INTERVIEW – Hanny Allston

Interview with Hanny Allston

European magazine, Orienteering Today, interviewed Hanny Allston about her recent successes in World Junior and Senior Championships. Here we reproduce excerpts from the interview.

“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”.

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?

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

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...

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

find most of the money for traveling, competing, training, etc. ourselves. And that makes it much tougher than a lot of the top Europeans experience, I think.

I see, finding financial support is probably one part of the challenge, but what I have been thinking a lot about is also a certain kind of isolation... Especially now, with WOC and WC and all the other top races being held exclusively in Europe.

Yes, that certainly plays a part... however I believe this is also my secret weapon. Let me try and explain: I am the sort of person who always needs challenges... big challenges. I like to push myself to the brink of my physical limits. And so therefore I have so many passions outside of orienteering. If I were to just orienteer I would be bored with the sport within about three months as I don’t feel there are enough new challenges presented to me in it. So by being here in Tasmania were there is very little orienteering I can focus on my running (eg. I am now trying to move into marathons) and also other sports such as kayaking, cycling, mountain biking, multisports etc. Then, at the beginning of the orienteering season I focus back into what I have to do and my orienteering goals. It’s perfect because I believe all these other interests make me tougher, faster and fitter than I would be if I just orienteered. And then when the season starts I am really motivated to orienteer again. I focus 100% on my technical skills and voila! I am orienteering at a new level! I think it works for me and that is the most important thing. When I come to Europe it is time to start focusing on Europe. But until then I focus almost solely on the physical side of sport

You say you focus almost solely on the physical aspects of the sport. Yet, despite this it is amazing to see the level your orienteering skills...

My skills... I have another belief... I spend 98% of my time focusing on my physical development as an athlete. I believe that to be the best in the world I want to be the best physically - i.e. look like a top athlete. I basically do very little on my skills here in Australia for exactly that reason. However again this is fantastic because I can focus 100% on my speed, endurance, etc. Then when I come to Europe I am so so so excited to be orienteering again. Whenever I am in the forest in Europe I am 100% focused. Every session I do I set myself goals of what I want to achieve. I focus 100% so that I get the most out of my training. That way when the competition comes round I am racing with my topmost skills. This is different to being in Europe I think...

It certainly is.

In Europe, the runners seem to do a lot more orienteering skills sessions- ie up to 5 a week. And I see so many orienteers getting bored and not putting 100% into their training. And so bad habits develop. Also, if you run in the forest all the time you end up running slower because the terrain does that to you. I think it is the quality versus quantity principle at play.

Do you do any mental preparations? Such as going through the previous o-maps of the area or maps of relevant terrain, to be 100% ready.

Naah, not really. I do a little just to get my bearings i.e. to realize which way the North is. I But it all changes so much when you get out on the course. I think a good example of this was the Long-distance day at O-Ringen. There I got so hung up on the old map, because everyone around me was, and forgot to concentrate when I got out there because I thought I knew the map completely. Never ever, ever again!!!

So will orienteering would be the main focus of your future career?

It will be for the next few years till I accomplish a few more dreams. But yes. I don’t want to be ‘just an orienteer’. But sport for me is just that. It is something which I do for myself and no one else. I participate in sport because I love to feel healthy, fit and have fun with my friends, not to mention all the great opportunities to travel too!! But my life is a separate thing to my sport. I NEVER mix the two together. I will NEVER be a professional athlete and NEVER want to. I want my life and sport to be separate commodities so that I can maintain a balanced outlook.

Do you feel there are some aspects of your performance level, where you can still improve a lot?

Certainly, I know I have only just started to see the beginning of my physical capabilities as a runner. I also believe that you can always improve your technical skills. I know that I have a lot more potential to tap into.

What is your favorite type of training?

I love anything tough! I like to get to the end of a day absolutely exhausted. Give me a challenge and I am definitely there with 100% determination!

About WOC

Winning a World Champion title at the age of 20 must be a very nice thing. On the other hand, it can also bring possible threats along, especially in terms of motivation. What I mean is, once having become a World Champion, then a fourth place would hardly be enough any more... and it can happen, that runners who achieve something like this at such a young age, get discouraged... It is in sharp contrast to what most runners experience, when they have to go all the way up, step by step, improving maybe from a 30th place at the age of 21 to win the title one day, maybe when 32 or something... This may seem like a tedious process but on the other hand, it certainly helps the motivation as you can feel you are making progress all the time. Aren’t you afraid of this?

No, I have won the world title but I am still hungry. To me, I won’t feel like I am the World Champion till I achieve it in the Long-distance. To me this discipline is the top of our sport: the ultimate goal. So long as I still have goals to focus on I am sure that I can continue to improve and strive.

Is there anything you will always remember from Denmark? A thing or a moment, which always comes to your mind when you think back about the WOC 2006?

Yes, and it has nothing to do with orienteering. It was when my good friend Grace Elson was about to present Prince Fredrik the boomerang. We were waiting to go up onto the stage when she muttered in my ear, ‘goodness me, he’s hot!’ I just looked at her and got the giggles. And I also started laughing a lot when a certain British female runner accidentally kissed him on the lips. It is the moments like these that I savor the most. Our Relay (4th) also had to be a highlight. To run up that long finish chute with the girls was a wonderful feeling because we have been striving for that moment for a long while.