in the Men 20 class was once again dominated by the Russian Vladislav Kiselev, who thus repeated the first position achieved in the Sprint and in the Long Distance, the two precedent finals of the Junior World Ski Orienteering 2017. Kiselev's superiority was of 2:41 on his compatriot Aleksandr Pavlenko, after having finished the course with the time of 35:45. Like in the first day of JWSOC 2017, the Women 20 class' podium was entirely filled by the colors of Finland, with Liisa Nenonen and Tuuli Suutari reissuing last Wednesday's duel, whose final result was in favour of Nenonen again, this time by the difference of 54 seconds.

Today's program of the European Youth Ski Orienteering Championships 2017 were also filled by the Middle Distance races in which the Finn Vaino Kotro and the Russian Veronika Kalinina repeated the excellent performances of the Long Distance race last Thursday and won their second gold of the Championships. Vaino Kotro was the winner of the Men 17 class with the time of 35:05, while the second place went to the Czech Jan Hasek, with 1:12 more than the winner. As in the Long Distance Final, Veronika Kalinina and the Finnish Siiri Saalo were once again the top two players in the Women 17 class, waging an intense duel that ended with a difference of 31 seconds between the two athletes.

Results

JWSOC

Middle Distance

Men 20

1. Vladislav Kiselev (Russia) 35:45 (+ 00:00)

2. Aleksandr Pavlenko (Russia) 38:26 (+ 02:41)

3. Rasmus Wickborn (Sweden) 39:50 (+ 04:05)

Women 20

1. Liisa Nenonen (Finland) 39:58 (+ 00:00)

2. Tuuli Suutari (Finland) 40:52 (+ 00:54)

3. Veera Klemettinen (Finland) 41:01 (+ 01:03)

EYSOC

Middle Distance

Men 17

1. Vaino Kotro (Finland) 35:05 (+ 00:00)

2. Jan Hasek (Czech Republic) 36:17 (+ 01:12)

3. Eerik Nurminen (Finland) 36:21 (+ 01:16)

Women 17

1. Veronika Kalinina (Russia) 35:25 (+ 00:00)

2. Siiri Saalo (Finland) 35:56 (+ 00:31)

3. Elin Schagerstrom (Sweden) 37:33 (+ 02:08)

Complete results and further information at http://skiofinland.fi/en.

Joaquim Margarido

ESOC 2017: Gold for Moholdt and Alexandersson in the Middle Distance

In the fourth day of competition, the European Ski Orienteering Championhips 2017 knew a different winner in the Men class. Lars Moholdt broke Andrey Lamov's winning series, repeating the first place achieved last year in Obertilliach, Austria. In the Women class, Tove Alexandersson reached the gold for the second time this year.

After three consecutive gold medals, the Russian Andrey Lamov experienced lots of problems in the Long Distance race that filled the program of the fourth day of the European Ski Orienteering Championships 2017 and, quite soon, was unable to fight for the top positions. The balance was a constant, with the top six finishing close to each others. Great hero of Obertilliach, after reaching the three individual gold medals of the ESOC 2016, Lars Moholdt, Norway, was able to disguise a less succeeded week so far, performing at the highest level and winning with the time of 26:15. The second place went to the Russian Kiril Veselov with 24 seconds more, while his team mate, Andrey Grigoriev, reached the third place, 26 seconds behind Moholdt.

In the Women class, the Russian Mariya Kechkina and the Swedish Tove Alexandersson repeated the vibrant duel of ESOC 2016, this time with the victory smiling to Alexandersson with the time of 43:12. Mariya Kechkina would finish her race 1:33 after the winner, with the third position being achieved by the European Long Distance Champion in title, the Russian Alena Trapeznikova, with the time of 45:20. The Finn Salla Koskela was able to meddle in this particular contest between Russians and Swedes for the top 6 places, finishing in the 5th position with more 3:08 than the winner.

Results

Men class

1. Lars Moholdt (Norway) 42:02 (+ 00:00)

2. Kiril Veselov (Russia) 42:26 (+ 00:24)

3. Andrey Grigoriev (Russia) 42:28 (+ 00:26)

4. Ville Petteri Saarela (Finland) 42:30 (+ 00:28)

5. Tero Linnainmaa (Finland) 42:41 (+ 00:39)

6. Martin Hammarberg (Sweden) 42:44 (+ 00:42)

Women class

1. Tove Alexandersson (Sweden) 43:12 (+ 00:00)

2. Mariya Kechkina (Russia) 44:45 (+ 01:33)

3. Alena Trapeznikova (Russia) 45:20 (+ 02:08)

4. Anastasia Kravchenko (Russia) 45:59 (+ 02:47)

5. Salla Koskela (Finland) 46:20 (+ 03:08)

5. Polina Frolova (Russia) 46:20 (+ 03:08)

Complete results and further information at http://skiofinland.fi/en.

Joaquim Margarido

WMSOC 2017: 19 World titles achieved by the Finn Masters

Making the most of competing at home, Finnish skiers showed an overwhelming superiority on the opening day of the World Masters Ski Orienteering Championships 2017. In Imatra, they achieved 19 gold medals, with the remaining three titles being reached by Russia.

The Long Distance that filled yesterday's European Ski Orienteering Championships 2017's program also stretched to the World Masters Ski Orienteering Championships 2017, bringing together in Imatra, northeastern Finland, 399 veteran competitors representing 19 nations. Competing at home, the Finns were a strong presence, represented by 251 athletes. Russia followed with 66 representatives, Latvia with 13 and Sweden with 11.

In the 12 Men competition classes, the highlight goes to the eleven gold medals achieved by Finnish athletes. Ilya Gusev, Russia, was the great outsider, becoming World Champion in the Men 45 class. Finnish domination extended to the rest of the podium, with ten silver and nine bronze medals, against only one silver and one bronze for Russia. Individually, it's important to mention the victories of Finns Mika Häkkinen (Men 40) and Heikki Saarinen (Men 65), revalidating the world titles reached in 2016 in Oberwiesenthal, Germany, and the triumph of Arvo Majoinen, Finland, in Men 90 class. The Men's competition registered the biggest difference between the top two, with the Finn Pentti Pelkonen being stronger than his compatriot Eero Liski by 11:04, in Men 85.

The women's competition was distributed in ten categories and had the participation of 129 athletes. Also here, Finland showed itself in a plan of evidence, reaching eight world titles, against two of Russia. It was also possible to see the colors of Sweden in the World podium thanks to Carina Sandberg's third place in Women 50. In addition to the eight world titles, Finland also won nine silver and five bronze medals, while Russia joined to the two gold medals, one silver medal and four bronze medals. The Finn Pirkko Tahavanainen, in Women 75 class, was the only athlete to reach the World title for the second year in a row. One last note as a curiosity, since it was in the women's competition that there was the smallest difference between the winner and the runner-up. This happened in Women 50 class, with the Finn Arja Lotvonen winning on her compatriot Vuokko Suutari by narrow 21 seconds.

Complete results and further information at http://skiofinland.fi/en.

[Photo: Malin Fuhr / IOF / facebook.com/IOFarena]

Joaquim Margarido

Two or three things I know about it...

1. Less than 24 hours to the entries' deadline for the Portugal O' Meeting 2017, there are already more than 2,000 athletes looking forward to Alter do Chão, Crato and Portalegre where, from 25th to 28th February, will take place the 22nd edition of the most important FootO competition of the Winter calendar worldwide. Thierry Gueorgiou, Gustav Bergman, Magne Dæhli, Baptiste Rollier, Lauri Sild, Oleksandr Kratov, Gernot Kerschbaumer, Andreu Blanes, Frederic Tranchand, Olav Lundanes, Milos Nykodym, LucasBasset or Johan Runesson , are just some of the two hundred competitors in the Men Elite class. In the list of more than 100 competitors in the Women Elite class it's possible to see names such as Ursula Kadan, Anna Serralonga, Eva Jurenikova, Hollie Orr, Lizzie Ingham, Nadiya Volynska, Helena Jansson, Catherine Taylor or Simone Niggli. Joining the huge demand for the Portuguese competition, also the TrailO lovers make a point of attending the event. Guntars Mankus, Santiago Martin, Koji Chino, Mark Heikoop, Jorge Valente, Remo Madella, Zoltan Mihaczi, Bartlomiej Mazan, Gintaras Mikolavicius, Peter Huzan, António Hernandez and the Portuguese Inês Domingues, Luis Gonçalves, Cláudio Tereso, João Pedro Valente, Edgar Domingues, Jorge Baltazar and Ricardo Pinto are the heads of a list which includes 124 entries so far, the highest number ever registered in Portugal in a TrailO event. Everything to follow at http://pom.pt/2017/en/.

2. For those interested in Orienteering and its historical aspects, Halden SK has published an interesting book describing the club's maps drawing from 1928 to 2016. Here you can read about how Edgar G. Andersen and Kåre Varting signed the first Orienteering maps to the club before the Second World War, their followers Remne Vandet, Steffen Steffensen and Roar Andersen, the maps signed by Fritz Kohn, Larry Erntzen and Hans Kohn for the National Championships, the Bard E. Andersen's work as one of the creators of the modern Orienteering in Norway and the introduction of computer technology, OCAD and Laser Data - a revolution in the manufacture of orientation map! Finally, the book looks on the good and large map production in recent years with the use of skilled foreign mapmakers such as the Portuguese Tiago Martins Aires and Raquel Costa, who signed the maps of Strupeskogen, Venåsmarka, Høiås nord. To work can be seen at http://haldensk.no/dok/filer/kart/Karttegning_i_HSK_1928-2016_20170116.pdf.

3. International Orienteering Federation and International School Sport Federation have signed a Memorandum of Understanding in order to to cooperate with each other for the benefit of youth sport in general and more specifically for the continued growth of youth orienteering. The agreement between both institutions focuses the attention on two main aspects: firstly, on the relevance of the educational element of youth sport. Secondly, on the importance of the cooperation between the two federations in terms of harmonisation of the international calendar and organisation of events. In this respect, the first occasion that will see the fruits of this new cooperation will certainly be the Orienteering World School Championship taking place in Palermo, Italy, on 22-28 April, 2017. IOF and ISF will cooperate and coordinate the way school orienteering events shall be structured and organised. ISF showed great interest in the innovation and success of World Orienteering Day (WOD) in 2016. The coming years ISF will cooperate with the goal of attaining a significant global WOD participation in schools. The original article can be seen at http://orienteering.org/iof-and-isf-have-signed-a-memorandum-of-understanding/.

4. FinTrailO 2017's Bulletin 1 [HERE] has just been published. The event will take place in Espoo, from 29th to 30th April, and will be organised by the orienteering club OK 77. The first day's program includes the TempO competition and the PreO competition's first part. The PreO's second part wil take place on Sunday. There will be a national trail orienteering competition on Monday 1st May in Klaukkala, some 30 km from Espoo. Organiser is Rajamäen Rykmentti. PreO competitions are organised in two different kinds of terrains. PreO 1 will be held in normal Southern Finnish forest terrain with some open areas with very good visibility. PreO 2 is held in detailed terrain with cliffs and many contours. The road surface is on both days very good for wheelchairs. In steep hills there will be extra assistance. TempO terrain is a mix of urban, park and forest terrains with good visibility and good surface for wheelchairs. Athletes from the Czech Republic, Poland, Great Britain, Slovakia and Italy have entered the event so far. You can find all information at http://www.ok77.fi/fintrailo/.

Joaquim Margarido