Author: craigf

The World Championship contenders take a well-earned rest today, with the qualification races all finished. The program for the remainder of the week is listed below:

All races start at 9:30 am local time, or 4:30pm AEST and can be expected to finish at 8:00 pm AEST.

Tomorrows Middle Distance Final represents a great opportunity for Australia with all three women qualifying. Jo Allison (start time 10:07 local time or 5:07pm AEST) and Grace Elson (10:11, 5:11 AEST) both had solid qualifying runs, while reigning World Sprint Champion, Hanny Allston finished 2nd in her heat and starts at 10:51 (5:51pm AEST).  In the men’s race, Julian Dent is in great form — he qualified 3rd in his heat and will start at 12:29 (7:29pm AEST).

Stay tuned to the Aussie Team Blog for more insights into the team. In the event of patchy internet coverage from Ukraine we will endeavour to post updates on the OA website.

The qualification heats for the middle distance race in Kiev, Ukraine, were run today on the “Bortnychi” map. Australians competing were Troy de Haas, Rob Walter, Julian Dent, Jo Allison, Grace Elson, and Hanny Allston.

The forest used for the qualification race is a model event venue for the final, so competitors can expect more of the same when they line up for Wednesday’s final. Thick vegetation reduced visibility a lot and made accurate compass work difficult; combined with the relatively shallow detail (where there was any detail at all), it made for a very challenging race, with even Simone Niggli having to relocate from a previous control.

Troy de Haas was one of the first three starters, but his time of 34:16 suggested he would struggle to qualify. Although Valentin Novikov’s time of 28:54 was significantly slower than the predicted winning time, Troy eventually placed 17th in heat A, 1:31 behind 15th placed Kiril Nikolov (Bulgaria). Rob Walter placed 18th in heat B, 1:02 behind Andreas Krass (Estonia).

Jo Allison was the first of the Australian women to start, and her time of 32:13, compared to first finisher Emma Engstrand (Sweden), might initially have caused some nervousness, but as results were posted, it was obvious that the difficult terrain was taking its toll, and Jo qualified comfortably in 9th place. Grace Elson maintained her consistent form, and she also qualified in 9th place. Hanny Allston was the last of the Australian women to start, and obviously relished the tough conditions to place 2nd in heat B, behind Finland’s Heli Jukkola.

Julian Dent had an excellent run in heat C, and his third-place time of 27:32 was the fourth fastest time overall in the men’s heats, and gives the Australian team high hopes for at least two podium places on Wednesday.

Results

Men’s Heats

Bracketed time is time ahead (+) or behind (-) the last qualifier.

Women’s Heats

The first 15 in each heat qualify for the final to be held on Wednesday 22nd (16:30 AEST)

For more personal appraisals of the day be sure to check out the Australian Team Blog.

Yesterday the 2007 World Orienteering Championships kicked off with the qualification for the sprint distance.  Today the long distance endurance athletes had their chance to prove themselves worthy of a spot in the final to be raced on Thursday.  Luckily the morning saw some overcast weather to keep temperatures in the mild 20’s, and competitors will appreciate being able to conserve as much energy as possible for the final races starting later in the week.

The Long qualification area “Pidgirtsi” was a perfect test for the competitors, as they will face similar terrain in the final.  Steep gully systems falling off plateaus and a large track network are typical of this physically testing terrain.

It was a disappointing day for the Aussie men, with both David Shepherd and Reuben Smith unable to qualify.  Shepherd was just squeezed out by 4 seconds in a very competitive heat won by the Swiss star Matthias Merz.  Reuben Smith missed out on qualifying in heat C which was won by the young Frenchmen Philippe Adamski, showing the current depth of quality in the French men’s team. Marc Lauenstein, multiple long distance podium runner, showed he is a real threat for the win in 2007 by winning heat A.

The Australian women continued to show their strength with Anna Sheldon and Hanny Allston both qualifying well.  Anna Sheldon was impressive in taking 6th place in heat C, a fantastic run and showing her real potential after missing out yesterday in the sprint qualification.  Hanny Allston did not have her best run but was still able to qualify in 10th place.  Kathryn Ewels was unable to keep up her form from the sprint distance and missed qualification in a heat full of talent, won by Simone Niggli almost 3 minutes ahead of Finland’s Minna Kauppi.

Results

Men’s Heats – 8.9 km

Bracket equals time ahead (+) or behind (-) the last qualifier.

Women’s Heats – 5.8-5.9km

The top 15 in each heat qualify for the final to be held on Thursday 23^rd.

For more personal appraisals of the day be sure to check out the Australian Team Blog

The 2007 World Orienteering Championships got under way today with the qualification heats of the Sprint Distance in Kiev, Ukraine. With forecasted temperatures over 30 degrees, and a trip for the Australian teams involving two metros and a bus ride, the day was going to provide some interesting challenges.

The area “Golosiivo” provided a combination of park and forest including some built-up areas and was hoped to provide the ideal start to a successful championship for the Australian team, not least for our reigning world champion in this discipline, Hanny Allston.

In the men, Julian Dent qualified comfortably in Heat C which was won resoundingly by superstar Thierry Gueorgiou with a massive 23 seconds margin. The other crowd pleasing result of the day was local star Yurii Omelchenko winning his heat despite some ageing legs. Troy de Haas and Rob Walter both narrowly missed qualification. The last qualifier in Heat B (ahead of Rob) was Ross Morrison of New Zealand.

Hanny Allston showed she is not far from the class that brought her success last year, qualifying a very strong 3^rd place in heat B. The stand-out female in the qualifications was Ingunn Hultgreen Weltzien from Norway, winner of heat A with a massive margin of 35 seconds. Simone Niggli, perhaps Hanny’s main competition, won heat C. Grace Elson and Kathryn Ewels both qualified comfortably in their heats providing 3 Australian runners in the final for next Sunday. Anna Sheldon had difficulty at the end of the course and did not qualify.

Results

Men’s Heats – 2.9 km

Bracket equals time ahead (+) or behind (-) the last qualifier.

Women’s Heats – 2.3km

The top 15 in each heat qualify for the final being held over a week away, on Sunday 26^th.

For more personal appraisals of the day be sure to check out the Australian Team Blog.

The 2007 World Championships starts tomorrow with the sprint qualifying race in Kiev. Australia has 4 starters in the women’s race, with Hanny Allston granted an automatic start as she defends the world title she won last year. Anna Sheldon, Grace Elson and Kathryn Ewels will also start, while Rob Walter, Troy de Haas and Julian Dent start the men’s race.

The organisers are promising warm weather for the start of the week, with temperatures in the mid-30’s forecast.

More info on the team blog.

The 2007 Oceania Carnival based in Canberra in October will see the New Zealand Pinestars battle with the Australian Bushrangers for the Key/Aspin Trophy. The Pinestars were victorious in the first series at the Waitangi Weekend in New Zealand in February. The Bushrangers are Australia’s Development Team, with emphasis based on giving athletes valuable experience in quality competition and team environments.

The Bushrangers Team (and the races they will contest) is:
Women:
Vanessa Round (all)
Jasmine Neve (all)
Tracy Bluett (all)
Briohny Davey (sprint, middle, long)

Men:
Kerrin Rattray (all)
Reuben Smith (all)
Simon Uppill (sprint, long, relay)
Chris Naunton (sprint, middle, long)
Ryan Smyth (sprint, middle, long)
Julian Dent (middle)

The New Zealand Pinestars team is:
Women:
Jenni Adams
Penny Kane
Lise Moen
Lara Prince

Men:
James Bradshaw
Greg Flynn
Neil Kerrison
Ross Morrison
Jamie Stewart

The test match will take place at the Oceania Middle, Sprint, Long and Relay Championships.

Australian team members performed well in WOC warm-up races conducted in Kiev over the weekend.

In the sprint, Troy de Haas and Julian Dent were first and second (M21Е), and Julian was second in the middle distance race. Hanny Allston was 4th in both the middle distance and sprint races; Kathryn Ewels was 7th and 8th respectively in the middle and sprint (W21Е).

WOC starts on 18th August — keep up to date with the Team Blog.

Australia has managed to place 15th in the men’s relay held today in misty conditions at Hotel Ski.

Paul Darvoldelsky, David Simpfendorfer and Alex Randall were 17th across the line but were placed 15th officially in a time of 155 minutes.  France won in a time of 131 minutes with the Czech men only 30 seconds behind and Denmark rounding out the top 3.

The second Australian team crossed the line in 26th place in a time of 176 minutes.  All rode reasonably well and enjoyed the course set.

The women’s relay was won by Finland in a time of 114 minutes, Russia was second nearly four mins behind and Austria took out 3rd place.

Results

Splits (men): leg 1, leg 2, leg 3

Weather conditions this morning turned out to be different to previous days with mist being the order of the day but the rain held off for the competition.

Alex Randall placed an extremely good 18^th overall (96.57) in the 35 Km A final after losing 4 minutes on an early control which saw him placed in the forties at that stage.  Russia’s Ruslan Gritsan won in a time of 86:48 followed by Denmark’s Lasse Brun Pedersen, with local favorite Jaroslav Rygl placing third.  Torbjoern Gasbjerg of Denmark rode the third fastest time but unfortunately left the start 1 minute late and was relegated to 6^th on appeal.

Paul Darvodelsky navigated really well again to place 33^rd with a time of 102 minutes, while David Simpfendorfer had a disappointing ride to finish 53^rd in 115 minutes.  New Zealand’s Michal Glowacki placed 44^th in 107 minutes. The winning times for this long event was short by some 20 minutes.

In the Women’s 29 Km race, Thorlene Egerton in her first WOC rode a strong race to place 33^rdin a time 110 minutes.  The consistent Michaela Gigon (Austria)  took her first gold of the carnival with a time of 92 minutes, 2 minutes ahead of Ksenia Chernkyh (Russia) who obtained her 3^rd individual medal, followed by Christine Schaffner (Switzerland).

The men’s B final, the same as the women’s course was won in a time of 80 minutes.  Tony Clark placed 10^th with a consistent ride in a time of 91 minutes and David Wood was 13^th in 93 minutes.  David assisted an injured competitor on the course thus losing some time.

Tomorrows men’s relay has 32 teams and Australian teams and running order are:

Paul Darvodelsky

David Simpfendorfer

Alex Randall

Tony Clark

David Wood

Thorlene Egerton

Results

Splits

Wednesday’s forecast for the long distance qualifiers suggested rain was a possibility, with local thunderstorms.  Decisions were being made whether to take mud tyres or stay with tyres currently being used for the dry forest.  All of the Australian riders chose to use dry tyres, which proved to be a good call as the afternoon’s event was dry.

The Australian riders thought that the area was certainly harder than previous days, with a lot more route choice, and also hiller.

In the women’s race there were two heats of 30. Thorlene Egerton placed 13^th in heat A with 58 qualifying for the A final.

The men’s field had three heats and the top 20 from each qualified for the A final, which included Alex Randall (6^th), Paul Darvodelsky (13^th) and David Simfendorfer (15^th). David Wood (26^th) was in a very competitive heat and navigated well but made a few doubtful route choices. Tony Clark placed 31^st in his heat, with his excellent ride being spoilt by one large 10min mistake in a large area of indistinct tracks.

Tommorow is a rest day before the long distance final on Friday with the men riding 39Km and the women 28Km

Results  Splits