New IOF branding

The new International Orienteering Federation branding has been published. The branding consists of a brand book with guidelines, logos, a visual toolkit and several useful templates.

The new IOF branding has been made to simplify graphical work and to help spread a unified image of the IOF.The IOF branding is based on the fundamental values of orienteering and is developed to fulfil the aims of the IOF.

The most significant news are the new general Orienteering logo, the new discipline logos/symbols and the new World Cup logos. The other logos are unchanged but user guidelines are included in the IOF Brand Book. All the templates are new and besides useful templates for Word, Powerpoint, a cover page for official documents, a template for advertising roll ups and a letterhead, the IOF Brand Book also gives examples of designed materials.

The IOF Brand Book and new logos are found here: http://orienteering.org/resources/communication/.

Dušan Furucz: "We need to simplify the rules"

Dušan Furucz isn’t "just" the World Champion of TrailO Relay. He is also the Director of the European Trail Orienteering Championships ETOC 2018 and one of the IOF Trail Orienteering Commissioners. Versatile, pushy and highly committed to TrailO, inside and outside his home country, Slovakia, he is the guest of the Portuguese Orienteering Blog for another great interview.

Some time ago, I had the chance to interview, separately, your brothers Ján and Peter. It's now your turn to be on the Portuguese Orienteering Blog's tribune and the first question is about Orienteering as a family sport. How important were your brothers (and, maybe, your parents too) in choosing your career?

Dušan Furucz (D. F.) - I think family is always very important in everybody's career. My father was a very good 800 metres runner but ended his career soon after he moved to the adult category. When I started orienteering, at the age of 10 and was coached by Pavol Mesiar, my father supported me enthusiastically. My brother Jan and my sister Ivona followed me shortly and, soon after, my father had taken over our training group, focusing on the Athletics' training method, balanced with a large amount of training with map. I can't forget about my mother, as well. Can you imagine a group of 20-30 children in our small flat before and after trainings? (laughs) My youngest brother Peter joined us about 10 years later. He was considerably younger. I can confirm that my best results were reached when my family directly supported me on the competitions.

Would you like to remember one or two decisive moments that made you adopt TrailO as your favourite sport?

D. F. - I wouldn't say that TrailO is my favourite sport. I'm still feeling more comfortable as a Foot orienteer (I like longer distances, as Long and Rogaining), but the reason for choosing TrailO is my family, of course. My brother Jan is very committed to developing TrailO in Slovakia and “blood is thicker than water”, so I'm helping him. After my first TrailO competition, in the Czech Republic, I was a little confused because it was too strange for me, but my opinion changed with the TempO. Now, I feel like balancing on the edge of TrailO. Nordic style competitions move me up and TrailO ones move me down. I have to say that we are very competitive, me and my brother, and we can't accept to be worse in any discipline. This is the main reason to improve my results in TrailO.

When you first appeared competing at the highest level – WTOC 2014, Italy -, the results achieved were totally surprising for many. We now know that your performances weren't a fluke and the world title in the TrailO Relay, achieved last year, is here to confirm it. Where is the secret of your success?

D. F. - I've always been a better mapper than runner and I'm able to read the terrain very quickly. I created a lot of maps for my club Farmaceut Bratislava and TrailO is a kind of competition for map makers or orienteering university for mapping techniques. As for success? I don't think that I'm a successful competitor. There have been some great results that may have caught me off guard (usually a podium on the first days or when my chances of achieving a good final result are gone), but all the time I had the possibility of getting a medal, I failed. I need to improve on my skills, specially those regarding focus. We get medals on the relay competitions because both Marian [Mikluš] and I are team players and we usually serve responsibly and perform greatly for the team in any orienteering discipline.

What are the most important skills for being a good trail orienteer?

D. F. - Good map reading and visualization are the two most important skills. But there are two other skills which provide a significant difference between average and excellent results. The first one is to stay calm when it counts and the second one is to understand what the course setter means on two or three control points which make the difference. This is the reason why my brother is better than me in the big competitions.

Please, complete the sentence: To be a Trail orienteer in Slovakia means...

D. F. - To be a Trail orienteer in Slovakia means to be a scout or pioneer. We are discovering this sport. Orienteering is a small sport in Slovakia but I think people know it historically, even from the time of Czechoslovakia. For example, the name Jozef Polák is still well-known and I could keep going with some other names. The TrailO is new and totally unknown for the Slovak public. We are presenting it as an integration orienteering discipline and we have to explain what TrailO is, but the awareness is improving. The main difficulty is the number of organizers. We need to improve it.

You're in charge of organizing the European Trail Orienteering Championships next year. How is the event's preparation going? Is everything under control?

D. F. - I hope that we are in time with the preparation's schedule. We would like to end all mapping work before summer. I finished the maps for the Relay and PreO day 1 and I'm working on spare terrains now. I'm expecting that the most courses will be done and checked by advisor Ari Tertsunen this month. My brother is preparing maps for TempO and we asked our well-known Slovak mapper Robert Miček to help us with the map for PreO day 2, to save time for other activities. I have to say that I'm also struggling a little with bureaucratic activities as Event Director because it's a totally new experience for me.

What kind of event can we expect?

D. F. - You can expect different terrains for each discipline, from flat in TempO to high steep slopes in PreO day2. We would like to prepare a fair competition with clear Zero tolerance and we want to be closer to Foot orienteering competitors. You cannot expect tricky tight Zero answers from us and controls with “between” description. I'm expecting that distance between the Zero answer and the closest flag will be more than 5m. You can find more information on our pages at www.etoc2018.sk.

Other particular task is the IOF TrailO Commission. How did you realize your nomination?

D. F. - I didn't expect to be nominated and it was a complete surprise. There are a lot more experienced IOF TrailO members, but I accept the position seeing a tendency for fresh air on it and acknowledgment of our effort to improve TrailO. I asked IOF for time to think about it but I finally agreed. It's a big privilege for me to help the TrailO community. To be honest, on this first year, I have to spare my time for another responsibilities, too. By the way, I would like to congratulate you on your nomination to the TrailO commission, too.

Thank you so much. Is Trail Orienteering moving in the right direction? Are there some priority subjects on which we have to work in order to have better and fair TrailO competitions?

D. F. - It's difficult to discuss the TrailO movement because I've only been doing it for a very short time. But my personal opinion is that we must make our sport more clear and transparent. It is not acceptable that other people see TrailO as a very complex and subjective sport and one day the answer is correct and the other day the same or similar answer is wrong. In brief, we need to simplify the rules, not create problems to the problems and finally, somehow, define the Zero tolerance.

Your brother Peter is developing an amazing game called Virtual-O. Did you ever think of it adapted to TrailO as an instrument for training?

D. F. - Yes, we discuss it very often during our training and consultations. I believe that TrailO courses will be part of VirtualO and we would like to use some live presentations on his program in our European Championships, too. To be honest, he needs more time for implementing all the features and new maps. Do you know that he spent his last year programming and left his job for this period? He returned to work in January and now he continues programming during his free time in the evening.

The season has already started and you were one of the attendants to Lipica TrailO 2017, for the Unofficial European Cup in Trail Orienteering's first round. Are you happy with your results?

D. F. - Yes and no. I don't like urban TempO and I knew that it would be totally different from last year's TempO in the forest, which I won. I tried to change my technique, reading all of the descriptions and finding safe answers but, in reality, I lost 60-90 seconds by reading, plus I made some stupid mistakes finding some “creative” solutions. I have to return to my old, quick style. The PreO competition was very tight and I lost my focus on two controls. It was too much for a good result.

The World Trail Orienteering Championships 2017 will take place in Lithuania. Are you looking forward to them?

D. F. - I hope to see a lot of contour lines reading during PreO and especially in the TrailO Relay. I am not so excited with the TempO, which will probably be urban again. I am expecting difficult courses where you won't see winners without mistakes.

How hard will it be to defend your TrailO Relay World title? Do you have any other goals?

D. F. - I think that big countries, such as Sweden, Norway and Finland will be fighting, as always, for the medals and we cannot forget the strong Portuguese and Italian teams. Croatia and the Czech Republic can be nice surprises, too. Yes, it will be very difficult but we will try to keep the World title. I will also try a surprise in the other disciplines.

Would you like to share your biggest wish with us?

D. F. - I have two wishes. The first one is more real forest TempO competitions than urban competitions. The second one and my biggest wish is to win over my brother in TempO on a big competition. I know and believe that I can do it.

Is there anything that you would like to add?

D. F. - I would like to wish all orienteers in each orienteering discipline fun and fair competitions in difficult terrains.

Joaquim Margarido

FinTrailO 2017: Marit Wiksell wins for the fourth year in a row

For the fourth year in a row, Marit Wiksell was the winner of FinTrailO 2017. The set of results achieved along the three stages assured her the triumph after a tight fight with Pinja Mäkinen, who would occupy the second position.

Espoo, 20 km west of Helsinki, was the venue of FinTrailO's fourth edition. Divided by three stages – one TempO and two PreO - the event scored for the Unofficial European Cup in Trail Orienteering, attracting 140 competitors from 15 different nations. Organized by OK77, directed by Anna Jacobson and having Åke Jacobson (PreO 1&2) and Roope Näsi and Alahärmän Kisa (TempO) as Course Setters, it was a very successful event, crowning a two-year work on both mapping, course setting and general organization.

According to Anna Jacobson's thoughts to the Portuguese Orienteering Blog, organizers and competitors “were rather unlucky with the weather in the PreO stages: On Saturday afternoon it rained and snowed and there was a storm where big trees fell on the route (right after the competition before the controls were taken in). One flag fell on control 6 so it had to be voided. Then it snowed (!!?) the whole evening and night and in the next morning the course setter got up at 4, changed the tires of the car back to winter tires and went on to bring the flags (93) to the terrain. No markings could be seen on the ground due to the snow, and no control flags could be seen from the road - due to the snow! So we mobilised 4-5 officials (woke them up) who started cleaning the trees of snow. Further, no motorised wheel chairs could drive up the hill (400 m, very steep) to the start, neither could our car meant for transporting wheelchairs (summer tires). Again, 4-5 men took their shovels and rakes, and cleaned the road! It was amazing. Finally, due to our helpful officials, we were able to organise the competition as planned.” And she concludes: “I'm very happy that so many competitors came to FinTrailO and the competitors were very tough when competing in such circumstances we had. I am also happy about that the two ECTO events we organised were challenging but fair. PreO 2 terrain and course were exceptionally nice for map reading.”

FinTrailO 2017 started with the TempO stage, in which Marit Wiksell (Rehns BK) was clearly the fastest, answering correctly to 27 out of 30 tasks (6 timed stations with 5 tasks each) and finishing with the time of 258. Ján Furucz (Farmaceut Bratislava) got the second place with 266 seconds and Erik Stålnacke (IFK Göteborg), the most accurate with just one incorrect answer, finished in the third place with 272 seconds. Marit Wiksell performed at her best in the PreO's first day, finishing in the second place with 26 points and two incorrect answers. Pinja Mäkinen got the first place with 27 points. The PreO day 2 ended the event with a 34-control course and Martin Fredholm (OK Linné) was the only competitor to do a clean race. In the immediate positions, with less one point, standed Antti Rusanen (Keravan Urheilijat) and Erik Stålnacke. Achieving the lowest scoring-time in the combined results of three stages, Marit Wiksell was the FinTrailO 2017's winner for the fourth year in a row. Pinja Mäkinen and Antti Rusanen got the second and third positions, respectively.

Results

TempO (ECTO #3)

1. Marit Wiksell (Rehns BK, SWE) 258 seconds

2. Ján Furucz (Farmaceut Bratislava, SVK) 266 seconds

3. Erik Stålnacke (IFK Göteborg, SWE) 272 seconds

4. Pinja Mäkinen (Koovee, FIN) 322 seconds

5. Lauri Mäkinen (Mäntsälän Urheilijat, FIN) 335 seconds

6. Jari Turto (Kokemäen Kova-Väki, FIN) 346 seconds

7. Lennart Wahlgren (Rehns BK, SWE) 352 seconds

8. Geir Myhr Øien (Ringsaker OK, NOR) 376 seconds

9. Antti Rusanen (Keravan Urheilijat, FIN) 388 seconds

10. Lars Jakob Waaler (Porsgrunn OL, NOR) 392 seconds

PreO 1

1. Pinja Mäkinen (Koovee, FIN) 27 points / 12 seconds

2. Marit Wiksell (Rehns BK, SWE) 26 points / 14 seconds

3. Mikko Heinonen (Kalevan Rasti, FIN) 26 points / 16 seconds

4. Michael Johansson (Vänersborgs SK, SWE) 26 points / 19 seconds

5. Robertas Stankevic (RASKK Vilniaus, LTU) 26 points / 26 seconds

6. Ján Furucz (Farmaceut Bratislava, SVK) 26 points / 73 seconds

6. Erik Lundkvist (HJS-Vansbro OK, SWE) 26 points / 73 seconds

8. Antti Rusanen (Keravan Urheilijat, FIN) 25 points / 7 seconds

9. Martin Fredholm (OK Linné, SWE) 25 points / 14 seconds

10. Jari Turto (Kokemäen Kova-Väki, FIN) 24 points / 16 seconds

PreO 2 (ECTO #4)

1. Martin Fredholm (OK Linné, SWE) 34 points / 15 seconds

2. Antti Rusanen (Keravan Urheilijat, FIN) 33 points / 16 seconds

3. Erik Stålnacke (IFK Göteborg, SWE) 33 points / 20 seconds

4. Marit Wiksell (Rehns BK, SWE) 32 points / 12 seconds

5. Lars Jakob Waaler (Porsgrunn OL, NOR) 32 points / 15 seconds

6. Geir Myhr Øien (Ringsaker OK, NOR) 32 points / 22 seconds

7. Pinja Mäkinen (Koovee, FIN) 32 points / 27 seconds

8. Aleksei Laisev (Keravan Urheilijat, FIN) 32 points / 31 seconds

9. Michael Johansson (Vänersborgs SK, SWE) 31 points / 15 seconds

9. Samy Hyvönen (RastiPielinen, FIN) 31 points / 15 seconds

FinTrailO 2017 Combined Results

1. Marit Wiksell (Rehns BK, SWE) 524 seconds

2. Pinja Mäkinen (Koovee, FIN) 541 seconds

3. Antti Rusanen (Keravan Urheilijat, FIN) 651 seconds

4. Erik Stålnacke (IFK Göteborg, SWE) 698 seconds

4. Martin Fredholm (OK Linné, SWE) 698 seconds

6. Ján Furucz (Farmaceut Bratislava, SVK) 799 seconds

7. Geir Myhr Øien (Ringsaker OK, NOR) 829 seconds

8. Lars Jakob Waaler (Porsgrunn OL, NOR) 833 seconds

9. Michael Johansson (Vänersborgs SK, SWE) 853 seconds

10. Jari Turto (Kokemäen Kova-Väki, FIN) 916 seconds

To see the complete results, maps, solutions, photos and further information, please visit the event's webpage at http://www.ok77.fi/fintrailo/.

[Photos: Jarmo Koskela / jarmokoskela.kuvat.fi]

Joaquim Margarido

Portuguese MTBO Championships of Middle Distance 2017: Davide Machado and Ana Filipa Silva got the Elite titles

After a two-year break, Davide Machado and Ana Filipa Silva achieved the Portuguese MTBO titles of Middle Distance. The event took place in Cantanhede and was attended by one hundred competitors.

Cantanhede, one of the stages of the recent MTB Orienteering World Championships, hosted another important event of this exciting discipline. We are talking about the 11th edition of the Portuguese MTBO Championships of Middle Distance, organized by ADM Ori-Mondego and the Parish Council of Ança and attended by one hundred competitors from 23 clubs.

The competition in the Men Elite class was entirely dominated by Davide Machado (.COM) who finished the 16.6 km of his course in 47:25. Almost four minutes after the winner, Daniel Marques (COC) was the second placed, while the third position was achieved by the former Middle Distance Champion in 2015 and 2016, João Ferreira (CA Bairrada), with the time of 52:52. In the Women Elite class, Ana Filipa Silva's (CPOC) victory was even wider, having finished her race, with the distance of 13.6 km, in 52:16, against 58:28 of the former National Champion in 2015 and 2016, Susana Pontes (COC). Noémia Magalhães (Amigos da Montanha) achieved the bronze medal with the time of 1:11:38.

Daniel Marques and Ana Filipa Silva won Ançã MTBO 2017

The Portuguese MTBO Champions of Middle Distance in the young classes were Bernardo Rosa (COC), João Mendonça (BTT Loulé/BPI/ELEVIS), Tomás Mora (ADM Ori-Mondego) and Marisa Costa (BTT Loulé/BPI/ELEVIS), in M15, M17, M20 and W20, respectively. As for the masters, Kátia Almeida (ATV) and Marco Póvoa (ADFA) got the titles in W40 and M40, Luisa Mateus (COC) and Eduardo Sebastião (ADFA) did the same in the W50 and M50 classes and Jorge Artur (ADFA) achieved the title in the M60 class. NADA got the clubs' title in Men Elite class, BTT Loulé/BPI/ELEVIS was the winner in M17, COC won in M35 and ADFA in M45.

But the MTB Orienteering party didn't summed up to the Middle Distance Championships, and the participants had the chance to try a new Middle Distance stage on the second day. Ana Filipa Silva did another great race, winning by more than five-minute advantage, while the winner in the Men Elite class was Daniel Marques (COC), with an advantage of nearly three minutes over Duarte Lourenço (BTT Loulé / BPI / ELEVIS). In the two stages, Ana Filipa Silva and Daniel Marques were the great winners of the Ançã MTBO 2017, while BTT Loulé/BPI/ELEVIS got the first position in the collective standings.

Results

Portuguese MTBO Championships of Middle Distance

Men Elite

1. Davide Machado (.COM) 47:25 (+ 00:00)

2. Daniel Marques (COC) 51:18 (+ 03:53)

3. João Ferreira (CA Bairrada) 52:52 (+ 02:27)

4. Duarte Lourenço (BTT Loulé/BPI/ELEVIS) 54:05 (+ 06:40)

5. Luís Barreiro (NADA) 54:08 (+ 06:43)

Women Elite

1. Ana Filipa Silva (CPOC) 52:16 (+ 00:00)

2. Susana Pontes (COC) 58:28 (+ 06:12)

3. Noémia Magalhães (Amigos da Montanha) 1:11:38 (+ 19:22)

4. Maria Sá (ADFA) 1:18:35 (+ 26:19)

mp Carla Saraiva (Ori-Estarreja)

Ançã MTBO Overall standings

Men Elite

1. Daniel Marques (COC) 1:41:01 (+ 00:00)

2. Duarte Lourenço (BTT Loulé/BPI/ELEVIS) 1:46:16 (+ 05:15)

3. Luís Barreiro (NADA) 1:46:37 (+ 05:36)

4. Marco Palhinha (CP Abrunheira) 1:50:20 (+ 09:19)

5. Fernando Henrique (NADA) 1:50:55 (+ 09:54)

Women Elite

1. Ana Filipa Silva (CPOC) 1:59:20 (+ 00:00)

2. Susana Pontes (COC) 2:10:39 (+ 11:19)

3. Noémia Magalhães (Amigos da Montanha) 2:35:41 (+ 36:21)

4. Maria Sá (ADFA) 2:44:11 (+ 44:51)

mp Carla Saraiva (Ori-Estarreja)

Complete results and further information at https://admorimondego.wixsite.com/oribtt-anca.

[Photo: ORI BTT ADM / facebook.com/ORI-BTT-ADM]

Joaquim Margarido

Portugal City Race 2017: Maikel Rodriguez and Raquel Ferreira won in Vila do Conde

Maikel Rodriguez and Raquel Ferreira were the winners of Vila do Conde City Race 2017, in the main classes of competition. Scoring for the Portugal City Race 2017, the event also included a super sprint and an Adapted Orienteering stage, calling to the banks of Ave River 250 competitors.

The city of Vila do Conde received yesterday the third stage of the Circuit Portugal City Race 2017. Having the support of Vila do Conde Municipality, the Orienteering School Sport's Group from the Association of Schools D. Afonso Sanches and the Grupo Desportivo dos Quatro Caminhos organized the Vila do Conde City Race 2017, which attracted nearly 250 athletes. The fun started early in the morning with a Middle/Long Distance urban stage, continuing in the afternoon with a short and fast Super Sprint, with a large number of controls and requiring constant changes of direction. An Adapted Orienteering stage, scoring for the respective Portuguese League, was also part of the program, reinforcing the event's inclusive character, one of the brand images of Portugal City Race.

The Spanish Maikel Rodrigues, representing Budiñoraid, won easily this stage, finishing the 7.02 km of his course with the time of 38:48. Gil Sousa Pinto (OriMarão) spent more 8:22 than the winner and finished in the second place. With this result, Rodriguez built up his leading position of the Circuit Portugal City Race 2017, achieving his third victory in as many stages. The fight for the victory in the Women Senior class was much more balanced, but Raquel Ferreira (Individual) ended up being stronger than Daniela Alves (AD Cabroelo), winning by the difference of 1:29, after finishing the 5.7 km of her course with the time of 48:04. Raquel Ferreira also strengthened her leadership of this year's edition of the Portugal City Race 2017, after winning the first stage in Esposende and being second placed in Braga, in the second stage.

The event also included the Vila do Conde Super-Sprint, with Maikel Rodriguez climbing once again on the top of the podium, this time alongside with María Pilar Hernández, and a stage of Adapted Orienteering scoring for the Portuguese League, in which Vitor Pereira and Raquel Cerqueira were the winners.

Results

Vila do Conde City Race 2017

Men Senior
1. Maikel Rodriguez (Budiñoraid) 38:48 (+ 00:00)
2. Gil Sousa Pinto (OriMarão) 47:10 (+ 08:22)
3. Luís Ferreira (AD Cabroelo) 47:12 (+ 08:24)
4. Leandro Lima A. Montanha 47:25 (+ 08:37)
5. Ricardo Figueroa (Aromon) 49:17 (+ 10:29)

Women Senior
1. Raquel Ferreira (Individual) 48:04 (+ 00:00)
2. Daniela Alves (AD Cabroelo) 49:33 (+ 01:29)
3. Pilar Hernandez (Escondite) 51:24 (+ 03:20)
4. Zélia Viana (.COM) 52:54 (+ 04:50)
5. Carlota Veiga (Aromon) 1:01:15 (+ 13:11)

Complete results and further information HERE.

[Photo: Fernando Costa]

Joaquim Margarido

10MILA 2017: IFK Göteborg is the winner

IFK Göteborg was the brilliant winner of 10MILA 2017. It was the recover of the title achieved two years ago and the 8:35 advantage over OK Linné was the widest triumph since 2004, when Halden SK got the winning over Kalevan Rasti by 9:40. It was also the third year in a row that a Swedish team wins the Men Relay, something that didn't happened since 1990.

Partille, near Gotebörg, hosted the 71st edition of 10MILA. Divided by Youth, Women and Men Relay, close to 7,000 competitors from all over the World took part in the event, which had in the Men Relay its highest moment. The race started at 21.00 p.m., with 324 teams reaching the forest for a long and exciting orienteering night. Martin Regborn (Hagaby GoIF Örebro) did a perfect first leg, finishing with a four-minute advantage over a large group, led by MS Parma, OK Trian and Hiidenkiertäjät. Viktor Larsson managed to keep Hagaby's boys in the lead in the end of the second leg but things changed after that, with Lauri Sild (Koovee) reaching a two-minute advantage over the crowd in the end of the third leg. Always expected as one of the most significant moments of the course, the fourth and longest leg was tightly contested, finishing with the first six teams separated by seven seconds. IFK Göteborg, Lillomarka OL, IFK Mora OK, Koovee, MS Parma and Lynx had a unique opportunity to conduct the course towards the final victory, having at the moment a good eight-minute lead over the remaining teams.

In the end of the fifth leg, the leading group was reduced to three teams, with Koovee in the first position. But it was during the sixth leg that IFK Göteborg's victory turned out to be a real possibility. Jonas Pilblad performed amazingly, finishing his course 3:51 before Steinar Kollerud (Lillomarka OL), second placed, 4:59 before Jarno Parkkinen (Koovee), third placed and 9:12 before Baptiste Rollier (Kalevan Rasti), in the fourth position. Oleksandr Kratov could reduce Koovee's disadvantage to 54 seconds in the end of the seventh leg, but became clear after the eight leg that IFK Göteborg would be the winner, after Max Peter Bejmer's achievement of nearly ten (!) minutes. Eskil Kinneberg, first, and then Fredrik Bakkman would confirm an amazing victory with the overall time of 10:57:14, the second in the club's history after the winning in 2015. 8:35 after the winners, OK Linné got the second place and Södertälje-Nykvarn OF, the winner in 2016, stayed in the third position with the overall time of 11:06:18.

Results

Men Relay Kavlen

1. IFK Göteborg 10:57:14 (+ 00:00)

2. OK Linné 11:05:49 (+ 08:35)

3. Södertälje-Nykvarn OF 11:06:18 (+ 09:04)

4. Koovee 11:06:31 (+ 09:17)

5. Tampereen Pyrintö 11:10:16 (+ 13:02)

6. Lillomarka OL 11:14:09 (+ 16:55)

7. Kalevan Rasti 11:15:18 (+ 18:04)

8. IFK Lidingö SOK 11:15:41 (+ 18:27)

9. Halden SK 11:22:44 (+ 25:30)

10. IFK Mora OK 11:32:49 (+ 35:35)

Complete results and further information at http://online.10mila.se/.

[Photo: Mårten Lång / svenskorientering.se]

Joaquim Margarido

10MILA 2017: Stora Tuna OK wins Women Relay

Exciting from the beginning and with a dramatic ending, so it was the 2017 10MILA's Women Relay, won by the Swedish team of Stora Tuna OK. It was the return of the Swedish club to the first place of the podium of this prestigious competition, nine years after the last great achievement and an unique moment of joy for Anna Mårsell, Magdalena Olsson, Julia Gross, Frida Sandberg and Tove Alexandersson.

313 teams lined up for the 10MILA 2017 Women Relay. After an excellent performance by Marianne Andersen, Kristiansand OK took the lead after the first leg with a 31-second advantage over Järla Orienteering. NTNUI followed in the third position, almost three minutes (!) after the first placed. The second leg was dominated by Halden SK, with Mari Fasting taking the lead, two seconds ahead of Kirsi Nurmi, from IFK Göteborg, and a twenty-second advantage over Emma Silvennoinen, from Paimion Rasti.

Although the longest, with 10.7 km, the third leg just came out shuffling the standings, since in the end were 13 the teams that stood in the lead, separated by only 12 seconds from each other. The 14th ranked, MS Parma, already had a six-minute disadvantage for the front group, which was led by Stora Tuna OK. In the fourth leg, the shortest out of the five, with only 4.5 km, Venla Harju got a good advance with his team of Tampereen Pyrintö, leaving for the decisive leg with a 1:40 advantage over IFK Göteborg and 2:56 over the IFK Lidingö SOK, respectively second and third placed.

Victory of IK Hakarpspojkarna in the Youth Relay

With a tremendous pressure on her, Saila Kinni was still able to keep Tampereen Pyrintö's leadership during the first two thirds of the last leg, over the distance of 8.3 km, but the final moments would be dramatic. Doing an incredible race, Tove Alexandersson was able to recover more than six minutes and take the Stora Tuna OK to the third place with just 500 meters to finish the race. Next to her was Judith Wyder (Göteborg-Majorna OK), a little further ahead Saila Kinni that was now the runner-up and ahead Natalia Gemperle (Alfta-Ösa OK), leading with a 30 second advantage. But the momentum of victory was on the side of Alexandersson and Wyder, who eventually benefited from a big mistake of Gemperle and imposed their class until the last meters. Stora Tuna OK won with a 2 second lead over Göteborg-Majorna OK and 7 seconds over the Tampereen Pyrintö. This was Stora Tuna OK's fourth win at the 10MILA's Women Relay after the triumphs in 1982, 1984 and 2008.

Starting this wonderful journey in the best way, IK Hakarpspojkarna (Viktor Gunnarsson, Emma Ling, Joar Hertin and Hilda Holmqvist Johansson) won the Youth Relay with the time of 1:37:26. The fight for the next position was really hard, with five teams separated by less than 30 seconds. Paimion Rasti (Jarkko Rantoja, Essi Hölsö, Vilma Wahlsten, Topias Arola, Klaus Haanpää and Milja Väätäjä) got the second place with 1:38:59 and Espoon Suunta (Ida Haapala, Topias Uusitalo, Lauri Puupponen, Topias Kemppi, Emil Laaksonen and Maria Määttänen) achieved the third placed, 1:42 after the winners. 300 teams participated in this competition.

Results

Women Relay Damkavlen

1. Stora Tuna OK 4:25:04 (+ 00:00)

2. Göteborg-Majorna OK 4:25:06 (+ 00:02)

3. Tampereen Pyrintö 4:25:11 (+ 00:07)

4. SK Pohjantähti 4:26:20 (+ 01:16)

5. Järla Orientering 4:26:22 (+ 01:18)

6. IFK Lidingö SOK 4:26:25 (+ 01:21)

7. IFK Göteborg 4:26:41 (+ 01:37)

8. Alfta-Ösa OK 4:26:51 (+ 01:47)

9. Halden SK 4:27:14 (+ 02:10)

10. Paimion Rasti 2:29:40 (+ 04:36)

Youth Relay Ungdomksvalen

1. IK Hakarpspojkarna 1:37:26 (+ 00:00)

2. Paimion Rasti 1:38:59 (+ 01:33)

3. Espoon Suunta 1:39:08 (+ 01:42)

4. Nydalens SK 1:39:19 (+ 01:53)

5. Freidig 1:39:23 (+ 01:57)

Complete results and further information at http://online.10mila.se/.

[Photo: Lars Rönnols / facebook.com/lars.ronnols]

Joaquim Margarido

WMOC 2017: Swedish Masters stronger in the Long Distance

Orienteering was one out of 19 sports in action on the penultimate day of the World Masters Games, in Auckland, New Zealand. In the Woodhill Forest took place the Long Distance Final of the World Masters Orienteering Championships 2017, in which Sweden was the great winner after achieving eight World titles.

The World Masters Orienteering Championships 2017 have come to an end. The masters' big party gathered in Auckland close to 1800 athletes from 40 countries, for a week full of excitement and fun, with the highest points falling on Monday, with the Sprint Finals and today, with the Long Distance Finals. A total of 1558 competitors were in action at the last major moment of the Championships, of whom 848 were in the direct fight for the medals and the remainder competing in the B and C Finals.

With 183 representatives, Sweden lined up in the A Finals with the widest team and managed to combine quality with quantity, as demonstrated by the eight gold medals achieved, as well as five silver and four bronze medals. Finland won four gold medals, five silver and five bronze medals, while Australians and Norwegians won three gold and one silver medals; here, Norway were at a disadvantage, getting only one bronze medal against three of the Australians. In addition to the four countries already mentioned, athletes from Great Britain, Bulgaria, Russia, Switzerland and New Zealand, the host country, also won gold medals.

Among the 23 World Long Distance Champions, six won their second gold medal at these Championships, after their triumphs in the Sprint Final on Monday. In this situation it's possible to see the Australians Jo Allison (W40), Natasha Key (W45) and Warren Key (M55), the Finnish Petteri Muukkonen (M40), the Swedish Birgitta Billstam (W70) and the Norwegian Paul Forseth (M85). As a matter of curiosity, Petteri Muukonen and Natasha Key were the only athletes to keep the world titles achieved in 2016, in Estonia.

Long Distance World Champions

W/M35 – Paivi Autio (Finland) and Samuli Salmenoja (Finland)

W/M40 – Jo Allison (Australia) and Petteri Muukkonen (Finland)

W/M45 – Natasha Key (Australia) and Ivaylo Ivanov (Bulgaria)

W/M50 – Carina Svensson (Sweden) and Mats Nylund (Sweden)

W/M55 – Carey Nazzer (New Zealand) and Warren Key (Australia)

W/M60 – Kjellrun Sporild (Norway) and Stefan Carlsson (Sweden)

W/M65 – Irina Stepanova (Russia) and Markku Pietikäinen (Finland)

W/M70 – Birgitta Billstam (Sweden) and Robin Sloan (Great Britain)

W/M75 – Anne-Beate Persson (Sweden) and Heinz Keller (Switzerland)

W/M80 – Unni Dirro Bøhlerengen (Norway) and Sivert Axelsson (Sweden)

W/M85 – Signe Nyman (Sweden) and Paul Forseth (Norway)

M90 – Rune Isaksson (Sweden)

Complete results and further information HERE.

Joaquim Margarido

Leho Haldna: "Every small orienteering event contributes on 24th May 2017!"

World Orienteering Day 2016 was a great success, achieving and surpassing our goals and expectations. The fact did not go unnoticed and many eyes have been opened to orienteering as a truly global sport for lifelong participation.

However, this does not mean at all that World Orienteering Day 2017 will be a success again. Together, we have set an ambitious target – 500 000 participants. The target is very high and looking at the pre-registrations on worldorienteeringday.com we still have some work to do to make 2017 a similar success.

World Orienteering Day is an important event for all of us. WOD has really gotten media attention plus the support of the IOC and a growing number of sponsors. It is a unique opportunity to market orienteering to new participants and partners and to show the strength of our global community of orienteers.

On behalf of the IOF I’m asking for your personal support for World Orienteering Day 2017. We know there are a lot of enthusiasts developing our sport in schools, clubs, regions and federations. Please participate, and ask and motivate others, in organising events especially in schools but also local orienteering events on May 24th!

It’s not too late to start preparing an event. Every small orienteering event contributes on 24th May 2017!

Leho Haldna
IOF President

[http://orienteering.org/world-orienteering-day-2017-a-letter-from-the-iof-president/]

Two or three things I know about it...

1. ASUL Sports Nature won the first ever French Orienteering Championships of Sprint Relay. Formed by Juliette, Marian, Lucas and Isia Basset, the “quatour” got the victory over Nature Orientacion Saint Étienne and ACA Aix-en-Provence. The next day, time for the French Orienteering Championships of Middle Distance which were attended by 2,200 competitors. The winners in the Elite classes were Isia Basset (ASUL Sports Nature), with a two-minute advantage over Eva Jurenikova (ACA Aix-en-Provence), and Lucas Basset (ASUL Sports Nature), with nearly three-minute advantage over Olivier Blanc-Tranchant (O’Jura). Finally, NOSE – Nature Orientacion Saint Étienne(with Thibaut Magne, Jasmina Gassner, Odile Perrin, Rémi Baudot, Amélie Chataing, Clement Flori, Corentin Roux and Matthieu Perrin) got the French title of clubs, with GO78 and ACA Aix-en-Provence following on the podium places. Complete results and further information at http://www.ffcorientation.fr/actus/2017/04/26/retour-sur-le-championnat-de-france-des-clubs/.

2. Great scenery, wonderful weather and challenging courses were the best ingredients of a perfect MTBO weekend in Austria. Starting the best way, Tobias Breitschädel (ASKÖ Henndorf) showed his qualities on the shorter distances and prevailed before Bernhard Schachinger (HSV Ried) and Andreas Rief (OLC Graz), achieving the National MTBO title of Middle Distance. Junior and Relay World champion, Andreas Waldmann (OLT Transdanubien), had problems at the Middle Distance, but managed to perform highly on the second day, winning the Long Distance race with more than 5 (!) minutes over Bernhard Schachinger (HSV Ried). In the Women Elite class, foreign guests were very strong on both days, with Algirda Zaliauskaite, Lithuania, winning the Middle Distance and Hana Garde, representing SK Bratislava, unbeatable in the Long Distance. Best Austrian on both days was Marina Reiner (Naturfreunde Villach). She got the Austrian title in the Middle Distance before Sonja Zinkl (LZ OMAHA) and Michaela Gigon (OLT Transdanubia), second and third placed, respectively. The event was attended by 120 competitors from Austria, Hungary, Lithuania, France, Croatia, Slovenia, Slovakia and Germany.

3. The town of Sobotka, onn the foothills of Slesza mountain, Poland, hosted the second edition of the Central European Youth Orienteering Cup and was just as successful as the Event premiere in the Czech Republic, in 2016. More than 100 young runners, from Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Germany and Slovakia took part in the three-day races in different categories (M/W-16 and M/W-18). The races started with a Sprint event, followed by a Middle Distance race and finishing with an exciting Relay. The Hungarian Csilla Gardonyi (W16) and Ferenc Jonas (M16), and the Czech Tereza Janosikova (W18) won the two individual races and were the biggest names of CEYO Cup. The Czech Vit Horcicka won the Sprint in the M18 class, while Jakub Dekret won the Middle distance race in M1, which was a premiere victory for Slovakia. Relay teams from Hungary were the most successful, beating the Czech Republic in both Men and Women 16 classes. The W18 category turned out to be the most dramatic, with the three best relay teams running for medals and it wasn’t until the final part of the last leg where the results were decided. On the other hand, the two Czech relay teams showed their qualities and easily ranked first and second in the M18 category, while there was a fierce competition for the third place won by Germany. “The event was a good rehearsal for us for the upcoming World Games in July,” said Wojtek Dwojak, the event manager. Hungary will host the Cup next year from 6th to 8th April 2018. Everything to know at http://ceyoc2017.pl/en/.

4. Would you like to create the trailer for the Swiss Orienteering Week 2019 or do you know someone who would be suitable for it? Swiss O Week 2019 has just published an announcement in which organizers are seeking a team that will produce a preview video for SOW 2019. Sought out is a film team that produces a 5- to maximal 6-minute-long preview video highlighting the Swiss O Week 2019. The video will be published on the SOW-homepage as well as other different social media channels that will be covered by SOW 2019. It is planned to use the preview video for the national as well as the international market and will be deployed accordingly. If language and/or text is featured in the video, the English language should be used, if necessary, with sub-titles.The preview video is intended to give first impressions of the used course areas and of the competition centre of the SOW 2019 in Gstaad. It should encourage the viewers to sign-up early for the SOW 2019. Deadline for submitting the offer is 20th May 2017. All information about this subject can be found HERE.

Joaquim Margarido

ISF WSC Orienteering 2017: The party is over!

After achieving the gold in the Long Distance race, Guilhem Elias and Laurence Defraigne returned to be the fastest in the Middle Distance that closed the ISF World Schools Orienteering Championships 2017. Portugal was represented on the Championships' podium by Vasco Mendes, following an excellent performance which earned him a bronze medal.

The ISF World Schools Orienteering Championships 2017 came to an end in Palermo, Italy. The Middle Distance race that ended the competition was attended by 650 competitors from 27 countries, distributed by four School classes and four Selected classes. In the School classes, the highlight is, of course, the French Guilhem Elias (Lycée Honoré d'Urfe), who achieved his second gold medal at the M1 class after beating the Swedish Emil Aselius (Eksjo Gymnasium) by more than 1:30. The Austrian Peter Brabek (BG / BRG Fürstenfeld), the Swedish Isa Envall (Eksjo Gymnasium) and the English Merryn Stangroom (Ulverston Victoria High School) were the winners in the M2, W1 and W2 classes, respectively. The last two athletes also repeated their presence on the podium, after Envall's third place and Stangroom's second place in the Long Distance race, three days ago. Still in the W2 class, a word for the Estonian Johanna Laanoja, second placed today, after being the Long Distance's winner.

As for the Selected classes, the Belgian Laurence Defraigne did the same as Guilhem Elias and won her second gold medal in these Championships, after beating the Austrian Jana Hnilica for an advantage over than one minute, in the W2 class. In the M1 class, the Slovakians Jakub Chupek and Jakub Dekret and the Austrian Jannis Bonek returned to the podium, albeit in a different order, being the gold for Chupek, this time. Spain also repeated its presence on the top of the podium, with Florencio Garcia, second-placed in the Long Distance winning the M2 class. The Swedish Elia Olsson, achieved the silver medal in the W1 class, after getting the bronze in the previous race. In this class, the victory went to the Austrian Ilvy Kastner. One last word for the young Vasco Mendes, third placed in the Selected M2 class, introducing the name of Portugal to the 12-country batch with honours to climb to the Championships' podium.

Results

School M1

1. Guilhem Elias (Lycée Honoré d'Urfe, FRA) 29:30 (+ 00:00)

2. Emil Aselius (Eksjo Gymnasium, SWE) 31:07 (+ 01:37)

3. Matias Salonen (Mäkelänrinteen Lukio, FIN) 32:57 (+ 03:27)

School M2

1. Peter Brabek (BG/BRG Fürstenfeld, AUT) 32:11 (+ 00:00)

2. Felix Lunn (Kenilworth School & Sixth Form, ENG) 32:37 (+ 00:26)

3. Grant Mcmurtrie (Aboyerne Academy, SCO) 34:03 (+ 01:52)

School W1

1. Isa Envall (Eksjo Gymnasium, SWE) 31:04 (+ 00:00)

2. Tuuli Heikkilä (Mäkelänrinteen Lukio, FIN) 33:52 (+ 02:51)

3. Jasmiina Rantala (Mäkelänrinteen Lukio, FIN) 35:02 (+ 03:58)

School W2

1. Merryn Stangroom (Ulverston Victoria High School, ENG) 26:06 (+ 00:00)

2. Johanna Laanoja (Pölva, EST) 26:40 (+ 00:34)

3. Tereza Chrastova (Zakladni a Materska skola Studenec, CZE) 27:23 (+ 01:17)

Selected M1

1. Jakub Chupek (Slovakia) 33:29 (+ 00:00)

2. Jannis Bonek (Austria) 35:10 (+ 01:41)

3. Jakub Dekret (Slovakia) 36:36 (+ 03:07)

Selected M2

1. Florencio Garcia (Spain) 32:20 (+ 00:00)

2. Edmund Grierson (England) 33:56 (+ 01:36)

3. Vasco Mendes (Portugal) 36:37 (+ 04:17)

Selected W1

1. Ylvi Kastner (Austria) 40:31 (+ 00:00)

2. Elia Olsson (Sweden) 41:04 (+ 00:33)

3. Frida Vikström (Sweden) 43:16 (+ 02:45)

Selected W2

1. Laurence Defraigne (Belgium FR) 22:15 (+ 00:00)

2. Jana Hnilica (Austria) 23:26 (+ 01:11)

3. Luboslava Weissova (Slovakia) 24:06 (+ 01:51)

Results and further information at http://www.isfsports.org/wsc-orienteering.

[Photo: ISF WSC Orienteering 2017 / facebook.com/ISFWSCorienteering]

Joaquim Margarido

Portuguese Orienteering Championships 2017: Mariana Moreira was the brightest star

Confirming her predominance in the Portuguese orienteering panorama in recent years, Mariana Moreira achieved the Middle Distance title for the fourth year in a row, in the Women Elite class. In the Relay, COC – Clube de Orientação do Centro recovered the Portuguese title in the Men Senior class, while CPOC – Clube Português de Orientação e Corrida, got the title for the second year in a row in the Women Senior class.

The 23rd edition of the Portuguese Orienteering Championships of Middle Distance and Relay took place last weekend in the city of Vendas Novas. Organized by the ADFA – Associação dos Deficientes das Forças Armadas and the Portuguese Orienteering Federation, the event was attended by 436 athletes, representing 40 clubs. This event was sadly marked by the fact that the Men Elite class didn't find results, following a protest concerning a technical error and the consequent avoidance of the course.

On a fantastic weekend for orienteering's practise, Mariana Moreira (CPOC) performed at the highest level, achieving her fourth Middle Distance title so far. The athlete won with a time of 31:07 and a 1:32 advantage over Raquel Costa (GafanhOri), second-placed and almost seven minutes over the third-placed, Rita Rodrigues (CMo Funchal). In the remaining classes, a special word goes to José Fernandes, athlete from the Clube de Orientação do Minho, for is third title in a row in the M55 class, and to Alexandra Coelho (GD4C), Luísa Mateus (COC) and José Grada (Ori-Estarreja), who revalidated their titles in the W45, W55 and M75, respectively. In all of the 26 national titles awarded, the COC was the great “beneficiary” with eight individual titles and eight collective titles.

COC gets eight Relay titles

Mariana Moreira was again in evidence in the Relay race, contributing decisively to the victory of her club in the Women Senior class. The CPOC got an initial advantage of more than two minutes over the GD4C, but a disastrous second leg almost knocked out the aspirations of Oeiras' team. In the decisive leg, however, Mariana Moreira was far above all her opponents, recovering a disadvantage of approximately seven minutes and offering the victory to CPOC with the overall time of 1:57:55. COC and GD4C occupied, by this order, the remaining places on the podium. As for the Men Senior class, the COC dominated from start to finish, getting the overall time of 1:36:37. Despite an impressive last leg, Tiago Romão was unable to recover the ten minutes that separated him from the lead, achieving for the CMo Funchal the second position with the time of 1:41:56. Ori-Estarreja closed the podium, nine minutes after the winners.

Overall, COC was again the great winner, achieving eight national Relay titles. Clube de Orientação do Minho and CPOC, with two titles each, and Pinhal Novo Secondary School, Grupo Desportivo dos Quatro Caminhos, ADM - Ori-Mondego and Clube de Orientação e Aventura do Litoral Alentejano, with one title each, fill the list of National Champions of Relay 2017.

Results

Middle Distance

Women Elite

1. Mariana Moreira (CPOC) 31:07 (+ 00:00)

2. Raquel Costa (GafanhOri) 32:39 (+ 01:32)

3. Rita Rodrigues (CMo Funchal) 37:52 (+ 06:45)

4. Emília Silveira (CN Alvito) 41:07 (+ 10:00)

5. Inês Pinto (GD4C) 41:57 (+ 10:50)

Relay

Men Senior

1. COC (Paulo Franco, Gildo Silva and Celso Moiteiro) 1:36:37 (+ 00:00)

2. CMo Funchal (Rita Rodrigues, Miguel Silva, Tiago Romão) 1:41:56 (+ 05:19)

3. Ori-Estarreja (António Amador, Bruno Nazário, Rafael Miguel) 1:45:59 (+ 09:22)

4. GafanhOri (Manuel Dias, Raquel Costa, Manuel Horta) 1:54:33 (+ 17:56)

5. CN Alvito (Paul Roothans, Sérgio Ferreira, João Mega Figueiredo) 1:56:36 (+ 19:59)

Women Senior

1. CPOC (Betariz Sanguino, Beatriz Moreira, Mariana Moreira) 1:57:55 (+ 00:00)

2. COC (Catarina Castelão, Inês Domingues, Helena Lima) 2:03:53 (+ 05:58)

3. GD4C (Inês Pinto, Liliana Oliveira, Inês Alves) 2:13:57 (+ 16:02)

4. .COM (Zélia Viana, Ana Castanheiro, Paula Serra Campos) 2:29:50 (+ 31:55)

5. Ori-Estarreja (Joana Marques, Cristina Nazário, Inês Aires) 2:33:00 (+ 35:05)

Complete results and further information at http://cnvendasnovas.weebly.com/.

[Photo: Fernando Costa]

Joaquim Margarido

ISF WSC Orienteering 2017: Hand in hand!

The ISF World Schools Orienteering Championships' second day was dedicated to the Friendship Team Event. Purpose: different nationalities, gender, level - team spirit - three common control points and arrival hand in hand!

210 Athlete Teams and 38 Coach Teams participated in the ISF World Schools Orienteering Championships' Friendship Team Event. Fun and co-operation between the young people rather than competition was, as always, the aim of this event that took place today in the old city centre of Palermo.

Even not being the most important, the results shown an Israeli-Polish-Estonian team winning the competition in the Athletes class. In the Coach class, the victory has gone to an Israeli-Slovenian-Scottish team. Congratulations to everybody!

Results

Athletes class

1. POL-ISR-EST (Gracjan Cuprys, Manor Noam, Leana Jete Korb) 27:26 (+ 00:00)

2. POL-LAT-SCO (Krystian Peterburski, Katrina Dzene, Tristian Samulski) 27:46 (+ 00:20)

3. NZL-POR-SCO (Caroline Nel, Ana Raquel Henriques. Louis Macmillan) 28:10 (+ 00:44)

4. LAT-LAT-NZL (Karlis Stradins, Aiga Irbe Bluma, Petra Buyck) 28:22 (+ 00:56)

5. LAT-EST-NZL (Ilgvars Caune, Annita Laanejõe, Olivier Burns) 29:06 (+ 01:40)

6. BEL-EST-POL (Thiels Liam, Sander Pritsik, Aleksandra Polewka) 29:37 (+ 02:11)

Coach class

1. ISR-SLO-SCO (Odet Verbin, Klemen Kenda, Young Lynn) 29:17 (+ 00:00)

2. SVK-POL-SLO (Pavol Polacek, Barbara Nowak, Monika Ravnikar) 30:15 (+ 00:58)

3. CHN-ISR-BEL (Guoxing Zhong, Avihay Beyar, Clara Cox) 31:49 (+ 02:32)

4. NZL-ESP-POR (Kieran Woods, Ana Herreros Valiente, Maria Amador) 31:53 (+ 02:36)

5. ESP-UKR-NZL (Antonio Gil, Olena Rudakova, Karine David) 32:14 (+ 02:57)

6. POL-CHN-NZL (Honorata Paterek, Jieyuan Luo, James Olever) 33:05 (+ 03:48)

Complete results can be found HERE.

[Photo: ISF WSC Orienteering / facebook.com/ISFWSCorienteering]

Joaquim Margarido