The 2019 Junior Championships finished today with the traditional relay events, but the day before’s Middle Distance Final saw Australia’s Aston Key achieve yet another podium finish.

Starting as one of the last three runners in the A Final Aston found how hard it can be at the top. With less than 2 minutes separating the top five men’s placings, Aston secured a 5th place narrowly missing out on a medal after losing less than 30 secs on two legs. In a tight race at the top, Aston was in the hunt for a medal in 2nd/3rd place, but lost time late in the race on leg 11 to 12, with not enough distance left in the race to recover. 

But JWOC 2019 will be an event to remember for Aston with gold and bronze medals and a podium finish to go home with. Orienteering Australia congratulates Aston on three great performances, across the three orienteering disciplines. Well done Aston.

The Middle Distance Final results can be found here, the race splits found here, and the courses here.

Thanks also to Orienteering Tasmania’s Christine Brown (and JWOC2019 Jury member) for these photos from the Middle Distance Finals.

In the relay races, the Mens #1 team finished a creditable 13th, less than 13 minutes behind winners Norway, and the Australian Women finished 21st.

Relay race results can be found here, the splits here, and the courses here.

In the teams event, Australia finished 13th. Full results here. Photos from the relay races can be found here.