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NOC 2007: Swiss domination by Merz and Niggli

merz.jpg5 of 8 gold medals went to Switzerland in Nordic Open Championships 2007 at Bornholm, Denmark – thanks mostly to excellent performances by Matthias Merz with three gold medals and Simone Niggli with two gold medals and one silver medal. Both of them also finished the championships with victories at the final long distance – and at the sprint distance Simone Niggli was on her way to a third gold medal when she forgot a control. Switzerland had never previously won any gold medals in the Nordic Open Championships in the Mens category – Merz’s gold medal at the sprint distance Thursday being a premiere for Switzerland! For Merz, the two NOC golds were also his first international gold medals since his Junior World Championships gold medals in 2003 and 2004.

The rest of the senior medals were divided between Sweden and Finland – with Sweden being the best of the Nordic countries in the senior classes, with 2 gold medals, 3 silver and 3 bronze. Finland got a total of 9 senior medals. For the Norwegian seniors, this was a very depressing championships – with no medals at all – the 4th places of Audun Weltzien and Carl Waaler Kaas being the best results. This is the first time since 1955 (when there was only one discipline in NOC) that Norway is without medals at NOC. The only upside for the Norwegian team is that there are good juniors coming up – and that a Norwegian team hungry for success will travel to Ukraine this August…

For the Danish team, the Nordic Open Championships at home ground was a success, even if they got no runners within the six best in the senior categories. Instead, the Danish juniors gave the Danish spectators a lot to applaud!

Senior Medals – NOC 2007

Country Gold Silver Bronze
Switzerland 5 1 1
Sweden 2 3 3
Finland 1 4 4
Norway 0 0 0
Denmark 0 0 0

Results

Sprint Men

    1    158 Matthias Merz                   Switzerland                     15:31 
    2    140 Jonas Pilblad                   Sweden                          15:38 
    3    164 Matthias Müller                 Switzerland                     15:40 
    4    162 Audun Hultgren Weltzien         Norway                          16:03 
    5    131 Marius Bjugan                   Norway                          16:05 
    6    151 Jarkko Huovila                  Finland                         16:07 

Sprint Women

    1     52 Helena Jansson                  Sweden                          17:19 
    2     51 Minna Kauppi                    Finland                         17:27 
    3     42 Heli Jukkola                    Finland                         17:32 
    4     43 Martina Fritschy                Switzerland                     17:34 
    5     44 Marianne Andersen               Norway                          17:45 
    6     47 Elise Egseth                    Norway                          17:53 

Middle Men

    1    160 Jarkko Huovila                  Finland                         31:02 
    2    162 David Andersson                 Sweden                          31:50 
    3    150 Mats Haldin                     Finland                         32:12 
    4    156 Carl Waaler Kaas                Norway                          32:15 
    5    157 Peter Öberg                     Sweden                          32:27 
    6    159 Holger Hott Johansen            Norway                          32:32 

Middle Women

    1     50 Simone Niggli                   Switzerland                     29:28 
    2     52 Minna Kauppi                    Finland                         29:31 
    3     58 Paula Iso-Markku                Finland                         31:17 
    4     51 Helena Jansson                  Sweden                          31:28 
    5     38 Annika Billstam                 Sweden                          31:55 
    6     28 Dana Brozkova                   Czech Republic                  32:00 

Long Men

    1    166 Matthias Merz                   Switzerland                   1:19:52 
    2    163 David Andersson                 Sweden                        1:20:38 
    3    165 Jonas Pilblad                   Sweden                        1:22:54 
    4    164 Jani Lakanen                    Finland                       1:23:22 
    5    121 Baptiste Rollier                Switzerland                   1:23:33 
    6    154 Mats Haldin                     Finland                       1:24:18 

Long Women

    1     51 Simone Niggli                   Switzerland                   1:02:28 
    2     45 Minna Kauppi                    Finland                       1:02:53 
    3     55 Lena Eliasson                   Sweden                        1:04:34 
    4     47 Heli Jukkola                    Finland                       1:05:44 
    5     46 Helena Jansson                  Sweden                        1:06:25 
    6     33 Dana Brozkova                   Czech Republic                1:06:39 

Relay Men

    1     40 Switzerland 1                                                     2:29:06 
             Matthias Müller                51:27      9 BACB          2    51:27      9 
             Baptiste Rollier               49:09      1 CBAA          1  1:40:36      3 
             Matthias Merz                  48:30      1 ACBC          1  2:29:06        

    2     26 Finland 2                                                         2:29:21 
             Jonne Lakanen                  51:35     12 BBBB          1    51:35     12 
             Pasi Ikonen                    49:14      3 CCCC          1  1:40:49      5 
             Jani Lakanen                   48:32      2 AAAA          1  2:29:21        

    3     23 Sweden 1                                                          2:29:23 
             Jonas Pilblad                  51:02      8 BCCC          1    51:02      8 
             Johan Modig                    49:49      4 CABB          1  1:40:51      6 
             Peter Öberg                    48:32      2 ABAA          1  2:29:23        

    4     22 Finland 1                                                         2:30:16 
             Tero Föhr                      51:30     11 CCBA          1    51:30     11 
             Jarkko Huovila                 49:52      5 ABAC          1  1:41:22      8 
             Mats Haldin                    48:54      4 BACB          1  2:30:16        

    5     24 Finland 3                                                         2:31:37 
             Vesa Taanila                   50:54      6 ACCB          2    50:54      6 
             Jörgen Wickholm                49:53      6 BABA          1  1:40:47      4 
             Tuomas Tervo                   50:50      5 CBAC          2  2:31:37        

    6     30 Great Britain 1                                                   2:31:54 
             Graham Gristwood               50:33      2 CBAC          1    50:33      2 
             Jon Duncan                     50:20      8 AACA          1  1:40:53      7 
             Jamie Stevenson                51:01      6 BCBB          1  2:31:54        

Relay Women

   1      4 Sweden 1                                                          2:16:24 
             Emma Engstrand                 48:10      8 BBA           1    48:10      8 
             Kajsa Nilsson                  44:57      1 CCB           1  1:33:07      1 
             Helena Jansson                 43:17      2 AAC           1  2:16:24        

    2      3 Switzerland 1                                                     2:18:09 
             Sara Gemperle                  50:08     14 BCA           2    50:08     14 
             Martina Fritschy               47:30      5 CAC           2  1:37:38     10 
             Simone Niggli                  40:31      1 ABB           1  2:18:09        

    3      1 Finland 1                                                         2:18:37 
             Heli Jukkola                   46:06      2 AAA           1    46:06      2 
             Bodil Holmström                49:08      7 BBB           3  1:35:14      5 
             Minna Kauppi                   43:23      3 CCC           1  2:18:37        

    4     13 Czech Republic 1                                                  2:19:29 
             Zdenka Stara                   46:39      4 CCC           2    46:39      4 
             Eva Jurenikova                 49:16      8 ABB           3  1:35:55      6 
             Dana Brozkova                  43:34      5 BAA           1  2:19:29        

    5     17 Switzerland 2                                                     2:19:32 
             Franziska Wolleb               47:44      7 ABB           2    47:44      7 
             Lea Müller                     46:34      3 BCC           1  1:34:18      2 
             Seline Stalder                 45:14      6 CAA           1  2:19:32        

    6      2 Norway 1                                                          2:19:48 
             Anne Margrethe Hausken         45:51      1 CBC           1    45:51      1 
             Lene Moe                       50:29     11 AAB           1  1:36:20      8 
             Marianne Andersen              43:28      4 BCA           1  2:19:48        

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Jan Kocbach is the founder of WorldofO.com - taking care of everything from site development to writing articles, photography and analysis.

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2 comments

  1. Hello Jan!
    You are right, the three gold medals of Matthias Merz (one with the relay team) are the first gold medals for the Swiss men. But in the womens class we have already four (!) Swiss girls winning a individual gold medal at NOC:
    1997 Sabrina Meister-Fesseler (long)
    2003 Marie-Luce Romanens (sprint)
    2005 Vroni König-Salmi (long)
    2007 Simone Niggli (sprint and long)

    Thanks for all your work you are doing for orienteering!

    Fritz

  2. Thanks Fritz. I updated the text accordingly.