3 x victory for Switzerland with Niggli and Kyburz – and Carl Godager Kaas took his first World Cup victory since his WOC gold medal in 2010. Switzerland still dominates the sprint scene – while Norway and Sweden are a step ahead in Nordic forest.
The big surprise of the weekend was of course Christopher Smithard with a 4th place on the sprint
In the men’s class there have been several young runners coming in to the Top 3 and Top 6 this weekend who we have not seen this high up on the results earlier – maybe a new generation trying to push the established elite down from the podium? With 2nd place on the middle distance, Gustav Bergman took his first ever World Cup medal (previously 5th). The same for Bjørn Ekeberg, third on the middle (previously 12th) and Tue Lassen, third on sprint (previously 4th). The big surprise of the weekend was of course Christopher Smithard with a 4th place on the sprint – previously best WC result being a 48th(!).
Bright, young future for French orienteering
Also count in Lucas Basset in the mix of positive surprises with 5th on the middle – previously his best World Cup result was 9th on home ground in a very special World Cup race – and 21st except for that. With Gueorgiou and the other French out training with bears in the Finnish wilderness, Basset is showing the world that there is a bright, young future for French orienteering.
But why stop there – what about Matthias Kyburz‘s brother Andreas Kyburz who finished fourth on the middle distance – the best Swiss runner on the Swiss “Achilles heel” discipline Middle. – Tries hard to get into the Swiss WOC Team, Kyburz wrote in his update to his athlete profile a few days ago – this is the way to go to achieve it. And finally Danish Rasmus Thrane Hansen – junior World Champion sprint from 2009 – who finished 6th on the sprint on Saturday – besting his earlier 19th place in the World Cup.
On the other hand several top runners are missing in the men’s class, e.g. Olav Lundanes, Thierry Gueorgiou and Edgars Bertuks who are all Top 5 on the World of O Ranking.
Simone, Simone, Simone
Among the women, Simone Niggli shows that she is the world’s best orienteer in the women’s class with two victories this weekend (although Minna Kauppi was not on the start due to illness and will be strong on home ground). Young Swede Tove Alexandersson gives Niggli a real fight though, and it won’t be long until the fight between them will be even closer if Alexandersson continues her improvements. Alexandersson still has to work on her stability though – maybe taking a bit more risk out of her orienteering – because in her best moments she is up there at Niggli’s level.
Behind Niggli and Alexandersson (and possibly Kauppi) there is a big gap. Looking at the performance index of the others from the sprint, there is a long way up – not even in part of the race the others manage to match the performance of Niggli (who is a step ahead) and Alexandersson. With respect to potential, Tatyana Riabkina is the closest – but still a way to go.
Looking at the performance index from the middle distance, Niggli is even further ahead – even with a somewhat unstable race. Around Alexandersson’s level with respect to potential we find Mari Fasting (finishing third on the middle, just seconds behind Alexandersson) and Annika Billstam (although with some big, big mistakes today again)
Maps and GPS-tracking
2DRerun links (Note the new course option in 2DRerun which makes you save routes belonging together):
Maps and GPS-tracking from the races:
June 2nd 2013 – GPSSeuranta
NORT 2: WC middle Women
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June 2nd 2013 – GPSSeuranta
NORT 2: WC middle Men
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June 1st 2013 – GPSSeuranta
NORT 1: WC sprint Women
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June 1st 2013 – GPSSeuranta
NORT 1: WC sprint Men
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Results NORT Stage 1 Sprint: Men
Plass | St.nr | Navn | Klubb | Sluttid | Differanse | |
1 | (178) | Kyburz, Matthias | SUI | 14:39 | 15:32:39 | |
2 | (163) | Hubmann, Daniel | SUI | 14:55 | +00:16 | 15:17:55 |
3 | (164) | Lassen, Tue | DEN | 14:59 | +00:20 | 15:18:59 |
4 | (115) | Smithard, Christopher | GBR | 15:04 | +00:25 | 14:30:04 |
5 | (176) | Merz, Matthias | SUI | 15:05 | +00:26 | 15:31:05 |
6 | (145) | Hansen, Rasmus Thrane | DEN | 15:06 | +00:27 | 15:00:06 |
7 | (167) | Bergman, Gustav | SWE | 15:07 | +00:28 | 15:22:07 |
8 | (157) | Kyburz, Andreas | SUI | 15:11 | +00:32 | 15:12:11 |
9 | (156) | Hubmann, Martin | SUI | 15:15 | +00:36 | 15:11:15 |
9 | (171) | Tranchand, Frédéric | FRA | 15:15 | +00:36 | 15:26:15 |
11 | (154) | Khramov, Andrey | RUS | 15:16 | +00:37 | 15:09:16 |
12 | (172) | Mueller, Matthias | SUI | 15:19 | +00:40 | 15:27:19 |
13 | (169) | Lind, William | SWE | 15:20 | +00:41 | 15:24:20 |
14 | (138) | Huber, Raffael | SUI | 15:21 | +00:42 | 14:53:21 |
15 | (152) | Kral, Vojtech | CZE | 15:22 | +00:43 | 15:07:22 |
15 | (166) | Leandersson, Jonas | SWE | 15:22 | +00:43 | 15:21:22 |
Results NORT Stage 1 Sprint: Women
Plass | St.nr | Navn | Klubb | Sluttid | Differanse | |
1 | (56) | Niggli, Simone | SUI | 13:45 | 15:09:45 | |
2 | (54) | Alexandersson, Tove | SWE | 14:05 | +00:20 | 15:08:05 |
3 | (51) | Bobach, Ida | DEN | 14:33 | +00:48 | 15:05:33 |
3 | (45) | Strand, Lina | SWE | 14:33 | +00:48 | 14:59:33 |
5 | (52) | Riabkina, Tatyana | RUS | 14:34 | +00:49 | 15:06:34 |
6 | (39) | Klingenberg, Emma | DEN | 14:39 | +00:54 | 14:53:39 |
7 | (34) | Jenzer, Sarina | SUI | 14:47 | +01:02 | 14:48:47 |
8 | (42) | Wigemyr, Tone | NOR | 14:48 | +01:03 | 14:56:48 |
9 | (38) | Fasting, Mari | NOR | 14:51 | +01:06 | 14:52:51 |
9 | (53) | Hausken Nordberg, Anne-M | NOR | 14:51 | +01:06 | 15:07:51 |
11 | (50) | Billstam, Annika | SWE | 14:53 | +01:08 | 15:04:53 |
12 | (2) | Vinogradova, Galina | RUS | 14:57 | +01:12 | 14:16:57 |
13 | (41) | Hauswirth, Sabine | SUI | 14:58 | +01:13 | 14:55:58 |
14 | (27) | Hill, Tessa | GBR | 15:00 | +01:15 | 14:42:00 |
15 | (32) | Gross, Julia | SUI | 15:01 | +01:16 | 14:47:01 |
Results NORT Stage 2 Middle: Men
Plass | St.nr | Navn | Klubb | Sluttid | Differanse | |
1 | (156) | Godager Kaas, Carl | NOR | 37:10 | 15:24:40 | |
2 | (168) | Bergman, Gustav | SWE | 37:13 | +00:03 | 15:42:43 |
3 | (158) | Ekeberg, Bjørn | NOR | 37:31 | +00:21 | 15:28:01 |
4 | (167) | Kyburz, Andreas | SUI | 37:52 | +00:42 | 15:41:52 |
5 | (154) | Basset, Lucas | FRA | 37:54 | +00:44 | 15:22:24 |
6 | (173) | Hubmann, Daniel | SUI | 38:00 | +00:50 | 15:51:00 |
7 | (124) | Nordberg, Anders | NOR | 38:01 | +00:51 | 14:37:31 |
8 | (174) | Kyburz, Matthias | SUI | 38:08 | +00:58 | 15:52:38 |
9 | (126) | Runesson, Johan | SWE | 38:20 | +01:10 | 14:40:50 |
10 | (138) | Ødum, Marius Thrane | DEN | 38:40 | +01:30 | 14:59:10 |
11 | (157) | Dæhli, Magne | NOR | 38:44 | +01:34 | 15:27:44 |
12 | (132) | Omdal, Hans Gunnar | NOR | 38:56 | +01:46 | 14:50:26 |
13 | (144) | Dahlgren, Filip | SWE | 39:01 | +01:51 | 15:08:31 |
14 | (151) | Hertner, Fabian | SUI | 39:09 | +01:59 | 15:19:09 |
15 | (113) | Alekseyonok, Aleksei | BLR | 39:15 | +02:05 | 14:22:15 |
Results NORT Stage 2 Middle: Women
Plass | St.nr | Navn | Klubb | Sluttid | Differanse | |
1 | (55) | Niggli, Simone | SUI | 32:32 | 15:23:47 | |
2 | (54) | Alexandersson, Tove | SWE | 34:03 | +01:31 | 15:23:48 |
3 | (46) | Fasting, Mari | NOR | 34:05 | +01:33 | 15:11:50 |
4 | (49) | Jenzer, Sarina | SUI | 34:55 | +02:23 | 15:17:10 |
5 | (32) | Luescher, Sara | SUI | 35:17 | +02:45 | 14:52:02 |
6 | (29) | Kinni, Saila | FIN | 35:31 | +02:59 | 14:47:46 |
7 | (45) | Billstam, Annika | SWE | 35:43 | +03:11 | 15:11:58 |
8 | (53) | Strand, Lina | SWE | 35:56 | +03:24 | 15:24:11 |
9 | (48) | Wigemyr, Tone | NOR | 36:19 | +03:47 | 15:17:04 |
10 | (47) | Hausken Nordberg, Anne-M | NOR | 36:27 | +03:55 | 15:15:42 |
11 | (51) | Riabkina, Tatyana | RUS | 36:30 | +03:58 | 15:21:45 |
12 | (35) | Johansson, Emma | SWE | 36:37 | +04:05 | 14:57:52 |
13 | (31) | Uotila, Ulrika | FIN | 36:48 | +04:16 | 14:52:03 |
14 | (30) | Wyder, Judith | SUI | 36:54 | +04:22 | 14:50:39 |
15 | (37) | Haajanen, Sofia | FIN | 37:00 | +04:28 | 15:01:15 |
What do you think about the middle course. Was it better than last year?
I didn’t run this year’s course, but I did run last year’s. There was a lot of complaining about last year’s courses, but I think the first half of last year’s course was very nice. The second half was not very interesting, though, due to a lot of path/track running.
This year’s courses look similar to last year’s in that they are in an area quite close to the city, i.e. not wilderness. But I think the course setter has managed to set up many interesting challenges for the runners (as you can see in the GPS analysis article), especially for the men. In the women’s course the percentage of “transport” is a bit too large. But if they are better than last year? I’d say not very much of a difference, although there is less path/roads in the end of the course.
Comparing to e.g. the PostFinance middle distance in Switzerland last year though, this course feels a lot more interesting …