Thought I’d give you an update on our 2015
JWOC progress.
The week started with an opening ceremony
in Rauland, a simple athlete procession and a taste of some Norwegian music.
We
are staying in two cabins in Vierli Turistsenter complete with kitchen and
washing and drying facilities – very handy with the conditions we are likely to
face during the week.
We catered for our own meals during the
training week, which worked out really well. During competition week we are
doing our own breakfast and lunch and have our dinners provided – although with
no dessert, there has still been some late night baking involved for chef
Kazza.
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| Henry finishing the sprint |
All maps for competition and model areas
are within easy driving and Karen and Hanny have now mastered this wrong side
of the road business.
Weather during the training week was
absolutely amazing with an unseasonable bout of hot weather. This wasn’t going to last for competition week.
The first event was the sprint, held in
Amot and although it involved mainly road and track network there were some
tricky and not-so-obvious route decisions to be made making it quite a tricky
sprint course.
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| Aidan after an awesome run in the sprint |
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| Liv, finishing the sprint in such hot conditions |
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| Jarrah in the finish of the sprint |
Our Aussies came away with some mixed
results, the best three placed men being Henry 51st, Matt 54th,
and Aidan 58th with only 10 seconds separating the three of them;
the best three placed women being Winnie 58th, Lanita 74th
and Nicola 104th. Terrific to see first time JWOCers Aidan and
Winnie performing so well and to have three boys in the top 60 was awesome.
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| Anna, consistent in the Middle terrain |
We then moved to the middle qualification
races on ‘Adalen’ a map with some smooth contoured hillsides, some marshes and
some very intricate contoured areas.
The athletes were warned that the terrain
may be even trickier than it appears on the map.
There were three very different courses in the A B and C qualifying heats and
there were big variations in winning times. Athletes were bused to a bus stop
and then had to walk 2 ½ km to quarantine with a150m climb.
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| Nicola a satisfying Middle qual run |
After such hot
weather for the sprint and the battle being heat exhaustion and trying to cool
the athletes down, the opposite was for the middle qual. It rained non stop and
was down to 6 degrees and the battle was getting athletes changed, dry and warm
after their runs.
We had some terrific results and overall
the Aussies handled the terrain really well.
To finish with three athletes in
the A final was awesome but even more pleasing was that we had 6 athletes in
the top 26 of each heat.
Our best three place getters in the Men
were Matt 13th, Pat 20th, Henry 23rd and in
the women: Winnie 18th, Nicola 21st and Anna 26th.
It was devastating for Henry and Anna to be close and as we watched the last
runner enter the arena, Nicola was also only just pushed out of the top 20 and
out of the A final.
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| Simeon finishing after a very wet qualification day |
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| Aidan really pumping for that finish split |
This brought us to the Middle Final. The
weather improved and there wasn’t any rain, just a cool temperature, but
terrific running conditions.
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| Matt flying in to the finish |
This was to
be a tough day for the Aussies with some unfortunate mispunches and
navigational errors costing some of our experienced athletes time in the
forest. Most pleasing results came from Aidan who bounced back from a
disappointing qualification race to secure 8th position in the C
final. Such a fantastic run for Aidan.
Winnie ran superbly to finish 45th
in the A final. An awesome result for first time JWOCer and terrific experience
for her and Patrick to race against such top competition in the A final.
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| Hannah, another solid performance |
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| Lani relieved after the Middle Final |
Anna and Jarrah put in a very solid
performances to finish 11th and 20th in the B finals –
absolutely wonderful results and both were very satisfied with their runs in
such tricky terrain. Hannah was also most satisfied on her run. Lanita, Nicola
and Olivia all made an error early in the course and time lost couldn’t be made
up but at least finished well.
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| Winnie on a good run in the Middle Final |
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| Pat in the finish of the Middle Final |
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| Pat and Nicola signing autographs on maps for some Czech juniors |
I think all athletes have had some
positives and some disappointments during the week which is the nature of
running in foreign terrain, in a big competition against the best in the world
and with 5 competition runs in the week.
I encourage you all to go to the JWOC 2015 website and check out some of the maps and courses they have done, http://www.jwoc2015.org/
I encourage you all to go to the JWOC 2015 website and check out some of the maps and courses they have done, http://www.jwoc2015.org/
Hopefully the weather will be pleasant for
the remainder of the week and hopefully we will have many more positives come
from the long distance event and the relay.
I remind them of our High Performance
Manager’s words, that JWOC is just one experience along their road to becoming
a senior elite orienteer.
If they can come away from JWOC having
experienced some positives; having learnt a lot and made new friends and having
fuelled their drive to continue in the sport and to improve as they move into
the senior age rank, then it has been worthwhile for themselves and for
Orienteering Australia.
I couldn’t be prouder of the way they’ve
handled their successes and misfortunes and of the way they’ve supported each
other this week.
They have been awesome company too ;)
Tonight we had a get-together in Rauland
where all teams met for dinner, some music and the prize giving ceremony for
the sprint and middle races. What a
great idea – we arrived and had to walk around the tables and find an Aussie
flag at a dinner setting and then we could sit in that spot – athletes, coaches and Managers alike.
This meant we were sitting at mixed tables and got to know those around us –
other athletes and coaches. It was a terrific way to meet new friends and all
came away feeling very excited to share their experiences.
Tomorrow we will go to the Long Model event
and then we are having an ‘Aussie Supporters’ afternoon tea at our cabin – the girls’
cabin that is, it smells just a little fresher ;) We have so many family members in Norway
supporting the team – it’s been great to see the Aussie flag flying in the
arena and to hear the Aussies cheering -
really makes a difference. Thanks for all the support from back home as well - it's so appreciated!
I just love that it's light til so late over here. The snow on the mountains is gradually melting but every day we are amazed at the scenery. This is from outside our cabins at about 10.30pm!
I’ll try to post another blog update soon.
Cheers
Karen
