World of O News
– The goal for 2014 was to be more consistent in my Sprint Orienteering and I think I can say I’ve reached this goal. But next year I want to fight for medals during WOC, the Belgian Yannick Michiels says about his plans for the next season. Michiels has worked his way steadily towards the top – and will surely be an exciting runner to follow the next seasons!
Read on for the complete interview with Yannick Michiels about his favourite courses and terrains this year.
Q: What was the best course you run in 2014 – and why?
I liked the NAOM Sprint WRE in the early season (25th January, see course here – part of the course is shown at the top of this article). The area was not that big, but in my opinion the course setting was really good. Also the pre-quarantine inside the old castle of Castelo de Vide was special (because all participants, young and old had to stay there before their race).
The course was special because of many controls in the beginning of the race, with a lot of route choices and direction changes. You didn’t had time to plan a lot in front and it was many decisions to made straight after the controls.
Q: What was the most interesting orienteering terrain you run in in 2014 – and why?
The Silva League races in Northern Sweden (Luleå) were really nice, especially the Middle Distance in Bälinge. Both terrain and course setting were perfect. The tricky slope with many rock details made it hard to orienteer but still the terrain was quite fast.
Q: Usually the courses in interesting terrains are the ones you remember – so a challenge for you: Can you remember a very good course you ran in “boring” terrain this year?
The MOC Sprint in Montecatine Terme (Italy) was not the most interesting terrain, just a normal park. But the course setting was really good. Many controls, a lot of direction changes and most controls not placed too visible. It still was an extremely fast race, but I think the course setter did a really good job.
Q: What is the worst course you run in 2014?
It’s hard to say which is a bad course, because I think we should be happy to have volunteers to organize an orienteering event every week (and even more in Belgium) Most of the times when a course is not so interesting, I just try to run faster. We had Belgian Middle Championship some weeks ago. The terrain was extremely fast, but because I wanted to run faster, I started to make this little mistakes. So I think we can say that there’s a challenge in every terrain and course.
Q: Did you set any courses in 2014? If so, is it possible to share the best (in your opinion) with World of O’s readers?
I organized a local event in my home town last spring. The area is not that big, but has many different challenges (residential area, small contours, sandy parts).
Q: In how many countries did you run orienteering in 2014 (difficult question, I know – maybe you can even tell how many countries you have orienteered in in total)?
I’ve ran in 10 different countries in 2014 (Portugal, Spain, Italy, Sweden, Belgium, Finland, Netherlands, Norway, UK and Suisse). In total I’ve in 22 countries for orienteering.
Q: What is the race you look most forward to in 2015?
World Orienteering Championships in Scotland will be the most important competition for me, especially the Sprint Distance which will be held in the city of Forres.
Q: What are your goals for next year – and do you plan to change your training and/or focus in order to reach your goals in 2015?
The goal for 2014 was to be more consistent in my Sprint Orienteering and I think I can say I’ve reached this goal. But next year I want to fight for medals during WOC. So that’s my main goal for 2015. Next to that I’m looking forward to the PWT Champions Week in China (autumn). During 2015 I would like to make a step forward in my forest orienteering as well, changing to the Finnish club TuMe is part of this plan. So all the big relays will be part of my racing schedule next year.
During the winter I focus more on XC running, but from January I’ll spend some weeks in Southern Europe (thanks to Sun-O) on training camps to prepare the O-season. So I’m really looking forward to an exiting year!
Q: Thanks a lot Yannick – and good luck for the next season!
Rules for “Course of the Year 2014″
The following rules are given for “The course of the Year 2014″ (see the intro-article for all details).
- The course must have been run in competition or training in 2014.
- Suggestions are submitted as a comment to this post – including link to the map with course in a quality which is good enough for the readers to understand the course and the challenges involved. Please add information about location/date if that is not clear from the link provided. Also include which sponsor prize you are interested in if you win.
- You must give a reason for why you think this course deserves to be named “The course of the Year 2014″ (or why it is the best course you run/set this year). All reasons are valid. Examples can for example be “varied orienteering challenges”, “extremely technical orienteering”, “high fun-factor”, “fantastic map”, “spectacular orienteering”, “fantastic nature” – a combination of these – or a totally different reason. To get all the way to the top you should probably have a combination of reasons…
- The course may be any discipline – e.g. a long distance, a middle distance, a sprint distance. It may also be a technical training course – like e.g. a corridor orienteering exercise.
- There will be a voting process among the readers of “World of O” in order to name “The course of the year 2014″. This is your second chance to win sponsor prizes!
Prizes from our Sponsors
Prizes from our Sponsors always makes it more fun! There will be a prize for the first one suggesting the course which ends up becoming “The course of the Year 2014″, and prizes drawn among the ones suggesting and voting. All prizes are transferable to other persons (you don’t have to travel yourself).
Event sponsor: Andalucia O-Meeting 2015. 27th-28th February & 1st March 2015
- Prize offered: AOM Competition Package for 4 persons – including entry to 4 events in 3 days, 4 nights accommodation in apartment and a 4-map training package before or after the event. Value about 600 Euro. Transferable to other persons.
- Sweet terrains and maps, nearby accommodations and high level competitions (2 WREs) in a very mild climate! More info at aom2015.com
Event sponsor: Liburnija Orienteering Meeting 2015. 14th-15th March 2015
- Prize offered: Big club package with entry for Liburnija Orienteering Meeting 2015 for 10 persons! Value about 200 Euro. Transferable to other person(s).
- The second edition of Liburnija Orienteering Meeting will be organized on the snow-free terrains of the island of Krk from 14th-15th of March 2015. Our vision is that this event becomes one of highlights of winter orienteering events in Europe for elite runners so therefore expect demanding courses and extreme terrain. Read more here
Event sponsor: Bergen Sprint Camp – January 30th – February 1st 2015
- Prize offered: 2 packages – each consisting of 2 complete Bergen Sprint Camp packages: Entry for all 4 races + training Friday morning + Saturday evening program consisting of presentations and dinner. Value about 375 Euro. Transferable to other persons.
- For the 6th time in a row, BSC is held in the city center of Bergen, Norway. We provide all participants with challenging courses, good maps and interesting analysis of the sessions – hoping to improve the sprint orienteering technique for everyone. See more at Sprint-Camp.blogspot.no – including all courses and analysis from previous editions of BSC.
Event sponsor: Orievents / NAOM 2015. 31st January – 1st February 2015
- Prize offered: Competition + training package for 2 persons, consisting of: Entry for NAOM 2015 (January 31st – Middle + WRE Sprint (Marvão), February 1st – Middle distance) + training camp (6 trainings) + 3 days of accommodation in half board. Value about 270 Euro. Transferable to other persons.
- Orievents Training Camps “Alto Alentejo” are an excellent training opportunity for Orienteering of good quality during the winter. Start the new season in training camps in Alto Alentejo, Portugal! More at www.naom.pt and about the training camp at Orievents.
Event sponsor: Portugal O-Meeting 2015. 13th – 17th February 2015
- Prize offered: 2 packages – each one for 2 persons – consisting of: Entry fees for the 4 stages of POM 2015, model events, night sprint and sprint relay. Value about 200 Euro. Transferable to other persons.
- Portugal O’ Meeting is already a well-known established international event, normally reaching the highest average points in World Ranking Events, excluding the World Championships and World Cup events. More at pom.pt.
Event sponsor: Lipica Open 2015. 7th – 11th March 2015
- Prize offered: 3 packages – each for 2 people – consisting of: Entry to complete 5 day Lipica Open competition + Slovenia training package consisting of up to 3 trainings. Value about 300 euro. Transferable to other persons.
- In 2015 Lipica open will again be organized as a 5 day event. Again we will add some new terrain and combine diverse areas. Training conditions in this part of Europe are now better than ever – both on forest maps and on sprint maps of nice little towns on the Adriatic coast! More at www.lipicaopen.com – for trainings see www.orienteering.si
Event sponsor: Kopaonik Open 2015
- Prize offered: 2 competition packages, each consisting of 2 entries to Kopaonik open 2015 (5 competition stages + 1 training)
and the Cup of Raska 2015 entry fee (1 competition stage). Value about 200 Euro. Transferable to other persons.
- We are offering to you 6 days of orienteering challenges for you, combination of two classical long, two middle and one sprint distance challenges plus one night orienteering challenge with separate ranking, 1 training plus 6 competition stages in total. For more info see www.kopaonikopen.org
