Home ground an extra challenge
Posted on | July 11, 2012 | Category: Arena
For the runners from Slovakia, JWOC on home ground has been the big goal for a long time. It’s great to be under way this week, they say, but also a challenge to handle the extra pressure.
“We are feeling much more settled now”, Ivana Durvcova says. “But of course it’s great with so many family members and friends around”. She is from Košice, the centre for the championships this week. For her it was very special with the Sprint right in the middle of her home town. There was so much extra pressure.
Moved in order to learn
Seven of the twelve in the team are from Košice. Robert Barcik is not from the host city, but he went to live there a couple of months ago. “I wanted to prepare well for the terrain here”, he says.
Now he is ready for the Middle distance final. He became ill and couldn’t take part in the Long distance, but is he looking for a place among the 20 – 30 best in the Middle final.
Ivana ran very well in the Middle qualification, but unluckily one control punch didn’t record and she will not be in the A-final. 18-year-old Lucia Durcova will be, however. “I am going for a place in the top 40”, says Lucia, who is from Banska Bystrica, 230 kilometres away.
Close to the end
Next in the programme is the Middle final in Košice, and the following day the Relay, the last race. So far there have been some excellent days of competition. Good and difficult terrain with different technical challenges, and not least a team of organisers who are really putting all their efforts in to making memorable days for everybody present!
Lucia Steigrova (left), Robert Barcik and Ivana Durcova are three of the Slovaks who are running on home ground this week.
Photo: Erik Borg
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