INTERVIEW
Triumphant Welcome Home What was the response to your achievement in Australia? It certainly wasn’t as big as I would have received if I was European but I was impressed considering how small our sport is here. I received a fair amount of local media exposure in Tasmania, especially because of the Tasmania Denmark connection. And I have featured in a fair few articles in major national newspapers and magazines. So I guess it was good. It has certainly helped to raise the profile of our sport in Australia. Did you have to explain a lot about what Orienteering is? Yes at some levels. I found that the major media branches such as some of the national newspapers and magazines had far less of an understanding of what our sport is than the more local Tasmanian newspapers Did you feel that people around you, now I mean your non-orienteering friends etc., have really understood what you actually achieved?
Interview with Hanny Allston
Some certainly have and that makes me incredibly proud. However, there are always going to be those individuals who don’t quite understand because they see achievement in terms of how much media exposure you receive. But in some ways I prefer it like this. I am not the kind of person who tells many people about it. I don’t want people to think that I am different from who I used to be just because I am now a world champion
European magazine, Orienteering Today, interviewed Hanny Allston about her recent successes in World Junior and Senior Championships. Here we reproduce excerpts from the interview.
I understand this totally. What I was rather referring to is something Thierry Gueorgiou told me, because for him, the life really changed in some ways after the WOC 2003... The winter after the event, wherever he went with his training group on training camps people were waiting for him to present him with gifts, talk to him, etc...
“At the age of 20 Hanny Allston has become the youngest World Champion in orienteering. But when she won the Sprint at the 2006 World Senior Championships, she also changed history in other ways. She became the first non-European runner to win a gold medal at the World Championships and despite her age, she also managed to beat the amazing Simone Niggli (SUI), who had to settle for her first-ever WOC silver. But what was perhaps most important was the message Allston sent to other young orienteers in countries far from Europe where it is difficult to get financial support for frequent travel to Europe and to take part in the top events. On 1st August, this good-natured young Australian woman showed the rest of the world that it is possible to be the best, even if you live in a country where orienteering is not a top sport, maybe not even a top-50 sport. With a good attitude, strong will and determination, anything is possible. You just have to give it a try and not give up. In this interview with this amazing young woman she speaks about what it is like to be an orienteer in Australia; about her training; what it was like to come back in Australia as a World Champion; her golden race at the World Championships and many other things”. 22 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER MARCH 2007
Yes it is true. I find that many people want a small piece of me. I am constantly being asked to travel to events, attend functions, do interviews, write letters etc. And at the end of the day I find this very exhausting. I can’t say I have received heaps of gifts but I had the most beautiful welcoming home ceremony at the airport on my arrival. I have also had the chance to meet many other amazing Australian athletes such as Craig Mottram, which makes me feel a little special inside. Can you tell me more about this welcome ceremony at the airport? Oh, the local Tasmanian orienteers met me off the plane with garlands of flowers, bunches of spring wattle, and a few small presents. All the local media and newspaper journalists were there too. And everyone had small Australian flags. It was intimate and beautiful... just perfect to end a special time for me. Now I would really like to talk in detail about what interests me most: What’s it like being a top orienteer in Australia? Very different to Europe! I have a huge amount of support from the orienteering community in Australia but outside of this circle it is very tough. I have not yet been able to find any sponsorship other than from Brooks who give me some gear. But luckily I do my sport because I love it and am passionate about it.... not for money or exposure. But we still have to
