Record 53 nations at World Championships
Posted on | July 11, 2012 | Category: News
The number of nations at a World Championships sets a new record this year – in Switzerland in the coming week 53 nations will have one or more competitors taking part. Every one of these nations will be represented in the Sprint on Saturday.
204 women and 135 men are registered to take part in some or all of the three individual disciplines – Sprint, Middle distance and Long distance – and the Relay. The Championships begin with the Sprint Qualification and Final on Saturday in the city of Lausanne.
The other key dates are:
Middle Final, Tuesday 17th July
Long Final, Thursday 19th July
Relay, Saturday 21st July
All of these races will be held in pre-alpine terrain within easy reach of Lausanne.
This website will carry reports, interviews, pictures and leading results from all the races throughout the Championships, either in this Home Page News or in the ‘Around the Arena’ link at the foot of the page.
Norwegian journalist ERIK BORG here assesses the chances of the leading contenders for the medals.
The women: Can Simone achieve another clean sweep?
Nine years ago and again seven years ago, Simone Niggli won all the gold medals at the World Orienteering Championships (WOC). There could be a repetition of that this year.
Just as on the last occasion WOC was staged in this mountainous country, in 2003, the first event this year is the Sprint. In 2003 the shortest discipline was a perfect start to a warm, high-quality and public-friendly championship, in which the biggest success story of all was Simone Niggli – at that time known as Simone Luder.
Her incredible performances in those excellent Championships were a door opener both for her and for orienteering in Switzerland. It was at that point that she became one of orienteering’s biggest stars.
A lot has happened since in Simone’s life. The now 34-year-old athlete has three small children, and the twins are not yet one year old, but Simone said at the European Championships in May that she feels she is orienteering better than ever. So she is the favourite to win all the individual finals. The Relay is a bit more open, but also there it can end with a Swiss victory with the so far 17 times world champion running the last leg.
Minna Kauppi, Finland is the strongest challenger amongst the ladies. Especially on the Middle distance she can be a tough opponent for Niggli, and the Finnish ladies could again take the Relay gold medals home, as they are so used to doing with Kauppi on the last leg.
Other strong medal candidates include Tatiana Ryabkina, Russia, who did very well at the European Championships in Sweden. Anne Margrethe Hausken Nordberg, Norway, and Annika Billstam and Helena Jansson, Sweden are also strong medal candidates. Helena took a medal on every distance last year and won the Middle distance, but she hasn’t shown the same form this season and has also had some injuries. But she is good at getting to her very best when it really counts. She has also been living in Switzerland for some time both this year and last year. Maybe she can be in the fight for gold in the Middle distance.
Sweden’s Tove Alexandersson, the remarkably good junior, can also be up in the medals fight. She is running in the Junior World Championships, where she has already taken a gold medal in the Sprint, before going to Switzerland. Lena Eliasson is also one in the Swedish team who could do well.
Last year the Swiss athlete Judith Wyder took an unexpected medal. Now she has a year’s more experience, and on home ground she could be up there again. The Danes Maja Alm and Ida Bobach are also strong medal candidates; Ida took a medal on the Middle distance last year whilst still a junior. Maybe the Danes can also win a Relay medal.
Simone Niggli is the big favourite to win all the individual distances on home ground, just as she did in 2003. Switzerland will also be aiming for gold in the Relay.
The men: The big question: will Thierry show up?
Thierry Gueorgiou has struggled with injury for more than a month, but he is back in training and wants to win his favourite Middle distance yet again. But there are others in the French team with a chance of a medal, and especially the Swiss runners could win a lot of medals in these Championships.
Thierry had to retire at the European Championships (EOC) in Sweden due to a stress fracture. On Sunday he will decide if he will attempt to defend the gold on the Middle distance from last year, where he also won gold in Long distance and Relay. This year it is certain that he will not run Long distance or Sprint. He has now been running for two to three weeks, but the big question is, what level of fitness can he achieve.
“The decision on taking part will be made on Sunday at the latest. If it is taken earlier it will be because he will not take part”, Kenneth Buch, the French head coach, tells.
Amongst the men, the gold medal fight is much more open than amongst the women. There are a lot of strong runners, especially from France and Switzerland; all the Swiss men taking part are capable of taking a medal. Most recently, Matthias Kyburz has impressed everyone a lot, and he could end up as the ‘king of the games’. So even if Daniel Hubmann, the best Swiss, is still injured and can’t take part, it can be a very successful home Championships. Matthias Merz has the experience and has also won WOC golds before: he is really a man to look out for. The same is true of Matthias Müller, the Sprint champion in 2010.
France has strength in depth at present. Without Thierry, François Gonon, Philippe Adamski and Frederic Tranchard won medals in the Relay at EOC. They are also good enough to take individual medals; François and Frederic have both achieved that before. The question is if France can get the first individual World Championship gold that doesn’t have the name Thierry Gueorgiou attached to it!
Norway has one very big candidate for medals: Olav Lundanes won both Middle and Long at EOC in Sweden. There it was Nordic terrain that suits him well, but he has a good chance of achieving his goal of three medals. Maybe his very best distance is the Middle distance, since that’s more technical than the Long distance. Carl Waaler Kaas and Anders Nordberg are other Norwegian hopes.
The Swede Peter Öberg has struggled a lot with injuries this year, but he can also fight for gold at Middle distance. Andreas Holmberg took an individual medal last year and can do it again. The Swedes are doing especially well in the Sprint at present, and Jerker Lysell is one of the favourites for a gold medal on that distance. Jonas Leandersson won the Sprint at EOC, but was this a one-off?
Valentin Novikov is a strong Russian medal candidate. Andrey Khramov usually does well at WOC, but he hasn’t impressed so much earlier this year. Kiril Nikolov took his first international medal in the Sprint at EOC in Sweden, and could do it again.
The men’s Relay is very open, but France and Switzerland look to have the strongest teams on paper.
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