Valentin Novikov is the most experienced Russian orienteer. At WOC Relay he took care of the last leg in the golden Russian team, with a style that earned him nomination into the “Achievement of the Year” category of the 2006 Poll. He was by far the fastest orienteer of the day and also thank to his smashing run Russia won their first Relay gold from World Championships.

I guess that when looking over, you must be satisfied with the 2006 season.
TYes, it was much better for me than the previous one and I was really glad I could take part in all the top events again.

The WOC 2006 ended up with your great performance in Relay, but before that in Long and Middle, even if you seemed to have been in your top shape, you two times lost great amounts of time at the end of the course, which twice cost you a medal. Have you analyzed that?
Well, the reasons were quite different. In the Long distance my main problem was that I had decided to use special athletic shoes, which were super light. However, the Long distance final was the first time I used them. I knew it was risk, but I was also aware that the Long distance would involve a lot of track-running this time, which was why I finally decided to take the risk. However, running in these athletic spikes required different running technique to which my legs weren’t used and after about 80 minutes on the course, I strted to suffer with cramps in my thigh muscles, which got really severe at the end of the course. When I got to the finsih shoot, I could barely move due to the pain and when I crossed the finish line, my legs were virtually powerless. And then, on the way back to our accommodation my stomach couldn’t hold anything, not even water. It was only in the evening I could eat my first food…

During the Middle distance you seemed to have been in full strength again. But again you missed a lot of time at the end of the course.
Yes, but this time the story was quite different. I arrived at WOC in great shape and thank to the one day of rest I had after the Long, I could regain my strength and recover completely. But what happened on the final loop of Middle distance course had nothing to do with my shape. At the series of very short legs in the open area with heather, my compass slipped along the map slightly and as a result when going to control 17 I started to orienteer as if I had been running towards the 18. And as you could see, here it was were I lost the chance to win a medal, maybe even the gold.

I think this must have been really disappointing, but it might have also been a reason for your outstanding run in the Relay. Did you get any extra motivation from this?
I would say so. I knew I was in my top shape at the WOC and with every event this shape was getting better and better, in fact I think it culminated in Relay. And of course, once you are running at WOC, you want to show your true class, especially when the whole orienteering world is watching you. And I knew I could do better than what I showed in Long and Middle, and Relay was my last chance in WOC to prove that. I think I have rarely run in Relay with greater motivation.

Valentin Novikov – Achievement of the Year 2006
Nominated forAs anchor bringing Russia to a historic World Championship gold in the Relay. Novikov’s run on the last leg was one of the highlights of the 2006 World Championships.

Other achievementsBronze medallist from Middle distance at the European Championships. 5th place holder from the WOC Middle distance. 3rd in the overall World Cup standings.

StoryValentin Novikov is Russia’s most experienced and one of the best orienteers. In 2004 he was Russia’s most successful orienteer in the World Championships, after he claimed silver in Middle distance and helped the country to another silver in Relay with solid run on the last leg. Last year, however, he missed the World Championships for reasons which are very well known. Things had calmed down over the winter and this year Novikov was back, competing for his country in major Championships. He won bronze in the Middle distance at the European Championships in Estonia. At the WOC in Denmark he competed in Long, Middle and he was also Russia’s anchor in Relay. If in the Long and Middle luck wasn’t particularly playing into his cards, in Relay he displayed a really out-of-this-world performance and with the best time on the last leg brought Russia to the premiere Relay gold medal in the history of the sport. He crowned his successful season with his best achievement in the overall World Cup, when he finished as third best in the overall standings of the series.

Written by:

» Runner profile Valentin Novikov
» Poll: Best of Orienteering 2006

With 13 days to go, 2400 votes have been given in the “Best of Orienteering 2006 Poll” staged by World of O and Orienteering Today. There is a close race for the top position in both the “Achievement of the year 2006″ category and in the “Junior 2006″ category.

Interviews

• “Kajsa Nilsson – Living the Dream”
• “Minna Kauppi – Finland’s golden element”

More interviews to come the next days! Go to the poll page and vote – and tell your friends and club mates about the poll!

Junior News
Some small notes about some of the juniors nominated for “Junior of the year 2006″:

• Søren Bobach, Olav Lundanes and Jan Benes are among the juniors who are in Australia preparing for the JWOC 2006. See newspaper article, this article by Kenneth Buch and the NSW Stingers homepage.
• Betty Ann Bjerkreim Nielsen is the best youth skier in “Tour de Ski” – finishing in a very strong 8th spot at the second part of “Tour de Ski” at January 2nd. See this and this article at NRK.no.
• Hanny Allston is
  awarded the Jörgen Mårtensson International Award.

Help us getting out to the corners of the o-world!
Have you got a web page in your orienteering club? Or a personal home page? Put up a link to the “Best of Orienteering 2006 Poll” – and make it possible for everybody to read about the fantastic achievements these fine nominated men and women have done this year – and to decide who really did the best achievement.
This is also a good way to spread orienteering as an elite sport out to the people doing orienteering in their small corner of the world – not really knowing much about the top runners. Feel free to take a few extracts from the poll description for some of the runners to tell what these achievements are really about. What’s in it for you? As you can see at the poll page, Among all orienteering related websites with on average more than 50 visits a day linking to the poll using the small image to the right or writing a news story about the poll, three prizes will be drawn..

Sites linking to the poll
The following pages are linking to the poll or have written a news article about the poll, and are in on the drawing for Orienteering Today subscription and ads at the World of O (see more about prizes at poll page). Thank you to all of you! And for those not in: Link up – write an email to jan@kocbach.net, and you are on the list next time. Still 10-15% chance to get a prize if you join in…

• Orienteering Australia
• Alternativet.nu
• Martin Pongratz
• OPN.no
• Alession Tenani
• Øystein Kvaal Østerbø
• Simone Niggli
• SOLV Spitzensport
• Ivo Danailov
• Danish Orienteering Federation
• JAK TO VIDÍ BÉĎA
• Moscow Compass
• Sävedalen AIK
• Okansas
• OTTOBRE31
• OLG Rymenzburg
• IL Tyrving
• I-OL.nl
• De Laatste post
• FIF Hillerød
• Emiliano Corona
• Norwegian Orienteering Federation
• Hanny Allston

PS! If your site is missing on the above list, you have maybe forgotten to write me an email about it? Or to put up the link?

In Denmark, at the World Championships, Minna Kauppi brought Finland home to a gold medal in the women’s Relay, something she had already done at the European Championships in Otepää in May. Both achievements which earned her nomination among the world’s best orienteers in the Achievement of the Year 2006 Poll. In this interview, parts of which were published in the latest issue of Orienteering Today, we talked with Kauppi about the World Championships Relay as well as about a strange disease, which keeps affecting her performance at the WOC level.

The WOC 2006 Relay; one of the craziest last legs I have ever seen in elite orienteering. Could you tell me a bit how it felt from your perspective in the forest. I guess a couple of times you must have believed that the race for the gold was over.
That’s true, and I’m not too proud about my performance either, even though I’m proud that we won! Well, I suppose the most crucial moment for me was at the third last control…

What were your feelings before the start? Your shape was obviously not the best…
First of all. I was really very unsure about my self and part of me didn’t really even want to run. Because I was in a similar situation last year in Japan as well. Not feeling well and really disappointed about my individual races. At EOC I was certainly much more confident and feeling physically stronger as well.
And maybe I should be more open about some things. My bad results at WOC-level can be explained quite well. For five years now I’ve had this terrible illness called colitis ulserosa which is an auto-immune disease. It is caused by genes and stress. And as an athlete I’ve got pretty much stress in my life, especially at big events. So at those competitions my colon gets more inflamed than usual and then I’m not in good shape at all.

I see. So when did you actually decide to run the Relay? Did you have to be persuaded?
After the Middle final I announced that I didn’t want to be the anchor. I knew that I should run the relay but I also felt that I wouldn’t be the fighter I usually am. So a little bit of persuasion was needed. On the other hand, I wanted to prove to myself that I can do it and that we can do it.
Actually, I don’t know if I had any other choice. Of course I could have said that I was not going to run but it was just obvious that you couldn’t skip the Relay.

I see.
But everyone in our team knew the situation so I wasn’t under that much pressure either. And Paula and Heli, they both didn’t feel like being the anchor either. So we were quite humble before the competition, and just decided to do our best.

But then, when you were out on the first loop, there everything seemed to have gone quite well for you, especially compared to other teams who started behind you.
Yes, quite well. But I still made a few mistakes.

Alright, but when you got into the arena you must have learned from the coaches that the teams behind were not getting any closer.
That’s true. It was a big relief, because I was, in fact, quite sure that Simone would come and get me. Karro seemed to me a bit lost at that time.

Why am I asking this? Because what happened in the last part of the course, sort of reminded me of the relay at EOC in Estonia where you also, you had a good lead at the spectator control, but then made some real “beginner” mistakes on the final loop.
Partly yes, because I made the biggest mistakes in the last loop there as well. I was too nervous after all. In EOC I was tired, of course, and stopped orienteering too soon, basically I lacked concentration. But in Denmark it was different. There I started to think about winning, that’s why I got lost.

Did you actually believe in gold after what happened at the 3rd last control? Or did you think the teams behind had passed you?
That was my worst fear, but luckily I could hear about the real situation from the finish arena.

Aha, so it was possible to hear the speaker that far away?
Not from that far, but right after the third last, I could hear it. And right after that I also saw Karro running towards the third last.

That must have been a relief. After all that drama, what was it you felt in the run-in when you met Heli and Paula? Relief or happiness?
Both I guess, but the feeling of relief was quite strong.

Minna Kauppi – Achievement of the Year 2006
Nominated for: As anchor bringing Finland to gold medals in Relays both at the World Championships and European Championships.

Other achievements: Gold medalist from the EOC Middle distance. Third place in the overall World Cup.

Story: The Finn Minna Kauppi has been great competitor since her junior years. At the moment, she seems to be the one among women who can challenge and threaten the phenomenal Simone Niggli, especially on the last leg of Relay. This year the two runner had two head-to-head fights on the last leg in Relay and both times it was this young Finn who came out as a winner. Kauppi definitely has the speed and the talent, but sometimes her orienteering is a little bit too fragile and she can make mistakes which are hard to believe. However, when all the pieces of the winning puzzle fit together, she can achieve the highest of positions; as was the case in the Middle distance at the European Championships in Estonia.

Written by:

» Runner profile Minna Kauppi
» Poll: Best of Orienteering 2006