2007 JWOC – DUBBO
The Events Blair Trewin
Long-distance, 9 July At first glance Sappa Bulga looked as extreme an area as anyone had ever seen, with hillsides filled with rock and more rock. Once out there it was a bit easier than it looked, but it still provided a major test for the field’s endurance. It was definitely an area to sort the best out from the rest. The Norwegians had a fabulous day, rekindling memories (for some of us – although probably not for the competitors, none of whom were born then) of the senior World Championships of the early 1980’s when Norwegian clean sweeps were a regular occurrence. They took 1st and 2nd in both races, led by Olav Lundanes, who won the JWOC Long-distance for the second time.
Sprint, 8 July The Junior World Championships started with the Sprint at Western Plains Zoo. A somewhat unconventional area for the Sprint – the out-of-bounds areas on the maps were marked with the names of the animals contained therein. (At most Sprints people going into out-of-bounds areas risk being disqualified; here, they risked being eaten). Steady rain fell for the two hours before the start, but it broke to occasional drizzle by the time the first competitors headed out (the last vertical moisture seen for the week). Being the first race, judging the favourites was difficult, although it was expected that most of the likely prospects would start in the later part of the field (teams can choose which people to allocate to which start blocks). In such situations the early leaders rarely stay close to the top. The most impressive time of the early stages was posted by Jenny Lönnkvist (SWE), who held the lead for much of the first half of the day. The action heated up in the middle of the day, when two very impressive times were posted. Vojtech Kral (CZE) was more than 30 seconds clear of the field when he crossed the line, whilst Eva Svensson (SWE) took an 18-second lead over her compatriot. Both margins looked impressive in a Sprint race but it was far too early to say that they were medal-winning runs. Both times, though, did hold up for gold medals. Svensson’s time looked highly likely to fall when Sarka Svobodna (CZE) was 21secs ahead of her at #10, but that margin was gradually whittled away over the last third of the course, and disappeared to nothing by the end. She fell a single second short. Maja Alm (DEN) was the last real chance; she was always within a few seconds of Svensson, but could never quite catch up and had to settle for bronze. Lönnkvist finished 5th, just behind Siri Ulvestad (NOR). Kral was not really challenged until late in the day. Mikael Kristensson (SWE) looked a possibility before losing time at #12 and #14 (only 15secs apiece, but that is enough to be fatal in a Sprint at this level), but a more serious threat was Olav Lundanes (NOR), regarded as one of the best juniors for many years and favoured for multiple medals this year. Lundanes always looked like getting in the top two, and made a charge over the final controls, but it left him with a silver medal, 6secs short. Whilst he never looked like winning, Ivan Sirakov (BUL) managed a major milestone for Bulgaria; his bronze was their first-ever international medal. Illustrating just how fine the margins can be in Sprints, only ten seconds separated 7th and 19th. Simon Uppill was the pick of the Australians. The Sprint was expected to be his weakest distance, which made his 10th place a very encouraging result. Vanessa Round was the best of the women in 23rd. It was also a good day for the New Zealanders, with top-twenty results from Tom Reynolds (15th), Greta Knarston (19th) and Lizzie Ingham (20th). 14 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2007
After early skirmishes of little consequence to the front end of the final results, the first seriously challenging time was posted by Stephan Kodeda (CZE). His result held up for a long time, but it was expected to come under major challenge later in the day. When his time was surpassed it was done convincingly, with Magne Dæhli (NOR) coming in more than three minutes ahead. The next major interest in the men’s race was the run of Simon Uppill. From the start it looked like he was on an extremely competitive time and had a real chance of a medal. A minute lost on the long 17th leg cost him a chance of overhauling Dæhli’s time, but he was still fast enough to be in medal contention. When Uppill crossed the line he was in 2nd place, but by then Lundanes was in the forest and clearly on an excellent run. He was narrowly ahead of Dæhli through the spectator controls, but was still only 13secs ahead at #20, and 37secs ahead at #22. That was where he took control of the race, finishing much stronger than anyone else in the field. He won six of the last eight splits, and finished nearly three minutes ahead and an almost certain winner. The only thing which remained to be decided was whether Uppill could hang onto bronze. He saw off several challenges, notably from Jan Benes (CZE) (who looked good until he lost time at the very end), but was eventually squeezed out by the last realistic contender, Christian Bobach (DEN). Like the men, the women saw a fast time posted in the middle of the day, but this time it was one which held up to the end. Siri Ulvestad (NOR) crossed the finish five minutes ahead of the field. It looked a good time, but would it be enough? Her team mate, Kine Hallan Steiwer, was the closest threat. She was at least as fast as Ulvestad (who did not win a split), but two minutes lost at #9 would eventually prove crucial; she came back hard at the end but fell 26secs short. Vanessa Round provided the next major excitement when she led through the first seven controls. She was always in touch with the leaders after that, not quite close enough to challenge seriously for a medal, but close enough to set herself for a very significant placing. That left the task of chasing the Norwegians down to two remaining runners. Heini Saarimaki (FIN) looked an excellent chance for silver at least for much of the way. She was only three seconds behind Steiwer at the second last control, but lost 30secs on the last and had to settle for bronze. Sabine Hauswirth (SUI) was very competitive, but never quite looked like breaking into the medals and finished in 4th place. Round held onto a podium place in 6th. For the Australians, apart from their two lead runners, Louis Elson could be happy with his day’s work. At halfway a top-20 place looked possible; he drifted back a little in the second half but still ended in the top third of the field at 37th. Rachel Effeney also had a solid race (especially for someone not in the original team), finishing midfield at 53rd, whilst for New Zealand Greta Knarston’s 16th was her second top-20 result in two days.
