With Round One of the 2015 Orienteering World Cup about to commence on the 2nd of January, beginning with the sprint qualification at Cataract Gorge Launceston Tasmania, the Australian team of 12 women and 11 men is well prepared for the terrain and ready to shine at home, on the world stage. As the world’s best orienteers embark on their travel to Tasmania, the 2nd and final Tasmanian training camp for the Australian team has recently concluded. Nearly half the team took time at the end of the year to make their final terrain-specific preparations. Others are in Tasmania now running in the local terrain, or at the warm up events in Sydney and Victoria.

Earlier in 2014, a week long training camp was held in St Helens, with 2 and sometimes 3 sessions a day for the entire week. This demanding camp was also well attended by the team; the Australians are well prepared for the January 2015 World Cup. After a tiring week at the training camp, the final “Camp Champs” were contested. Will the Camp Champions, Hanny Allston (AUS) and Nick Hann (NZ), pictured below, be some of the best performers in Tasmania this January?

The last time a World Cup round was held in Australia was in 2000. Only 2 of the current 23 Australian team members participated in this event held in Canberra. Since then, the Victorian pair of Kathryn Preston and Rob Preston have represented Australia multiple times at international events.

Many of the younger Australian team members will be looking to improve on their results achieved at the 2013 World Cup races in New Zealand. The experiences gained two years ago in NZ, (for many as juniors competing against international senior elites) will be invaluable for success, and will provide the added confidence needed to race in the forests on the east coast of Tasmania, where the middle and long are to be held on the 8th and 10th of January.

Three of the Australian team make their senior international debut; Matt Doyle (VIC), Brodie Nankervis (TAS) and Mark Gregson (QLD), with Matt Doyle being the youngest in the team. At 18, Matt is still a junior with 2 more years in the junior international ranks. There are a number of accomplished international athletes in the Australian Team who have a string of international achievements to their names. The team is a mixture of talented, developing youth and experienced seniors.

Many Australian athletes have the experience of competing on the world stage at home when they were juniors, at the 2007 World Junior Orienteering Championships in Dubbo. The South Australian pair of Vanessa Round and Simon Uppill had top 10 results in Dubbo and are both now seasoned international senior athletes who provide the benchmark of what might be achieved in the 3 disciplines; sprint, middle, long. Earlier in 2014, Vanessa Round had 2 impressive top 10 placings in the early World Cup races in Spain. Simon Uppill’s 17th in the 2013 NZ World Cup sprint is a result he will be looking to equal.

The Australian team boasts strong past international accomplishments that include 2 athletes achieving podium results at the senior international level, and 4 athletes at the junior international level:

Hanny Allston; 2006, 1st World Orienteering Champs Denmark + Multiple podium results
Kathryn Preston; 2009, 5th World Orienteering Champs, Hungary.
Julian Dent: 2005, 4th Junior World Orienteering Champs Switzerland.
Simon Uppill; 2007, 4th Junior World Orienteering Champs, Dubbo, Australia.
Vanessa Round; 2007, 6th Junior World Orienteering Champs, Dubbo Australia.

Our younger Australian athletes have strong recent performances and their results match the seasoned international Australian performers in some disciplines. They will be looking to build on their international accomplishments.

At the Tasmanian World Cup, the winners of the Oceania races in Middle and Long, secure a place in the World Orienteering Championship finals in August 2015 to be held in  Scotland.

For a full overview of the the Australian Orienteering Team, their events and profiles with previous achievements see : World Cup Round 1 Tasmania – Australian team athlete profiles. These profiles will be updated with the athletes results throughout the carnival.