World of O News
– The course setter forced us to switch between different techniques along the course, Eva Jurenikova (Czech Republic) says about her choice for “The Course of the Year” – the Swedish Championships Middle distance final.
– It was not easy to decide, but I pick the Swedish Championships Middle distance final because it was a technically demanding course, and interesting terrain. But there was also a lot of variation and some route choices.
As for Billstam’s choice “Swedish Champs Long distance” presented on Sunday, this course has also been analyzed in some detail over at o-training.net. For this course o-training.net even presented a comparison between the winner Jenny Johansson and Eva Jurenikova who took the bronze medal (click for larger image). The conclusion at that time was that they took similar route choices all the way – Jurenikova looses all the time she is behind around control number 12 – first on insecurity and then on a mistake.
Course of the Year 2011
Which course will take the prestigious top spot this year? The search for the course of the year will be fun, for sure as it was last year! The rules are simple: Suggest a course from a competition or training in 2011 (click here to get to the suggestion page), and state the reason why you think this course deserves to be “The course of the Year 2011″. The best among all the suggestions will be chosen – and there will be a voting process among the readers of “World of O” in order to name “The course of the year 2011″. Prizes from sponsors make it more fun to be in on the suggestions and voting – Croatia Open, Lipica Open, Fjord-O and EOC Tour are sponsoring “The course of the year 2011″ with starts (see below).
Interview with Eva Jurenikova
We also did a short interview with Jurenikova to hear more about her 2011 season with respect to maps and courses.
WoO: What is the worst course you run in 2011?
The disqualifications could have been easily avoided
The worst course in 2011 was the World Championships sprint qualification (see map below). The course setter should avoid creating “traps”. There were very many runners disqualified at the WOC sprint qualification. The disqualifications could have been easily avoided. Also some of the controls, the ones in the green, were not suitable for a sprint race.
Q: What is your favourite map (from the top of your head)?
I am fond of the maps and terrain in Sälen, Dalarna, Sweden. It is a kind of training paradise for me, and I try to go there every year before the WOCs to do probably the most important part of my WOC preparation. I can not really say which one of the many maps in Sälen I like most of all. One of the trainings I enjoyed this year was this one.
I think also O-Ringen offered both interesting courses and terrain this year – see for example my map from E3.
WoO: Have you got a tip to young and inexperienced course setters out there about how to make a good course?
Check the IOF competition rules and read especially the appendix 6 – competition formats. Study courses set by others. The best source is omaps.worldofo.com.
“Practice Makes Perfect”. Set many courses and ask for feedback from somebody who is more experienced.
Picture: Eva Jurenikova, WOC Long Qualification 2011.
WoO: What are your goals for next year – and how do you change your training and focus in order to reach your goals in 2012?
I have not set any result goals, but I have identified a few areas which I want to focus on in my training in order to take some more steps forward. I want to come to WOC in my best shape ever. I do not plan any drastic changes in my training, but compared to previous years I want to do a bit more orienteering+running training (approximately 15% increase), especially during the winter.
WoO: Thank you very much for the Interview, and good luck with the winter training!
Prizes from our Sponsors
Prizes from our Sponsors always makes it more fun! There will be a prize for the course setter in “The course of the Year 2011″, a prize for the first one suggesting the course which ends up becoming “The course of the Year 2011″, and prizes drawn among the ones suggesting and voting. The sponsors will be presented in more detail later on – for now you can see some information about them below.
For the record: All sponsor gifts/income related to “The Best Course of 2011″ goes directly to the WorldofO.com readers.
