World of O News
At the World Cup final which was held in volcanic forests around Clermont-Ferrand in France, the home runner Thierry Gueorgiou won almost all he could. He reached three times for gold and there was noone in the field who could beat him in any of the individual races. This brought the Frenchman 150 World Cup points and also the first place in the overall standings of the World Cup in 2006, and also a nomination for the Achievement of the Year.
I think your preparation for the World Cup final can be described as extreme, regardig the amount of time you spent orienteering in the terrain. Were you not afraid to invest so much into it? That in case you didn’t succeed, it could be very stressful?
When you know that you are very well prepared… when you know you have done all the work before, then you feel very relaxed. It is exactly the same as it is at school. You have worked so hard in your preparation that you can’t see a question you would have no answer to.
After the World Championships in Denmark, before the World Cup, I ran through 1000 controls… and all the time, if I made a mistake, I tried to see what was wrong and find the answer. Before the World Cup started, I knew that I was the one who had the best feeling for the terrain, so it was just about taking the map and run. The only mistake you can do in situations like this is to forget to read the map, because of the stress, but once you find the right balance, nothing can be easier.
I see, but I still think it must have been difficult to handle the first event of the programme, the Sprint, which was a discipline in which you had the smallest advantage compared to the other runners as here the terrain was not that special and everyone could run well. Wasn’t it?
I got good results in every discipline, all kind of terrain. I am never afraid about terrain and format. And of course I knew this Sprint was very important because the terrain wasn’t so special and there the difference between runners wasn’t so much affected by the preparation and training. And same I knew Emil and Daniel are both top class orienteers in Sprint and I am not at their level in this discipline.
But these were the given facts I couldn’t change. On the other hand, I knew that to succeed in the overall World Cup, I couldn’t skip the Sprint. To win the World Cup was possible only if I was the best in all the disciplines.
Did you also train a lot for this Sprint or was it mainly Middle and Long you focused on? And what effect did it actually have on you that the schedule changed after the storm due to which the Middle distance final was shifted?
I trained for the Sprint most in the very final preparation. Before the schedule changed after the storm, I had hoped to run well the Middle and win points on Emil and Daniel, and then to keep the pressure on them before the Long Final. But when the schedule changed due to the storm, the Sprint became more important. And I’m quite sure if Daniel had won this first final race, the whole scenario of the World Cup Final would have been very different for me.
And my last question, what was it actually for you the experience of the stormy day, on which the Middle distance final was stopped and later on rescheduled for another day?
I came to the start and there I was told the race got canceled. I was really disappointed and really angry about the organizers… because I knew that I would loose the overall WC standing if they didn’t find the solution. But there was nothing to do about it. I packed my things and returned to the accommodation. I felt depressed and really hoped that the organizers would find a new solution in this situation. But there was one thing really good about it. This whole “storm affair” made me realize how important the race was for me. I understood that missing this competition would meant a lot to me and last thing I wanted was to have regrets when the Word Cup Final was over…
Thierry Gueorgiou – Achievement of the Year 2006
Nominated for: Three consecutive individual World Cup victories in France in Sprint, Long and Middle, securing him the overall World Cup 2006.
Other achievements: European Champion in Middle distance 2006.
Story: Thierry Guergiou has been the king of the Middle distance for several years. In 2003 he outclassed the whole World in this discipline at the World Championships in Switzerland and set new standards for orienteering in this most technical discipline. Since then, he had never lost to anyone in Middle distance at major Championships. Until this 4th August this year, when the Norwegian Holger Hott Johansen overtook the reign over the Middle distance throne. His 4th place in the middle distance at WOC 2006 in Denmark this year was certainly a huge disappointment to him, but also a great source of motivation. After Denmark, he put everything into the preparation for the World Cup final which took place on his home ground at Clermont-Ferrand in France in October. There on special and tricky lava terrain he completed a fantastic hatrick and won all the individual events and thus secured himself a premiere victory in the overall World Cup!
» Runner profile Thierry Guergiou
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