Next race is the long, or the “classic’ as it use to be known.
Australia has 4 runners, they are
11:51 Henry McNulty
12:03 Brodie Nankervis
14:46 Krystal Neumann
14:52 Aislinn Prendergast
Plus 8 hours for those viewing in Australia
You can find more about WOC here
and on IOF Eventor
Jim Russell
The Australian team is now ready for the first race at the World Orienteering Championships near Sarpsborg, Norway. The Middle Qualification will be held from 10.00am Norwegian time.
The athletes representing Australia will be
10:06 Bridget Anderson
10:25 Simon Uppill
10:25 Patrick Jaffe
10:40 Belinda Lawford
10:48 Krystal Neumann
10:55 Matthew Doyle
You can find more about WOC here
and on IOF Eventor
Jim Russell
Today we finished our Camp at Kirkebygden, and we shifted to the WOC accommodation in Sarpsborg, Norway. Kirkebygden has been an excellent place to stay, so close to the forest that we train in, but we need to move on and are now looking forward to the World Orienteering Championships that are now only 6 days away.
Over the next few days, we will finalise our preparation, and by the weekend, the team will be altogether, and ready for the first race, the Middle Qualification on Tuesday.
You can find more about WOC here
and on IOF Eventor
Jim Russell
Training continues for the Team that are at the pre-camp at Kirkebygden, while the last of the Australian team members have arrived in Europe this morning. Training today is on Våler Varde, just to the South of the accommodation. Most of the maps are close by, with them all a short 3 or 4 k drive away, or an easy walk.
You can find more about WOC here
and on IOF Eventor
Jim Russell
Orienteering Australia is considering ways of improving the National Orienteering League calendar and is seeking views from across the orienteering community. A discussion paper on the NOL and some options for the future can be found here.
If you would like to comment on how to improve NOL you can complete an online survey or email your comments to Ian Prosser the High Performance Administrator (ian.prosser11@gmail.com).
Three elite men will be representing Australia in the upcoming World MTB Orienteering Championships (WMTBOC) at Viborg, Denmark from July 26 – August 4th.
Team captain Ricky Thackray, from Western Australia, will be racing at his 5th WOC (World Orienteering Championships) after debuting in 2012. Queenslander Joel Young is looking forward to his 2nd WOC after his inaugural races last year in Austria were hampered by several mechanical problems. Tim Doman (Newcastle, NSW) is making his Australian debut after winning two of the three selection races at the NSW Championships in April. His background in mtb crosscountry and adventure racing, including a win at the recent GeoQuest Half, means that he brings good fitness and skills to the team.
Ricky & Joel are already in Europe and have competed in major events in both Lithuania and the Czech Republic. Ricky did exceptionally well winning 2 days and placing 5th overall in his age class at the Czech 5 Days. Tim flies out shortly to join them in Denmark on July 20th for a week’s training in preparation for the Championships. The Danish terrain should suit the Aussies as its relatively flat with an emphasis on technical decision making.
In the World Championships each rider competes in 4 individual events and a 3 person relay. The individual events differ in distances, planned winning times and technical difficulties. The “sprint” is only a 25 minute winning time for the optimal 11 kilometre course. However it is held in complex bush and urban terrain including the narrow laneways of old town Viborg, and requires riders to visit 31 control points and make many quick decisions. In contrast the winning time for the “long” course of 46 kilometres is 110 minutes, with some of the 27 controls being situated 3 or 4 kilometres apart, requiring good route choices and benefiting riders with elite fitness and endurance. The Australian team is especially keen to push for a top 10 finish in the “relay,” a 45 minute race for each rider, after finishing a disappointing 14th last year.
The team will be managed by Queenslander Andrea Harris, both a keen mtb and foot orienteer, who is a former foot O WOC team member herself. New Zealander Marquita Gelderman will be coach for both the Australian & NZ teams.
Kay Haarsma
After a sensational win in the Sprint event Aston Key has followed up a day later with an equally impressive 3rd place in the Long Distance event. Aston started at 12:46 (local time), 114th in a field of 170, which meant that the M20 competitors were spread out from 9:00am until 14:38. Covering the 10.1Km course with 625m of climb and 18 controls, Aston finished in 67m49s just 5m30s behind last year’s defending champion from Norway, Kasper Fosser.
Results for both Men and Women can be found here, and splits here.
Men’s course can be found here, and the women’s here.
The Women’s race was subject to a protest, and again Australia was involved in the action, albeit OT’s Christine Brown being one of the three jury members.
Once again, well done Aston. A fantastic performance!
Pictures from yesterday’s Sprint event can be found here.
Orienteering Australia hopes to send a full team of 12 athletes to the World Cup round in China in late October. As part of that OA is seeking to appoint a manager/coach to lead the team. The World Cup will be held near Guangzhou from 24-30 October. The appointee will have their airfare and living costs covered. If you are interested in volunteering please contact Jim Russell (headcoach@orienteering.asn.au) or Ian Prosser (Ian.prosser11@gmail.com) by July 30.
Orienteering Australia is keen to send a full team of 12 athletes to the final round of the 2019 World Cup to be held in China in late October. To help the World Cup become more global it is important to support this round and OA is providing more support for this round than for a typical World Cup. Further information about the team and how to nominate for it can be found here. Nominations close on August 15.
After the final selection trials on the weekend at Cowra, NSW, the selectors have chosen the following athletes to represent Australia at the World Orienteering Champs (WOC) in Norway. All the best to these athletes: