World of O News
An Orienteering legend, that’s what Hanny Allston became last year, despite being mere 20 years of age. In the 2006 season this young lady from Hobart was living through a dream of a kind. She became the junior World Champion in Long distance and then, a couple of weeks after, she smashed the whole elite orienteering world by claiming the World Champion title in Sprint among seniors, which certainly became one of the headline stories of the 2006 World Championships in Denmark. Here we are bringing you an extract of the interview published in Orienteering Today, the international orienteering magazine.
Winning a World Champion title at the age of 20 must be a very nice thing. On the other hand, it can also bring possible threats along, especially in terms of motivation. What I mean is, once have become a World Champion, then a fourth place would hardly be enough any more… and it can happen, that runners who achieve something like this at such a young age, get discouraged… It is in sharp contrast to what most runners experience, when they have to go all the way up, step by step, improving maybe from a 30th place at the age of 21 to win the title one day, maybe when 32 or something… This may seem like a tedious process but on the other hand, it certainly helps the motivation as you can feel you are making progress all the time. Aren’t you afraid of this?
No, I have won the world title but I am still hungry. To me, I won’t feel like I am the World Champion till I achieve it in the Long distance. To me this discipline is the top of our sport: the ultimate goal. So long as I still have goals to focus on I am sure that I can continue to improve and strive.
Is there anything you will always remember from Denmark? A thing or a moment, which always comes to your mind when you think back about the WOC 2006?
Yes, and it has nothing to do with orienteering. It was when my good friend Grace Elson was about to present Prince Fredrik the boomerang. We were waiting to go up onto the stage when she muttered in my ear, ‘goodness me, he’s hot!’. I just looked at her and got the giggles. And I also started laughing a lot when a certain British female runner accidentally kissed him on the lips. It is the moments like these that I savor the most. Our relay also had to be a highlight. To run up that long finish chute with the girls was a wonderful feeling because we have been striving for that moment for a long while.
When you think back about the Sprint… Could you actually believe what you achieved when you had finished the race? When did you actually realize, that you had become the World Champion? I guess this wasn’t something you would even dream about?
No not really. I knew that I was capable of it but I guess when it actually happens it will always be a bit of a shock that you actually DID IT. You just have to see the sequence of photos in the Australian Orienteer (the Australian National Orienteering magazine, issue from September) to see this. It wasn’t until my great friend BJ muttered in my ear that I was World Champion that I realized. I started crying- I think mostly because I was sad that my Dad couldn’t be there to celebrate with me, my mum and my friends. I have dreamt about it. And I still do.
Actually, what were you thinking coming into WOC 2006? I think you must have known you were in a good shape, but what were your goals for the event?
I knew I was in good shape. My training had been perfect as had my preparation. I just wanted to improve on last years performances. I have to admit I was more focused on the long but this just proves you should aim high in all your races. I certainly would have been very happy to go home with a podium or even top 10 finish because my main focus in 2006 was JWOC. Anything that happened at WOC was going to be the icing on the cake.
As for the Long distance… I guess it was very difficult for you this time to get back down to the earth after what happened the day before and get motivated enough. Was it? Or was there any other problem? I’m guessing this, because of the style with which you ran in the Relay, a technical and tough race, where on the last leg you were able to outclass all your rivals…
The hardest part of the long distance was being allowed to refocus. I was woken at 6am by the media in Australia, and continuously hampered by further phone calls. Plus everyone was coming up to me right up to the start congratulating me and patting me on the back. I really appreciated it all but it certainly made it hard for me to focus. Despite this I was very happy with the end of the long distance. I felt I improved heaps as the race went on, I was just not focused enough at the start.
Hanny Allston – Achievement of the Year 2006
Nominated forBy age still a junior, winning gold at the WOC Sprint in Denmark.
Other achievementsGold medal from the Long distance in the Junior World Championships in Lithuania, JWOC silver medalist in Sprint.
Story: Tasmanian orienteer with exceptional talent. This year Allston showed the whole world that it is possible to reach for the absolute top in this sport even when you don’t live and train in Scandinavia or Europe. Last year she got noticed when she achieved, as 19-year-old, a 6th place in the WOC Long distance in Japan. One year later she was back on the WOC scene and at the age of 20 she claimed WOC gold in Sprint and became the first non-European World Champion in orienteering. In addition to this, Hanny Allston also won silver and gold at the Junior World Championships in Lithuania.
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