- If I could only run one discipline each Championships, it would always be the relay, Helena Jansson says in this Interview. One of her big highlights in 2008 was therefore deciding the EOC Relay for Sweden on the last leg. Jansson has taken another major step up as an orienteer with her first individual WOC medal this year.
Below Helena Jansson is presented for the nomination “The Orienteering Achievement of 2008″ through an interview made by World of O and Ultimate Orienteering.

About: Two of the major sources for international orienteering news on the Internet – World of O and Ultimate Orienteering – are organizing a poll to name “The Orienteering Achievement of 2008″ and “The Ultimate Junior Orienteer of 2008″. The winner in each category is decided in a vote amongst all the readers of World of O and Ultimate Orienteering after all nominees have been presented. Starting November 12th we present all nominees on a day-by-day basis. The poll is sponsored by Trimtex. Voting will be possible after all nominees have been presented from the voting page. See also all nominees in the initial press release.

Interview with Helena Jansson

Give a short presentation of yourself.
Helena Anna Jansson, 23 years old, medical student, living in Umeå (the very north of Sweden). I absolutely hate the darkness here but I adore the snow. I love skiing, and by that I mean real alpine skiing, none of that Nordic nonsense. I have an older brother who loves his suit-job and an older sister who likes rowing and who inherits all my left-over training-gear. None of them likes orienteering. My brother dislikes the fact that I am lousy at getting personal sponsors, partly because I don’t have one that can supply him with a GPS for his car. In Ume I live with my boyfriend Niclas Jonasson, who likes running shoes and to vacuum. He also likes me, and I definitely like him, and it is such a luxury to live with the person you like the most, it still fascinates me. Also, I am a sucker for music, especially alternative pop and, as Kat Stratford said, “angry girl music of the indie-rock persuasion”. Currently, Arcade Fire, Joel Alme, Melissa auf der Maur and Editors are among my favourites. I love pink and I am a firm believer that you can never get to much glitter. My to worst things are bananas and eggs, and also, I can’t stand Swedish singer Lars Winnerbäck.

What was the highlight of the 2008 season for you?
Hard! I have had a great year, with a whole lot of really great races and experiences. If I have to choose I would say that the EOC relay was the best. I had just come out of a period of knee-trouble, not really knowing if I had anything in those championships to do, and therefore I was extra nervous. Relays are my favorites (if I could only run one discipline each Championships it would always be relay.) but being part of a team means that someone else will have to suffer for your mistakes… Luckily, we didn’t make that many mistakes, and when I, together with Lina P and Emma E crossed the finish line, we did it as European Champions, and it was just great!

My brother dislikes the fact that I am lousy at getting personal sponsors

What is your thought about being nominated for the orienteering achievement of 2008?
It is very flattering, but I don’t really know why you are putting me up there with all the stars, I think I have some way to go before I am among the most skilled runners in the world! It feels really great though!

What are your main goals for the future?
I still have a lot to learn and to develop, and I have a vision that I one day will feel that I am all the best that I can be. I still have a long way to go before I get there, and maybe I never will, but in the meantime I am completely satisfied that I am taking one step at a time towards becoming really good at this sport!

Where is your favourite place to orienteer – where you would advice our readers to travel?
I have a lot of favourite places for orienteering, and I still have not seen so many. I love northern Italy, Slovenia, an (after last weeks trainingcamp) Hungary. In Sweden, one of my favourites is Haddingen, right here in Umeå. It is the greatest forest ever, and I would advise every one who likes orienteering to come here and run at least once! We have a guest room…

Can you describe your toughest training week in 2008 (day-by-day)? Did that have any specific impact for your great achievements in 2008?
My toughest week is yet to come! I have not started my training towards 2009 yet, but when I do it will be something extra! Overall, my toughest weeks have been around 18 h of training, and with high intensity running (and weightlifting) as a major part. Exactly which weeks I have done what, I have no idea, but my trainer Harri Viinamäki does!

I love northern Italy, Slovenia, an (after last weeks training camp) Hungary

Are you a professional orienteer? How many percent is your work/study that you do besides orienteering compared to a full position – and how many hours do you train each year?
I am a professional orienteer, of course, but I am also a full time medical student. Does it work? Oh, yes! I love school and I love to run, and the two things together make me even better! When I have too much time of from school, I don’t know what to do with myself, I can’t make use of all the time, and the days that I am resting from training I start crawling on the walls. I am not sure how many hours exactly I have trained this year, but last year it was 660 h, and probably it is maybe 10-15% more this year. I really don’t know.

In your training: Do you put priority on running in the forest or on the road/track? What is your PB in 3000m/5000m?
I try to be diverse. I have a tendency to run more on tracks and unpaved roads than in the forest when I am training just running without a map, but I try to keep a good balance! In the winter however I run wherever I can (snow you know…), mostly on paved but cleared roads and indoors. I have no idea what my PB is on either 3000 or 5000 m, numbers are not my big thing, especially running-times. I know that I have run 3000 a couple of times though…

- I was a turbulent child who discovered orienteering at the age of 4, Thierry Gueorgiou says in this interview. Gueorgiou is known as The King of Middle Distance, but this year there was even more attention around the “lost” gold medal in the WOC Relay. Gueorgiou however worked hard mentally, and managed to get back in the top at the World Cup in Sälen only days after the tough WOC Relay experience. Below Gueorgiou is presented for the nomination “The Orienteering Achievement of 2008″ through an interview made by World of O and Ultimate Orienteering.

About: Two of the major sources for international orienteering news on the Internet – World of O and Ultimate Orienteering – are organizing a poll to name “The Orienteering Achievement of 2008″ and “The Ultimate Junior Orienteer of 2008″. The winner in each category is decided in a vote amongst all the readers of World of O and Ultimate Orienteering after all nominees have been presented. Starting November 12th we present all nominees on a day-by-day basis. The poll is sponsored by Trimtex. Voting will be possible after all nominees have been presented from the voting page. See also all nominees in the initial press release.

• Remember to vote for “The Ultimate Junior Orienteer of 2008″ between Nov 18th and Nov 25th!

Interview with Thierry Gueorgiou

Give a short presentation of yourself.
I was a turbulent child who discovered orienteering at the age of 4. And thought it should be fun to become World Champion when I saw, by my own eyes, the legendary Kent Olsson winning the World Championship in France (1987). Since that day, I pursued my dream with commitment. The 08th August 2003, my dream came true and then realized that I had now to continue to challenge myself as long as possible. I knew I could be even better and that’s what still pushes me forward today. You’re only bitter if you reach the end of your life and you’re filled with frustration because you feel you missed out something. You’re bitter because you regret not accomplishing things you could have accomplished. I won’t be a bitter old man.

What was the highlight of the 2008 season for you?
Well, there is no other race which has the same flavor that WOC races. All top orienteers peak their preparation to be at their very best at that time. So, I should answer that the middle distance in Stara Ves forests was the highlight of my season. But I also liked my performances at the middle distance in European Championships, as well as the long distance at CISM. For some diverse reasons, if I would have bet before the races, I would never have gambled a single euro on me… This is always the greatest emotions to beat your feelings and thoughts.

You’re bitter because you regret not accomplishing things you could have accomplished. I won’t be a bitter old man

What is your thought about being nominated for the orienteering achievement of 2008?
I suppose that it’s probably better to be in the nominate list than getting no mail from you at this time of the season. But, to be honest, 2008 is already behind and I am now fully focused on 2009.

What are your main goals for the future?
Hopefully, I still have couple of goals to achieve. I think the biggest is probably to perform at my best at the World Championships 2011 (France). But up to there, I’ll try to compete with some decent level as well. I still miss the long distance and relay gold to complete my WOC greatest hits. So, I might put some energy on trying to achieve those goals.

Where is your favourite place to orienteer – where you would advice our readers to travel?
Well, I have been lucky to visit many marvelous places to orienteer. I am a little addict to Trøms terrains (Northern part of Norway). But as a French orienteer, I could only recommend to visit the Aveyron’s terrains (where 2008 French days took places). This is a must for me, one of those few places in the World where you get the feeling that your brain is definitively hopeless…

• See this Routegadget from Stage 3

Can you describe your toughest training week in 2008 (day-by-day)? Did that have any specific impact for your great achievements in 2008?
Since a while (before 2003), I decided to not record my training in a diary. The reason for this choice is that I put too much energy on just counting hours, but not much on analyzing my feelings. So unfortunately, I can’t answer precisely to this question. But, as far as I remember, it should be a week with around 20-24 hours of trainings (mostly running/orienteering). I don’t consider those « record week » as primordial to perform at my best. The most important thing is to have good basic trainings that you keep for every single week during all the winter (like uphill intervals or special orienteering sessions for example).

I am a little addict to Tromsø terrains (Northern part of Norway)

Are you a professional orienteer? How many percent is your work/study that you do besides orienteering compared to a full position – and how many hours do you train each year?
Yes, I am a professional orienteer since 2004. My evaluation of my trainings hours per year is around 700 hours.

In your training: Do you put priority on running in the forest or on the road/track? What is your PB in 3000m/5000m?
My priority is always to try to be an orienteer who will perform well at the coming World Championships. So, I evaluate the aspects that I consider as primordial to handle. If I think that next WOC race need to be especially good in some style of running, I will include it during my basic trainings. But as I am also passionate about orienteering techniques, I must say that I am also training a lot in orienteering just to enjoy the feeling when you are on the edge and close to your limits of controlling your orienteering.

I never ran 3000m or 5000m seriously.

Marianne Andersen has grown to become one of the big profiles in international orienteering with individual World Championship medals 3 years in a row. Below Andersen is presented for the nomination “The Orienteering Achievement of 2008″ through an interview made by World of O and Ultimate Orienteering.

About: Two of the major sources for international orienteering news on the Internet – World of O and Ultimate Orienteering – are organizing a poll to name “The Orienteering Achievement of 2008″ and “The Ultimate Junior Orienteer of 2008″. The winner in each category is decided in a vote amongst all the readers of World of O and Ultimate Orienteering after all nominees have been presented. Starting November 12th we present all nominees on a day-by-day basis. The poll is sponsored by Trimtex. Voting will be possible after all nominees have been presented from the voting page. See also all nominees in the initial press release.

• Remember to vote for “The Ultimate Junior Orienteer of 2008″ between Nov 18th and Nov 25th!

Interview with Marianne Andersen

Give a short presentation of yourself.
I’m 28 years old, live in Oslo, but come from Drammen. I have been orienteering since I was 16. The last four years I have run for Nydalens SK, but next season I’m going to run for my home club Konnerud IL again.

What was the highlight of the 2008 season for you?
Because I was injured most of the winter and spring, WOC in Czech Republic became not only my main goal, but in many ways also my only goal this season. That I managed to get in decent shape for WOC and get a silver medal and a 4th place there, was the highlight of the 2008 season for me. But the best race of the year I did in the Norwegian long distance Championship in august.

The best race of the year I did in the Norwegian Long Distance Champs in August

What is your thought about being nominated for the orienteering achievement of 2008?
I am a bit surprised, because I hadn’t thought I would be nominated for something like that. But I’m also really happy about it.

What are your main goals for the future?
My main goal is to become a better orienteering runner. My main goal for 2009 is to win a gold medal in WOC in Hungary.

Where is your favourite place to orienteer – where you would advice our readers to travel?
My favorite terrains are some of the forests around Eiker and Kongsberg. But I like to orienteer in almost all kinds of terrains – the variation of terrains is one of the things I like with orienteering

Can you describe your thoughest training week in 2008 (day-by-day)? Did that have any specific impact for your great achievements in 2008?
I don’t feel that I had any really though training weeks in 2008. Because I couldn’t run from January to April, my legs weren’t ready for really though running this summer. But I trained quite a lot in the last part of April and in May. This was short after my Achilles tendon had become so well that I could start running again, and therefor I still did a lot of alternative training. Here is a typical training week in this period:

• 21/4: I: Aqua jog 2h 5min II: Running 35min
• 22/4: I: Aqua jog: Warm up 20min, 15*3.15-3.20min intervals (I-3), 30sec recovery, cool down 15min. II: Orienteering 35min + Roller skiing (using only my arms) 1h
• 23/4: I: Aqua jog 2h 25min II: Cycling 1h 35min
• 24/4: I: Aqua jog 2h II: Orienteering 35min (9 + 6 min fast). Strength training 20min.
• 25/4: I: Aqua jog: Warm up 20min, 15*3.20min intervals (I-3), 30sec rec, cool down 10min II: Running 40min III: Cycling 1h 25min
• 26/4: I: Aqua jog 2h II: Orienteering 40min. Strength training 30min.
• 27/4: I: Skiing (using only my arms) 1h 20min II: Running: Warm up 10min, 5*4min hill intervals (I3-4), 1min rec, walked down. III: Cycling 1h 25min

I think all the alternative training I did when I couldn’t run, was the main reason that my shape became as good as it was at WOC.

I will now put priority on running in the forest

Are you a professional orienteer? How many percent is your work/study that you do besides orienteering compared to a full position – and how many hours do you train each year?
I work 40% at the Norwegian Mapping and Cadastre Authority. This year I will train about 850h. At the most I have trained about 950h.

In your training: Do you put priority on running in the forest or on the road/track? What is your PB in 3000m/5000m?
The last couple of years I have put priority on running on road/track to improve my skills on this area. But this has led to more injuries than before. And with the next two WOCs in hilly terrains in Hungary and Norway, I will now put priority on running in the forest. My PB in 3000m is 9.50.

Voting for the “The Ultimate Junior Orienteer of 2008″ has now opened – and will be open from November 18th until November 25th. The past week all nominated juniors have been presented at World of O and Ultimate Orienteering – and now everything is ready to name the ultimate Junior Orienteer of 2008. Parallel with the voting for “The Ultimate Junior Orienteer of 2008″, we will present all runners nominated for “The Orienteering Achievement of 2008″ – starting at November 19th.

• Follow this link to go to the voting page
• 10 prizes from Trimtex will be drawn among all voting

Nominees “The Ultimate Junior Orienteer of 2008″

Rules and prizes

The winner in each category is decided in a vote amongst all the readers of World of O and Ultimate Orienteering. Prizes will be drawn among the voters:

1. A person can only vote once in each of the categories (if several people share one internet connection, only one can vote, as the IP address is used to identify the voter along with the email-address of the voter).
2. Among all people voting, 10 prizes (Trimtex Extreme shirts and Trimtex Extreme pants) will be drawn. We would like to thank Trimtex for making available the prizes.
3. The winners will be made public after the poll closes at World of O and Ultimate Orienteering.

Spread the news

Help making the poll as representative for the international orienteering community as possible! Spread the news about the poll, by publishing an article about the election on your website, and encourage people participating. Please use this link:

• http://poll.worldofo.com/poll2008.html (voting will be opened from here)

Of all websites with on average more than 50 visitors/day who link to the poll after it has been opened for voting, five websites will be drawn who will get a free “Sponsored Link” at either World of O or Ultimate Orienteering. Websites with on average more than 200 visitors/day will count triple when linking to the poll. Send an email to Jan@Kocbach.net with the sites address if you want to be part of this draw for free sponsored links. Sponsored links may be to any orienteering related page or product – must necessarily by the website drawn. Please use one of the following images when linking to the poll:

Siri Ulvestad took the Bronze medal at the Junior World Champs Long in Gothenburg this year. Below Ulvestad is presented for the nomination “The Ultimate Junior Orienteer of 2008″ through an interview made by World of O and Ultimate Orienteering.

About: Two of the major sources for international orienteering news on the Internet – World of O and Ultimate Orienteering – are organizing a poll to name “The Orienteering Achievement of 2008″ and “The Ultimate Junior Orienteer of 2008″. The winner in each category is decided in a vote amongst all the readers of World of O and Ultimate Orienteering after all nominees have been presented. Starting November 12th we present all nominees on a day-by-day basis. The poll is sponsored by Trimtex. Voting will be possible after all nominees have been presented from the voting page. See also all nominees in the initial press release.

Interview with Siri Ulvestad

Give a short presentation of yourself.
My name is Siri Ulvestad and I am 20 years old. I grew up in Oslo and started to run orienteering when I was about 8 years old. At the age of 11 I also started competing in cross country skiing, and have combined those sports ever since. Last year I moved to Trondheim and started to study civil engineering at the Norwegian university of science and technology.

What was the highlight of the 2008 season for you?
The international highlight was the bronze medal at the long distance in the junior world orienteering championships. On national level there has been many highlights wining 5 gold medals in the Norwegian championships and the overall national cup.

On national level there has been many highlights wining 5 gold medals in the Norwegian championships

What is your thought about being nominated for the orienteering achievement of 2008?
I think it is great to be nominated among so many other good junior orienteers.

What are your main goals for the future?
My main goal in the future is to achieve good results as an senior orienteer, and have fun while practicing and competing in orienteering.

Where is your favourite place to orienteer – where you would advice our readers to travel?
I do like typical Nordic terrains the most, and I really enjoy running orienteering in the forests south of Oslo (for example at Siggerud where the World Cup was held)

Can you describe your thoughest training week in 2008 (day-by-day)? Did that have any specific impact for your great achievements in 2008?
I guess I have a few though weeks in front of me as the cross country skiing season is coming up, but so far my hardest training week is maybe O-ringen.

• Mon: 1. Orienteering competition (1:55) 2. Roller ski (0:30)
• Tue: 1. Orienteering competition (1:15) 2. Running (0:20)
• Wed: 1. Orienteering competition (1:35) 2. Running (0:25)
• Thu: 1. Orienteering competition (1:05) 2. Running (0:20)
• Fri: 1. Orienteering competition (1:35)
• Sat: Rest day
• Sun: 1. Cycling (4:45)

I like to look at my self as a professional orienteer

Are you a professional orienteer? How many percent is your work/study that you do besides orienteering compared to a full position – and how many hours do you train each year?
I like to look at my self as a professional orienteer. I study 75% compared to a full study, and train about 550 hours a year.

In your training: Do you put priority on running in the forest or on the road/track? What is your PB in 3000m/5000m?
I do almost all of my running in the forest, but ran 3000m a few times in 2006-2007. My PB in 3000 m is 10:24.

Here you find the map from todays PWT Final race in Lonigo, Italy. Matthias Müller won the men elite, whereas Lena Eliasson won the women elite.

Results

• Results are available at the organizers page
• See also PWT 2008 preview article

Men Elite – Part

Men Elite

Women Elite

Silje Ekroll Jahren had a bad winter with a lot of sickness, but surprised herself with a silver medal at the Junior World Champs Sprint in Gothenburg this year. Below Ekroll Jahren is presented for the nomination “The Ultimate Junior Orienteer of 2008″ through an interview made by World of O and Ultimate Orienteering.

About: Two of the major sources for international orienteering news on the Internet – World of O and Ultimate Orienteering – are organizing a poll to name “The Orienteering Achievement of 2008″ and “The Ultimate Junior Orienteer of 2008″. The winner in each category is decided in a vote amongst all the readers of World of O and Ultimate Orienteering after all nominees have been presented. Starting November 12th we present all nominees on a day-by-day basis. The poll is sponsored by Trimtex. Voting will be possible after all nominees have been presented from the voting page. See also all nominees in the initial press release.

Interview with Silje Ekroll Jahren

Give a short presentation of yourself.
I’m Silje Ekroll Jahren, born in 1988 in Nordkisa (east of Oslo airport Gardermoen). I have always been running orienteering, and also cross country skiing. Until 2008 have i been competing on high level in both sports, but now i have decided to do a little less cross country and more orienteering. I am now studying physics in Gothenburg.

What was the highlight of the 2008 season for you?
The international highlight was the silver medal in JWOC sprint, on national level i got gold and silver in the norwegian championships, and second in the overall national cup.

Now i have decided to do a little less cross country and more orienteering

What is your thought about being nominated for the orienteering achievement of 2008?
It is very nice to be nominated among so many good runners, and specially after a very bad winter with a lot of sickness. I never thought this season would give me any JWOC medals, and now i am even nominated for the ultimate junior orienteer of 2008.

What are your main goals for the future?
My main goals is to be as good as possible, and hopefully that is enough to fight for senior medals. Taking a gold medal is definitively a dream. Next year my main goal is Nordic championship.

Where is your favourite place to orienteer – where you would advice our readers to travel?
I really like to orienteer in Norway and Nordic forests. Here the terrains are very different from place to place and the orienteering training gets very varied. Personally i like the forest in Løten, but also the terrain around where i come from is very nice.

Can you describe your thoughest training week in 2008 (day-by-day)? Did that have any specific impact for your great achievements in 2008?
This year i have had no though weeks. The year has been characterized of sickness, because i have had problems with sinusitis. Because of that I have trained less then before, and i have been focusing on training after how much my body could take, and i tried to train so i would be in best shape as possible at JWOC. I think that my focus on JWOC had specific impact for my results, because i really wanted this medal.

My thoughest week this year looked like this:

• Mon: 1h 30min slow running on map (orienteering training)
• Tue: 1h slow running on map (orienteering training)
• Wed: 1h 30min slow running
• Thurs: 20min warming up then 40min intervall where i ran 2+4+6+6+4+2min with breaks that is half the time of the last fast period. That means 2min fast then 1min break, 4min fast 2min break …
• Fri: 1h slow training and some strength training.
• Sat: 1h 35min slow running
• Sun: 1. Competition in Switzerland middle distance. 2. 1h slow running in the evening

This gave me 10h10min that week. This was week 24, and I ran a lot on low intensity. This was because I still needed to train basis training to train me up after the bad winter. JWOC was in week 27 so week 25 and 26 i trained less and harder.

The year has been characterized of sickness, because i have had problems with sinusitis

Are you a professional orienteer? How many percent is your work/study that you do besides orienteering compared to a full position – and how many hours do you train each year?

I was studying 75% school year 2007/2008, now i am studying 100%, but my studies are easier so i think it will be almost the same. I will call my self a professional orienteer, because i am serious, I really like running orienteering, and my year, and almost all i do is, planed after the training and orienteering season. The lasts years i have been training around 400 hours each year. This year the plan was around 450 hours, but because of all the sickness i trained only 300 hours.

In your training: Do you put priority on running in the forest or on the road/track? What is your PB in 3000m/5000m?
I train a little bit of everything, but i basically run intervals on roads or smaller tracks in the forest, while i try to run all the long and slow trainings on softer ground to save the legs. I like to put some running tests in my training to control if my training is correct, these tests are around 20 minutes long and uphill. The last years i have not been running so much track and field as I wanted to, but that is something i will do more in the next seasons. My PB in 3000m is 4 years old, and is 10:42. I have been running more 1500m, here my PB is 4:45.

Here you find the map from todays PWT Qualification race in Alonte, Italy. Matthias Müller won the mens class in front of Francois Gonon, whereas Seline Stalder took the victory among the women ahead of Eva Jurenikova. The PWT qualification took place through the vineyards by Alonte.

Results

Men Elite
1) MUELLER MATTHIAS –SUI- 13:08
2) GONON FRANCOIS –FRA- 13:46
3) KARI TUOMAS –FIN- 13:48

Women Elite
1) STALDER SELINE –SUI- 12:09
2) JURENIKOVA EVA –CZE- 12:21
3) ELIASSON EMMA –SWE- 12:43

• Results will be available at organizers page
• See also PWT 2008 preview article

Men Elite – first part

Men Elite – complete course

Women Elite – complete course

François Gonon, Yuri Omeltchenko, Øystein Kvaal Østerbø, Michail Mamleev, Lukas Bartak, Marian Davidik, Matthias Müller, Thomas Dlabaja, Dana Brozkova, Elise Egseth, Lene Bergersen, Seline Stalder, Annika Billstam and Eva Juřeníková to name a few. Indeed the organizers have managed to get an impressive start list for this years only PWT round – which is staged in Longio Saturday November 15th with qualification Friday November 14th.

The Fridays race is a qualification race ; the best 10 runners in the qualification will qualify for the Final on Sunday. In addition the invited runners have a wild card and will go directly to the finals. The first start in the qualification Friday is at 11.00 CET – last start is at 12.10 CET. The map extract to the right is from the final on Saturday.

Saturdays race promises to be a very interesting race. Many of the top runners will travel on to the Venice Street Orienteering after the race on Saturday, which is staged in Venice on Sunday.

• PWT 2008 webpage
• Bulletin 3: Runners pre-qualified for Finals
• Bulletin 4: Latest info
• Startlist

Information from the organizers

Countdown for the 2008 final
In the Palladian year – the 5th century from the birth of Andrea Palladio – Lonigo (Vicenza) hosts the Park World Tour final 2008 of Orienteering: sport, environment, tourism and culture in a city marked by the great architect.
On Nov. 14 and 15 with the single stage in Lonigo (VI) returns to Italy the Park World Tour International Orienteering circuit that from 1996 brings the best world athletes of the Sprint specialty to compete in major parks and historic city centres. The event in Lonigo, opening leg of the third edition of Orienteering Adriatic Meeting to be disputed is the first stage of qualifications on Nov. 14 in the Berici Hills and the finals the following day in the city’s historic district and the park of Villa San Fermo before the final event on Sunday in Venice.

Not only a weekend of sports, but also of culture, tourism and gastronomy, with visits to the Palladian Villas, the Basilica and the Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza, tasting of typical specialties based on polenta and baccalà, the sports festival of the schools in Vicenza, awards to the local athletes, Davide Rebellin and Tatiana Guderzo, Beijing Olympic medalists, mapping and photography exhibitions, conferences on sports-culture and the importance of orienteering at school.

There are nearly 500 foreign athletes so far entered the Park World Tour Lonigo representing 18 nations, amongst them, the world orienteering champions Dana Broskova (Czech Rep.) and Thierry Gueorgiou (France) and the Chinese national team(with 10 representatives), in confirmation of orienteering as an emerging reality. Particular attention was dedicated to social and schools with paths for the diverselyabled and the involvement of 800 students of primary and secondary schools also come from outside the region (Puglia). The event in Lonigo, promoted by asd Sphera in collaboration with Park World Tour Italy, is also an occasion to celebrate the thirty-year anniversary of the FISO Vicenza Guidance(1978-2008).

Lonigo, lying at the foot of Berici hills, counting numerous villas, palaces and scenic squares, is a city of wine (there is the largest winery in Europe) headquarters of the oldest Exposition, The Horse Fair of Italy and home of the speedway: spectacular motorist discipline, in which skeleton motorbikes, with no speed change and brakes powered by methyl alcohol, run on oval tracks. Lonigo is well worth the visit for three major works of the’500’s: the Villa Pisani Bonetti in Bagnolo, country residence designed by Palladio, the Rocca, small “Rotonda”, by Vincenzo Scamozzi, a pupil of the most famous architect Palladio and Palazzo Pisani, attributed Michele Sanmicheli.

Ulf Forseth Indgaard won two medals at the Junior World Champs in Gothenburg this year: Silver over the middle distance and bronze in the relay. Below Forseth Indgaard is presented for the nomination “The Ultimate Junior Orienteer of 2008″ through an interview made by World of O and Ultimate Orienteering.

About: Two of the major sources for international orienteering news on the Internet – World of O and Ultimate Orienteering – are organizing a poll to name “The Orienteering Achievement of 2008″ and “The Ultimate Junior Orienteer of 2008″. The winner in each category is decided in a vote amongst all the readers of World of O and Ultimate Orienteering after all nominees have been presented. Starting November 12th we present all nominees on a day-by-day basis. The poll is sponsored by Trimtex. Voting will be possible after all nominees have been presented from the voting page. See also all nominees in the initial press release.

Interview with Ulf Forseth Indgaard

Give a short presentation of yourself.
I am 19 years old, and I live in Levanger in Nord-Trøndelag. I am going the last year at a sport school in Steinkjer.

What was the highlight of the 2008 season for you?
The Norwegian Championship relay (senior) where I ran in to silver for my team together with two other juniors (including my younger brother) was one of the big highlights. The other highlight was JWOC in Göteborg with silver at the middle distance and bronze at the relay. Norwegian championship for juniors, middle and long distance where I managed to take two gold medals is another highlight.

What is your thought about being nominated for the orienteering achievement of 2008?
I am very satisfied with my own results and races this season, and I am happy that others notice these good results.

I am very satisfied with my own results and races this session, and
I am happy that others notice this

What are your main goals for the future?
JWOC in Italy is my main goal the next season. For the future I have a dream to run WOC in Trondheim in 2010, since its only one hours drive from where I have grown up.

Where is your favourite place to orienteer – where you would advice our readers to travel?
This summer I was in Italy to train for next years JWOC, and I really liked the terrain there. The sand dunes in Murcia is also one of my favourite orienteering places.

Can you describe your thoughest training week in 2008 (day-by-day)? Did that have any specific impact for your great achievements in 2008?
One of my toughest weeks in 2008 was in the winter where I do a lot of my training at low intensity and on skis. I try to train some orienteering through the winter, even if it usually is some snow in the forest.

Here is the training week:

• Monday: Cross country skiing low intensity 2h
• Tuesday: Cross country skiing low intensity 3h
• Wednesday: Intervals 5×6min high intensity 1,5h + Cross country skiing low intensity 1,5h
  
• Thursday: Orienteering low intensity 1h
• Friday: Strength (to prevent injuries), power 1,5h + Running low intensity 2h
• Saturday: Orienteering medium intensity 1.5h + Running low intensity 2h
• Sunday: Intervals 5×8min medium intensity 1,5h

The sand dunes in Murcia is also one of my favorite orienteering places

Are you a professional orienteer? How many percent is your work/study that you do besides orienteering compared to a full position – and how many hours do you train each year?
I am taking the third year at high school over two years to get better time for training and studying. This is my last year at school. This year I trained about 500 hours.

In your training: Do you put priority on running in the forest or on the road/track? What is your PB in 3000m/5000m?
Most of my training at low intensity is in the forests, but usually I run intervals on tracks and roads. The last years I have not tested myself on 3000m, but two years ago I ran at 9:11.