World of O News
After silver on yesterdays sprint, Olav Lundanes won a magnificent gold medal on today’s long distance at the Junior World Championships in Dubbo, Australia. Lundanes goal for the JWOC this year was a medal on all distances – and with one gold and one silver after two of four distances, he is right on track. However, if you think this is easy for Lundanes – you should think again. – I was really nervous last evening and this morning. When I took a bite of the slice of bread for breakfast this morning, everything came up again. The speed was not the best in the forest, but I am extremely happy to manage this, was Lundanes comment after his victory.
The splits tell a completely different story: Lundanes’ speed at the last part of the course was fantastic – it seemed like he had a lot of energy left when the others slowed down. Lundanes won 7 of the 9 last legs – increasing his 13 seconds lead to nearly 4 minutes during the last part 15 minutes of running. Lundanes was really in his own class in this last part of the course. According to the Norwegian trainers, an energy bar and lots of stamina is what saved Lundanes today! Lundanes again – one hour after coming to the finish: – Now I have got something to eat, but I am still freezing..
Lundanes won the long distance in the JWOC two years ago – and took his second JWOC long distance gold medal today. Magne Dæhlie secured a double for Norway with his silver medal: – This is the best race I have made ever, and everything worked extremely well from the first step. In the end, I got tired, and I had not managed Olav no matter what, Dæhlie said after the race. Magne Dæhlie has used one year to come back to the orienteering junior elite after a severe injury last year – and admits that the silver medal is very inspiring.
Double Double by Ulvestad and Hallan Steiwer
The Norwegian junior women secured a double double by Siri Ulvestad and Kine Hallan Steiwer. While Lundanes was more than 3 minutes ahead of Dæhlie – with nearly 5 minutes down to the best non-Norwegian, it was tighter in the womens class. – I understood while running that this was a good race, but I did not think it would be good enough for victory. I did not feel that the run was that good, said Siri Ulvestad after the race. – But I only had some small mistakes on the controls.
The question now: Are any of the juniors good enough for the Norwegian WOC team? The Norwegians have not impressed a lot internationally this year, and there might be an opening for some of the juniors, even if the Norwegian WOC selection races are held the coming weekend, when the juniors are still down under…
Pre-JWOC Interviews with the Norwegians
Below you find some pre-JWOC interviews with the double double winners (in Norwegian, partly woO-TV – partly NOF-TV):
Siri Ulvestad (gold):
Kine Hallan Steiwer (silver):
Olav Lundanes (gold) – from Spring Cup:
Magne Dæhlie (silver):
Source: Press Release from the Norwegian O-Federation. Picture: Official JWOC Page
