LETTERS
NEWS
World MTB-O Champs
All Anti-doping Tests Negative
On behalf of the Australian MTB-O Team, I would like to thank all of those at the VOA involved in organising the best World MTB-O Championships ever! From our point of view everything ran like clockwork, and most of the thanks is due to those dozens of volunteers who worked tirelessly throughout the week and for months and years beforehand. I would especially like to thank Blake Gordon (without him there would have been no championships) and the course setters Derek Morris and Keith Wade for giving up much of their year. Thanks also to the VOA for supporting myself with funding, and the team sponsors; ASC, Silva, Netti, Macpac, Skins, Hammer nutrition and of course the famous Melbourne Bicycle Centre, they all made the results possible.
Adrian Jackson (VIC)
To Blake and Dale Gordon and the 2004 World MTBO Championship organisers, Thank you, thank you, thank you!! A wonderful event with excellent maps and courses. Such a special gift to the competitors. Such a special experience for the Australians to compete on home terrain. Your efforts were tremendous and greatly appreciated by all!
Emily Viner
8 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER DECEMBER 2004
2 November 2004 All the results of the antidoping tests carried out at this year's world elite events in foot orienteering have been negative. Athletes from 11 different countries were tested at the World Cup events and European Championships held in Roskilde, Denmark. At the World Orienteering Championships in Västerås, Sweden, athletes representing 16 nationalities were selected for doping tests. The testing programme included a total of 46 tests. The sample analysis was performed by the IOC accredited laboratories of Aker University Hospital in Oslo, and Huddinge University Hospital in Stockholm respectively. The IOF Anti-Doping Rules have been revised to be compliant with the World Anti-Doping Code and the new rules came into effect on 1 August 2004. In accordance with the requirements of the Code, the IOF has identified a registered testing pool of athletes who are required to provide up-to-date whereabouts information and make themselves available for out-of-competition testing. The IOF's testing pool includes the athletes of the national federations' A-teams in all IOF disciplines, i.e. foot orienteering, mountain bike orienteering, ski orienteering and trail orienteering.
Melbourne Forest Racers Melbourne Forest Racers (VIC) has had a very successful 2004. With only 24 club members, MFR achieved the highest number of placings in A/E-classes at the Australian Championships (9). Club member Adrian Jackson won Australia's first gold medal in the World MTB-O Championship – Middle-distance, while Clare Hawthorne and Natasha Key were Australian Champions in women's elite Long-distance and Middle-distance respectively.
Australian Team 2005 Australia-New Zealand Challenge The M/W21 teams are also Bushrangers teams and 2004 WOC team members were not considered for selection. M16 M18 M20 M21 M35 M40 M45 M50 M55 M60 M65 M70
Tristan Lee, Josh Roberts, Simon Mee Simon Uppill, Rhys Challen, Morten Neve Chris Naunton, Ryan Smyth, Kieran Sullivan Rob Preston, Ian Meyer, Blair Trewin, Rob Walter Paul Liggins, Mark Freeman Lance Read, Jim Russell Darryl Smith, Alex Davey, Andrew McComb Tony Whittaker, Eric Baker, Nick Dent Hugh Moore, Peter Jackson Dave Lotty, Dick Ogilvie, Alex Tarr John Hodsdon, John Sheahan, Basil Baldwin Frank Assenza, Brian Johnson, Gordon Howitt
W16 W18 W20 W21 W35 W45 W50 W55 W60 W65
Ineka Booth, Kylee Gluskie, Bridget Anderson Heather Harding, Rebecca Hembrow, Clare Brownridge Jasmine Neve, Erin Post, Kellie Whitfield Clare Hawthorne, Cassie Trewin, Tracy Bluett, Anna Sheldon Wendy Read, Christine Brown Carolyn Jackson, Hilary Wood, Julia Allston Sue Neve, Liz Bourne, Lynn Dabbs Judith Hay, Libby Meeking, Val Hodsdon Jenny Hawkins, Jean Baldwin, Janet Tarr Dorothy Adrian, Sue Mount, Maureen Ogilvie
National Junior Squad 2005 Selectors recently named the National Junior Squad for 2005: Julian Dent (NSW), David Meyer (NSW), Conrad Elson (Tas), Lee Andrewartha (Tas), Simon Uppill (SA), Ryan Smyth (Tas), Louis Elson (Tas), Chris Naunton (Vic), Hanny Allston (Tas), Jasmine Neve (Vic), Erin Post (WA), Kellie Whitfield (WA), Zebedy Hallett (SA), Sophie Barker (ACT), Heather Harding (ACT), Vanessa Round (SA)
Swedish O-Ringen Australia’s Julian Dent placed 11th in M20E at the recent O-Ringen Swedish 5-Days. This event attracts upwards of 20,000 competitors and to achieve so close to a top-10 finish in an elite class is no mean effort.
News from WOC’04 in Västerås, Sweden WOC statistics 38 nations entered, 400 participants, 32 men’s relay teams, 24 women’s relay teams, 800 workers during the WOC week, 200 media representatives, and around 6000 paying spectators.
Women’s Long Final Simone Luder lost a contact lens on the way to the 2nd control, losing 3 minutes while putting in the spare. Finnish
hope, Marika Mikkola closed the 4-minute start interval and caught Luder at control 3. Mikkola decided to run her own race, later saying, “You can’t rely on someone who had lost so much time.” Luder ran strongly from this point recording the fastest time from control 3 to the finish. If Mikkola had stuck with Luder, as is common in elite championship races, she would have won the title, but instead finished 3rd.
Triumph of Persistence and Experience Swede, Håkan Eriksson, 43, finished 2nd in the Sprint, 2.5 seconds behind the winner. Håkan, who won the M40 race at the World Masters 2002 at Kooyoora, first represented Sweden at the WOC in 1989, as a 28 year-old, where he finished 4th in the Classic race. Over the following years he ran a number of WOCs achieving two individual
