Preview: Who wins WOC Middle 2013?

Live from 12:10 CET (men) and 14:05 CET (women). Who are the favourites to take the WOC Middle title in this year’s WOC in Finland? The technical terrain (see some examples from the very tricky middle distance qualification above) makes the race more open in the women’s class – and more suited for Thierry Gueorgiou in the men’s class.

Niggli took WOC middle distance in 2003, 2005, 2006 and 2007 – but it is now 6 years since last time

The terrain changes from dense to open – featuring some very tricky areas. Many runners had big problems with the tricky terrain offered in the qualification – the terrain in the final might however differ somewhat from the terrain in the qualification.

Useful links for following the race live:

• Links to live services: Online results, GPS-tracking, Live TV payment. See also WOC 2013 webpage. SVTPlay WebTV men (available worldwide) and women. YLE TV 13.05-15.58 CET. Finnish: http://areena.yle.fi/tv/1969771. Swedish: http://arenan.yle.fi/tv/1969771/#/play (Thanks, Tim for YLE links)
• Team overview WOC 2013 – with updated profile data.
• WOC 2013 Bulletin 4 – all updated information about the competition
• Results from earlier WOCs and WOC history by country
• Startlists middle final

Previous championships: Niggli, Kauppi and Gueorgiou the big names

At last year’s WOC in Switzerland the Latvian Edgars Bertuks surprisingly won the middle distance gold medal in the mens class ahead of Valentin Novikov and Fabian Hertner. “The king of middle distance”, Thierry Gueorgiou, finished only 4th after injury problems all spring and summer. Last time the championships was organized in Finland – in 2001 – Pasi Ikonen (Finland) won gold medal – but the other years since then Gueorgiou has won all Gold medals in Short/Middle distance except Holger Hott’s Gold in Denmark in 2006 and Carl Waaler (now Godager) Kaas’s gold in Trondheim in 2010.

In the women’s class, Minna Kauppi took gold in Switzerland last year – ahead of Tove Alexandersson and Tatiana Riabkina. Fourth was Simone Niggli after a big mistake orienteering to a wrong control – followed by the home crowd on the big screen. Kauppi also won in 2010 and 2008, while Niggli took WOC middle distance in 2003, 2005, 2006 and 2007 – but it is now 6 years since last time. In between Helena Jansson won in 2011, Dana Brozkova in 2009 and Hanne Staff in 2004.

Men: Gueorgiou big favourite

At least 8-10 men can win the middle distance. Thierry Gueorgiou is always the big favourite. He showed great shape at the long distance, the terrain suits him well, and he “jogged” through the qualification to a secure second place behind Daniel Hubmann. Gueorgiou has always come back stronger after loosing a World Championship middle distance (after 2006 with gold on sprint/middle in Ukraine in 2007 and after 2010 with gold in middle, long and relay in France in 2011) – this year he has started well with winning the WOC long distance.

Another favourite is off course the WOC middle winner from last year – Edgars Bertuks from Latvia. The Latvian has not shown impressive results this year except for his bronze medal on WOC Long distance – that along with earlier feats is however enough to put him up as a favourite.

A runner who really impressed this summer is Peter Öberg. The Swede run extremely well in the first part of the Finnish test race middle distance – and finally did a mistake on the long leg costing him the top position. The race was eventually won by Valentin Novikov – silver medalist on WOC middle last year – who will want to be in for the fight for gold this year as well. Note however that Novikov did a very bad qualification – barely qualifying for the final.

Looking past Gueorgiou and Öberg, we find the Swiss runners who performed very well in the qualification – and who are hungry for success after failing in the sprint and long distance. The Swiss have three cards – and any of them could stand on top after the middle distance Friday afternoon. Daniel Hubmann is maybe the biggest opponent – he knows how to handle the pressure and win a WOC gold medal – and is very strong mentally. Matthias Kyburz on the other hand is probably the Swiss runner who is strongest physically – and Fabian Hertner showed with bronze medal at WOC middle last year that he is also a strong medal candidate on the middle distance.

In the range of top favourites we should also consider the World Champion middle distance from Trondheim in 2010 – Carl Godager Kaas. Kaas has shown impressive results this spring – and his performance index on the qualification was impressive.

Outsiders & dark horses: Oleksandr Kratov, Tue Lassen, Anders Nordberg, Gustav Bergman

My tip:

1. Thierry Gueorgiou
2. Peter Öberg
3. Carl Godager Kaas

(The Swiss might very well be up there as well, though)

Women: Kauppi, Niggli or Alexandersson?

The three big names in women orienteering these days – Minna Kauppi, Simone Niggli and Tove Alexandersson are the main favourites in this year’s WOC middle for women. Picking the winner here is not easy, but Niggli has an edge due to her stronger physics. Kauppi has the home advantage with respect to terrain, and has a revenge to do after the long distance. Alexandersson ran good speed in the qualification – and is a hot winner candidate if her orienteering fits – but although Alexandersson is getting more and more stable, she still can do mistakes.

Tatiana Ryabkina is the next on the list of favourites. Ryabkina is usually stable – and has a number of 2nd and 3rd position, but is still missing that gold medal. Ryabkina has not shown this impressive shape here at WOC in Finland, but the middle distance sh0uld fit her well.

Ida Bobach surprisingly took the silver medal on a very technical WOC middle distance in France in 2011. The terrain will not be as technical as the extreme French terrain today, but technical orienteering will again be very important – and Bobach can very well challenge the four above. The question is if she has the speed? Last year in Switzerland Bobach finished just outside the medals in 4th at WOC middle distance.

Annika Billstam – winning her qualification heat – is a strong outsider who is very much capable of winning this middle distance – although she is not usually referred to as a middle distance specialist and has usually placed between position 5 and 9 on the middle distance. This year Billstam has focused more on the middle distance.

Merja Rantanen also won her qualification heat – and consistently has run Top 8 in the middle distance in championships the last years. The home ground advantage might make it possible for her to fight for the medals.

Outsiders & Dark horses: Ida Bobach, Merja Rantanen, Dana Brozkova, Annika Billstam, Judith Wyder, Mari Fasting, Venla Niemi, Inge Dambe.

My tip:

1. Minna Kauppi
2. Simone Niggli
3. Tove Aleksandersson

WOC Teams – sorted by country

Note that all teams have received login information to update the athlete data / profile miniature picture. If you are a competitor and have not received a link, please contact your team leader.

Argentina	Australia	Austria
Azerbaijan	Belgium	Belarus
Bulgaria	Canada	China
Croatia	Czech Republic	Denmark
Spain	Estonia	Finland
France	Great Britain	Germany
Hong Kong	Hungary	Ireland
Israel	Italy	Japan
Latvia	Lithuania	Moldova
MNE	Norway	New Zealand
Poland	Portugal	DPR Korea
Romania	South Africa	Russia
Serbia	Switzerland	Slovakia
Sweden	Chinese Taipei	Turkey
Ukraine	Uruguay	United States