Aleksandra Hornik – Polish success story
Posted on | July 15, 2016 | Category: Arena, News
Aleksandra Hornik had a plan for success in the last individual race at the Junior World Championships this week. She also has plans for the future.
Poland quite often has some very talented juniors. It’s not more than three years ago that Piotr Parfianowicz won the Long Distance at JWOC. On home ground in 2011 it was gold in the Relay, and the year before in Denmark there was a medal to both Hanna Wisnievska and Monika Gajda in the Sprint.
Aleksandra was beaten only by Simona Aebersold in the Middle Distance Final on Friday. Her result was due to excellent navigation. In some ways the 19-year-old Polish girl felt at home in the terrain. “It was a bit like Scandinavia”, the last-year junior smiles. “It was very difficult. I knew I really had to be fully concentrated all the time. If I had lost knowing where I was, it could have taken from ten seconds to ten minutes to get into the map again. So I know what to do and I didn’t make any mistakes”.
Aleksandra Hornik with Simona Aebersold and Johanna Öberg Photos: Erik Borg
Swedish experience
For the last two years she has been running for the Swedish club OK Kolmården, along with her Polish club WKS Grunwald Poznan. The experience from Sweden is something she thinks is important for achieving success. “I am in Sweden about four times a year, and this training has been very useful. Very important is also my trainer Tadeusz Rutkowski, who also coaches Bartosz Pawlak. He is very experienced. Then I like to do technical training. I am doing that from two to four times a week”.
The secret of success
Tomasz Pabich, Poland’s head coach, tells about her progress. “She has been training well and especially with orienteering technique. She has got experience and has been training in a lot of different terrains”.
Earlier this year she took part in the World Cup on home ground and got some points. “She is already one of the best in Poland, also compared to the seniors”, Tomasz says. “And she could get up to a very good senior level internationally”.
Aleksandra is from Poznan, half-way between Warsaw and Berlin, and has grown up in an orienteering family. “My parents do the sport so I have been to orienteering events all my life. I have been orienteering on my own since I was eight”. She is studying Material Engineering full-time. “But I am ready to cut my studies if that’s necessary”.
A very big goal
In the coming year there are some very important races on home ground. The World Games will be organised in Wroclaw, where a World Cup round was held this year. “I think there is a good chance for me to be in the team”, she says.
Big events coming up for Aleksandra
In the coming week she will be in Sweden and will take part in O-Ringen in Sälen, close to the border to Norway, about in the middle of Sweden. In the middle of August she will take part in WOC in Sweden. The big Polish future hope is in line to run in more than one format.
The silver medal girl is held up by her Polish team-mates. In front on the right, head coach Tomasz Pabich. From left: Radostaw Piotrowski, Maja Morawska, Weronika Cych, Krzysztof Rzenca and Michal Olejnik
Aleksandra Hornik was presented with her medal by Simone Niggli, JWOC Event Director and the most successful orienteer ever.
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