NEWS/DID YOU KNOW?

World MTB-O Champs

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

All Anti-doping Tests Negative

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 Tristan Lee, Josh Roberts, Simon Mee M18 Simon Uppill, Rhys Challen, Morten Neve M20 Chris Naunton, Ryan Smyth, Kieran Sullivan M21 Rob Preston, Ian Meyer, Blair Trewin, Rob Walter M35 Paul Liggins, Mark Freeman M40 Lance Read, Jim Russell M45 Darryl Smith, Alex Davey, Andrew McComb M50 Tony Whittaker, Eric Baker, Nick Dent M55 Hugh Moore, Peter Jackson M60 Dave Lotty, Dick Ogilvie, Alex Tarr M65 John Hodsdon, John Sheahan, Basil Baldwin M70 Frank Assenza, Brian Johnson, Gordon Howitt W16 Ineka Booth, Kylee Gluskie, Bridget Anderson W18 Heather Harding, Rebecca Hembrow, Clare Brownridge W20 Jasmine Neve, Erin Post, Kellie Whitfield W21 Clare Hawthorne, Cassie Trewin, Tracy Bluett, Anna Sheldon W35 Wendy Read, Christine Brown W45 Carolyn Jackson, Hilary Wood, Julia Allston W50 Sue Neve, Liz Bourne, Lynn Dabbs W55 Judith Hay, Libby Meeking, Val Hodsdon W60 Jenny Hawkins, Jean Baldwin, Janet Tarr W65 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

5th places and a number of relay medals. Håkan was upset when he was left out of the 2003 WOC team after placing at the Swedish trials in the Sprint distance that year. Håkan’s persistence was finally rewarded with his silver medal and he has said this will be his final WOC.

Thierry Gueorgiou

Frenchman Thierry Gueorgiou again dominated the Middledistance race, leading from the 2nd control. The field was much closer to him this time though after his 2:45 min flogging of the next best at WOC 2003. Gueorgiou announced he plans to tackle the Long race in Japan 2005.

Most successful couple

Norwegian couple, Bjornar Valstad, another veteran at 37, and Hanne Staff 32, collected a swag of medals. Bjorner won gold in the Long and Relay and Hanne won gold in the Middle, silver in the Long and a bronze in the Relay. Bjornar won his first WOC medal in 1991 and Hanne in 1997. Between them, they have won 22 WOC medals. They have said they are now likely to both retire from international elite competition.

Janne Salmi retires

After a disappointing 2004 WOC, but a long career as World Champion, Finland’s Janne Salmi is retiring as an elite in international Orienteering.

Aussie Recognition in Skogssport

Skogssport, in its coverage of this year’s JWOC in Poland, commented on the good performances of Hanny Allston as well as a few of the British girls. Skogssport reported that Hanny was “a name to remember. Allston was one of Australia’s best swimming talents but decided to pursue her Orienteering instead.”

37 Nations entered for WOC’04 in Sweden

Skogssport reported that 38 of the 45 IOF full-member countries had entered competitors for this year’s WOC in Vasteras, Sweden. The 8 countries missing were Belarus, Brazil, Kazakhstan, South Korea, Liechtenstein, Serbia & Montenegro, Slovenia and Turkey. Women contestants were entered by 33 countries and 34 entered men. Notably, Hungary, who have won three WOC gold medals over the years, have not sent any women.

IOF News

Amongst those elected to the IOF Council for the Congress Period 2004-2006 were: Åke Jacobson (Swe) - President Hugh Cameron (Aus) - Senior Vice President

World Championships (Foot-O) 2007 & 2008

WOC 2008 has been awarded to Czech Republic; Hungary was appointed organizer of WOC 2009. Ukraine will host the WOC 2007 near Kiev.

The 2007 World Ski-O

Championships was awarded to Russia.

New member countries

The IOF has approved new membership applications from four countries. Liechtenstein, Turkey and Colombia were admitted as full members and Puerto Rico as associate member. The IOF now has 63 members.

Aussie success in UK

Lauren Shelley (BK-V), is currently in the UK and running with Ranelagh Harriers, whose past members have included Christopher Brasher and John Disley, the founders of Orienteering in Britain. Lauren was in action at the Great North Run near Newcastle and ran a truly awesome halfmarathon PB of 75:58. “Yep - got the PB - 1:15:58,” she said, “and actually got a 10km PB on the way through too! Great day - good atmosphere and nice to run against some of the big guns and to see a fellow Aussie win!”

1. Benita Johnson (Aus) 67.55

(World Cross Country Champion & Athens Olympian)

14. Lauren Shelley 75.58

World MTB-O team trivia

• Relay bronze medal winner Anna Sheldon only started competing in MTB-O this year. She was riding a 10 year-old, 3-owner bike that cost her $350! Anna finished 4th in the W21E foot-O Australian Championships. • Mary Fien had her athletics coach come down from NSW to watch her race. • One Aussie rider was found at 6am polishing his bike with “bike lust!” • Many riders got a thrill from being asked for their autographs by Castlemaine secondary school students. Nina Phillips (Ireland) reckoned that she got asked heaps because many students had Irish backgrounds, or so they claimed.

• Austrian Michaela Gigon (Medium-distance gold medal winner, silver in Relay) rode all races with a sign on her bike saying “Don’t follow me, I’m lost too.” She was several minutes late to the pre-start in her gold medal race and forgot to clear and check, but luckily had enough space left on her SI stick. Michaela, currently works on contract with the Austrian Army as a mountain bike rider. Her current contract expires in November but she is hoping that her gold medal in the Middledistance final will help her gain an extension.

Adrian Jackson signing autographs for Castelmaine Secondary College students after winning the Middle-Distance Gold Medal. Photo: Mike Hubbert

Events Tally

number of events, with 1972 to Dec 1st, followed by your editor, Mike Hubbert (VIC), with 1889 and Ian Baker (VIC) on 1835, while OV President, Blair Trewin, will have around 1225 events (and a lot more years to go than the rest of us). Let us know the top participator in your state. ‘Participation’ includes competing, course-setting, controlling and being the major Organiser.

Liz Randall

Our former principal photographer Liz Randall (VIC) was at the World MTB-O Championships to take in the scene, especially number one son Alex in the Australian team. The day of the Medium-distance final (Alex punctured) was also Liz's sixtieth birthday, a big one. Liz has been concentrating on the bike for some time now - that's why we haven’t seen her at foot or MTB-O events - with some notable successes. "In August the World Masters' road races were in the Tyrol province of Austria. I won Gold in both the 45 km road race and in the 20 km time trial. My aims were to do so well that I'd be drug tested: aim achieved! And to place in as many younger age classes as I could: I did that too.” "Then I went to Manchester in northern England where I won Silver in the pursuit and the time trial. I lost my world record in the pursuit and my aim now is to get it back in '05, again in Manchester. "I'm concentrating on track training with that goal".

Swiss in Oz

Swiss elite Sara Gemperle and her husband Rolf are touring the east coast of Australia; Rolf is photographing for a “multi vision” show. “So as to be as flexible as possible”, says Rolf, “we have decided on a normal bike with a special tandem”. Passenger is daughter Eline who sits on a special chair and contributes to forward progress. Baggage is on a trailer. Sara, three times Swiss champion, is taking six months off from international orienteering. OL