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Another one for Gueorgiou and Niggli!

Gueorgiou versus Johansson
Two long distance races at Silva League – two victories each for Thierry Gueorgiou (France) and Simone Niggli (Switzerland). The two biggest names in orienteering the last years are still a few steps ahead of their rivals. Both skipped the World Cup opening in New Zealand, but with big parts of the world orienteering elite on the start line in Sweden this weekend they showed that they are still the biggest favourites when it really counts in Finland this July.

Big Swedish surprise

But mistakes in the control circle took the victory chances away for the Swede

The big surprise this weekend is Fredrik Johansson (Sweden) – with two times second spot behind Gueorgiou. For big parts of the course Johansson was on par – or even faster – than Gueorgiou – but mistakes in the control circle took the victory chances away for the Swede. Johansson was on the Swedish silver medal team at EOC last year – but has taken another step this year.

– I decided to take a step up this year, and have trained a lot more than previous seasons. I also have managed not to get sick, Johansson told after his second place on Saturday.

With another second place on Sunday, Johansson appears as a candidate for the Swedish WOC team – and a medal candidate at WOC.

Analysis Silva League Sunday: Gueorgiou vs Johansson
Quick-analysis of the race between Guergiou and Johansson. The analysis relates to this map with an autOanalyis comparison between Johansson’s and Gueorgiou’s route.

  • Johansson’s makes a 50 second mistake on control 2 (wrong direction mistake?) – then pushes hard the next controls after the mistake and has higher speed than Gueorgiou
  • Phi-loop: Gueorgiou is better on the short legs in the phi-loop – taking some time on Johansson in the northern part – on the other hand Johansson in tougher on the long leg and goes more straight – taking some time on Gueorgiou. Gueorgiou has been running around a lot all weekend – following the terrain instead of the line in many places – especially being careful about everything remotely green, and following vegetation boundaries and paths wherever possible. It has lost the Frenchman some seconds several places, but overall the strategy seems to have been a winning one. E.g. on the long west-to-east leg on the longest phi-loop Gueorgiou takes more than 20 seconds on Johansson by following the terrain instead of the line.
  • 17: Another control-circle mistake for Johansson. 30 seconds lost into the control.
  • 21: 20 seconds lost for Gueorgiou out of control 20 by not following the line
  • 24: One of the few times Gueorgiou is closer to the line – and it does not pay off. The marshy area has poorer runnability than expected.

Behind Johansson and Gueorgiou, Valentin Novikov (3rd Sunday, 4th Saturday) and Oleksandr Kratov (3rd Saturday) confirm that they aim for the medals this year. Also include the Swedish “Golden 90’s” Gustav Bergman and Johan Runesson – both have had a good spring season so far and finished Top 6 both days. Peter Öberg ran only Sunday – but shows that his shape is close to where it should be – Öberg will again be fighting for the Middle distance medals at WOC this year.

Unstable Swiss performance

But next weekend at 10Mila that can already be changed – their physical shape (especially for Kyburz) seems to be good

Absent from the top of the results list are the Swiss runners. Brilliant in parts of the course – exceptional big mistakes in other parts of the course. Daniel Hubmann (several big mistakes), Matthias Kyburz and Matthias Merz have not got their orienteering fine tuned for Nordic terrain yet. But next weekend at 10Mila that can already be changed – their physical shape (especially for Kyburz) seems to be good.

The two Norwegians on the start – Olav Lundanes and Magne Dæhlie – did also not manage to impress this weekend. Note that the rest of the Norwegian’s have been busy with important national races in Norway where Emil Wingstedt(!) won the long distance chasing start ahead of Hans Gunnar Omdal and Bjørn Ekeberg. Anders Nordberg and Carl Waaler Kaas among others got disqualified already in Saturday’s middle distance race. The Finnish runners have been busy with FinnSpring – Saturdays’s individual long distance race being won by Topi Anjala.  Finnish World Champion long distance from 2006 instead run the Silva League races in Sweden, finishing 18th and 12th.

Niggli versus Alexandersson

alexandersson_niggli

Sunday the Swiss runners winning margin was down to half a minute – with the Swedish World Cup leader Tove Alexandersson in second spot

In the women’s class, Simone Niggli wins with more than 2:30 on Saturday, but as written in the analysis of Saturday’s race, Niggli is not as much faster as her opponents as she is used to. Sunday the Swiss runners winning margin was down to half a minute – with the Swedish World Cup leader Tove Alexandersson in second spot. These two where in their own class on Sunday – with more than three minutes from Niggli down to Riabkina in third – we will surely see more fights between the Swiss veteran and the young Swede this year. Riabkina has had a good weekend with two third places – but as Saturday’s analysis showed, her speed is not high enough yet while her orienteering is top notch.

Helena Jansson on the other hand seems to be in good shape. She did not start Sunday, but on Saturday she finished 2nd, and showed that she has the capacity to beat Niggli. Lena Eliasson is also fast – but unstable. Still, her speed has given her two results in the Top 5 this weekend. Also two times Top 5 for Eva Jurenikova – the new Halden coach still needs a little bit of speed and stability for the Top 3 – but the individual WOC medal hope for Vuokatti is still alive.

Analysis Silva League Sunday: Niggli vs Alexandersson
Quick-analysis of the race between Niggli and Alexandersson. The analysis relates to this map with an autOanalyis comparison between Alexandersson’s and Niggli’s route.

  • Niggli has higher speed in the first part of the course (until the phi-loop), and in addition Alexandersson looses some extra time in a green area on the way to 4. Arriving at control 5, Niggli is already 1 minute ahead.
  • In the phi-loop, Alexandersson manages to speed up to be on-par with Niggli. Some small mistakes for both – but this is where the rest of the field is put behind. Note how the phi-loops / butterflies often seem to be decisive in the long distance races ; the ones who manage to change to “middle-distance technique” in this part of the course are often the ones fighting for the medals in the end.
  • 15: Alexandersson runs a fantastic long leg by being much closer to the line than Niggli – taking nearly all of Niggli’s advantage on this leg alone. Very interesting to note on this leg: Except for Niggli, Alexandersson and third placed Riabkina, all other GPS-tracked women go left of the lake this leg! Alexandersson is fastest on the leg.
  • 15-17: Alexandersson continues going strong – helped by some small technical struggles by Niggli. At 17 Alexandersson is only 2 seconds behind.
  • 17-18: Niggli finds a good micro-routechoice (not going over the top of the small hills, keeping low towards the marsh), gaining some time again.
  • 18-finish: Alexandersson looses some time into 20 – except for that status quo.

Looking to Finland, Minna Kauppi had good speed in Saturday’s individual FinnSpring long distance – and would probably have been up there fighting with Niggli and the others if present in Sweden. In Norway Mari Fasting won a clear victory in the chasing start – Fasting seems the be the strongest Norwegian hope.  Anne Margrethe Hausken is injured and will not start at 10Mila, but says that this is no problem with respect to the World Championships in July.

Results Sunday
1 Thierry Gueorgiou Kalevan Rasti 1:12:41 5:18
2 Fredrik Johansson IFK Lidingö SOK 1:14:01 +1:20 5:24
3 Valentin Novikov Hiidenkiertäjät 1:15:43 +3:02 5:32
4 Johan Runesson Göteborg-Majorna OK 1:16:10 +3:29 5:34
5 Gustav Bergman OK Ravinen 1:16:30 +3:49 5:35
6 Peter Öberg OK Hällen 1:16:35 +3:54 5:35
7 Anders Holmberg Järla Orientering 1:17:37 +4:56 5:40
8 Filip Dahlgren IFK Lidingö SOK 1:18:09 +5:28 5:42
9 Olle Boström Järla Orientering 1:18:56 +6:15 5:46
10 Oskar Sjöberg OK Linné 1:19:10 +6:29 5:47
11 Erik Rost Malungs OK Skogsmårdarna 1:19:30 +6:49 5:48
12 Kiril Nikolov Kalevan Rasti 1:19:40 +6:59 5:49
12 Jani Lakanen Vaajakosken Terä 1:19:40 +6:59 5:49
14 Baptiste Rollier Kristiansand OK 1:19:50 +7:09 5:50
15 Erik Liljequist Södertälje-Nykvarn OF 1:19:58 +7:17 5:50
16 Matthias Merz OK Tisaren 1:20:26 +7:45 5:52
17 Pavlo Ushkvarok Södertälje-Nykvarn OF 1:20:33 +7:52 5:53
18 William Lind Malungs OK Skogsmårdarna 1:20:54 +8:13 5:54
19 Janis Kums IK Hakarpspojkarna 1:20:59 +8:18 5:55
20 Niclas Jonasson Leksands OK 1:21:14 +8:33 5:56
1 Simone Niggli OK Tisaren 1:01:19 6:16
2 Tove Alexandersson Stora Tuna OK 1:01:53 +0:34 6:20
3 Tanja Ryabkina Hellas Orientering 1:04:37 +3:18 6:36
4 Lena Eliasson Domnarvets GOIF 1:05:02 +3:43 6:39
5 Eva Jurenikova Halden SK 1:07:35 +6:16 6:55
6 Emma Johansson Domnarvets GOIF 1:07:36 +6:17 6:55
7 Lina Strand Göteborg-Majorna OK 1:08:52 +7:33 7:02
8 Nadiya Volynska OK Orion 1:08:59 +7:40 7:03
9 Maria Magnusson Sävedalens AIK 1:09:15 +7:56 7:05
10 Ida Bobach OK Pan Århus 1:10:04 +8:45 7:10
11 Anna (Humlaröd) Persson FK Göingarna 1:10:11 +8:52 7:11
12 Anna Bachman IFK Lidingö SOK 1:10:52 +9:33 7:15
13 Lilian Forsgren OK Tisaren 1:11:22 +10:03 7:18
14 Anastasia Tikhonova MS Parma 1:11:28 +10:09 7:18
15 Karolin Ohlsson Järla Orientering 1:11:31 +10:12 7:19
16 Sara Eskilsson Haninge SOK 1:12:12 +10:53 7:23
17 Signe Söes IFK Lidingö SOK 1:12:32 +11:13 7:25
18 Johanna Öberg OK Hällen 1:13:05 +11:46 7:28
19 Dana Brozkova Domnarvets GOIF 1:13:52 +12:33 7:33
20 Ekaterina Nikitina Linköpings OK 1:14:17 +12:58 7:36

Full results and split times

Results Saturday
1 Thierry Gueorgiou Kalevan Rasti 1:30:27 5:11 Ladda ner rutt i gpx-format
2 Fredrik Johansson IFK Lidingö SOK 1:31:55 +1:28 5:16 Ladda ner rutt i gpx-format
3 Oleksandr Kratov OK Orion 1:33:42 +3:15 5:22 Ladda ner rutt i gpx-format
4 Valentin Novikov Hiidenkiertäjät 1:34:04 +3:37 5:23 Ladda ner rutt i gpx-format
5 Johan Runesson Göteborg-Majorna OK 1:34:24 +3:57 5:24 Ladda ner rutt i gpx-format
6 Gustav Bergman OK Ravinen 1:34:52 +4:25 5:26 Ladda ner rutt i gpx-format
7 Philippe Adamski Kalevan Rasti 1:36:20 +5:53 5:31 Ladda ner rutt i gpx-format
8 Anders Holmberg Järla Orientering 1:36:50 +6:23 5:33 Ladda ner rutt i gpx-format
9 Baptiste Rollier Kristiansand OK 1:36:58 +6:31 5:33 Ladda ner rutt i gpx-format
10 Oskar Sjöberg OK Linné 1:37:17 +6:50 5:34
11 Filip Dahlgren IFK Lidingö SOK 1:37:22 +6:55 5:34
12 David Andersson Malungs OK Skogsmårdarna 1:37:52 +7:25 5:36 Ladda ner rutt i gpx-format
13 Matthias Merz OK Tisaren 1:38:05 +7:38 5:37 Ladda ner rutt i gpx-format
14 Matthias Kyburz OK Tisaren 1:38:20 +7:53 5:38 Ladda ner rutt i gpx-format
15 Marius Thrane Ødum IFK Göteborg 1:38:36 +8:09 5:39
16 Olle Boström Järla Orientering 1:38:39 +8:12 5:39 Ladda ner rutt i gpx-format
17 Pavlo Ushkvarok Södertälje-Nykvarn OF 1:38:42 +8:15 5:39
18 Jani Lakanen Vaajakosken Terä 1:39:02 +8:35 5:40 Ladda ner rutt i gpx-format
19 Daniel Hubmann Kristiansand OK 1:39:13 +8:46 5:41 Ladda ner rutt i gpx-format
20 Erik Rost Malungs OK Skogsmårdarna 1:39:15 +8:48 5:41 Ladda ner rutt i gpx-format
1 Simone Niggli OK Tisaren 1:13:13 6:15 Ladda ner rutt i gpx-format
2 Helena Jansson Leksands OK 1:15:44 +2:31 6:28 Ladda ner rutt i gpx-format
3 Tanja Ryabkina Hellas Orientering 1:16:00 +2:47 6:29 Ladda ner rutt i gpx-format
4 Eva Jurenikova Halden SK 1:17:32 +4:19 6:37 Ladda ner rutt i gpx-format
5 Lena Eliasson Domnarvets GOIF 1:17:44 +4:31 6:38 Ladda ner rutt i gpx-format
6 Lina Strand Göteborg-Majorna OK 1:18:42 +5:29 6:43 Ladda ner rutt i gpx-format
7 Ida Bobach OK Pan Århus 1:19:31 +6:18 6:47 Ladda ner rutt i gpx-format
8 Tove Alexandersson Stora Tuna OK 1:19:38 +6:25 6:48 Ladda ner rutt i gpx-format
9 Nadiya Volynska OK Orion 1:20:14 +7:01 6:51 Ladda ner rutt i gpx-format
10 Helena Karlsson IFK Lidingö SOK 1:20:38 +7:25 6:53 Ladda ner rutt i gpx-format
11 Emma Klingenberg OK Pan Århus 1:21:15 +8:02 6:56 Ladda ner rutt i gpx-format
12 Lilian Forsgren OK Tisaren 1:21:52 +8:39 6:59 Ladda ner rutt i gpx-format
13 Julia Novikova Hiidenkiertäjät 1:21:55 +8:42 6:59
14 Maria Magnusson Sävedalens AIK 1:21:59 +8:46 7:00 Ladda ner rutt i gpx-format
15 Irina Nyberg Hellas Orientering 1:22:18 +9:05 7:01
16 Malin Leijon Lind OK Kolmården 1:22:31 +9:18 7:02 Ladda ner rutt i gpx-format
17 Anastasia Tikhonova MS Parma 1:22:40 +9:27 7:03
18 Linnea Gustafsson OK Hällen 1:22:59 +9:46 7:05
19 Emma Johansson Domnarvets GOIF 1:23:00 +9:47 7:05 Ladda ner rutt i gpx-format
20 Rasa Ptasekaite OK Linné 1:23:50 +10:37 7:09

Full results and split times

About Jan Kocbach

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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3 comments

  1. Great analysis
    really enjoyed reading it. You are very welcome to write it for every race where hot guns meet :-))

    Thank you,
    Boris

  2. Great analysis Jan,

    really enjoyed reading it. You are very welcome to write it for every race where hot guns meet :-))

    Thank you,
    Boris

  3. Thank you for this very complete review !