World of O News
This year the Finnish Champs middle distance was a WRE race – open for all foreign runners. The best orienteer in the men’s class was Fredric Portin, Halden SK who was 1 minute and 12 seconds faster than silver medalist Severi Kymäläinen. Saila Kinni had a tight fight with Merja Rantanen (Jämsän Retki-Veikot) in the women’s class – taken the victory with 30 seconds.
The Finnish middle distance championships were held in Ikaalinen, approximately 80 northwest from Tampere on the sunny Sunday of 24th May. Organizing club Ikaalisten Nouseva-Voima (The Rising Power of Ikaalinen in English) drove away all the bears and wolfs from the wilderness of Luhalahti and over 2400 orienteers were fighting for the gold medals in junior, senior and master classes.
Portin: Careful start in tricky beginning
After the qualification race, Portin knew that solid run will be rewarded high on the result list.
-I started very carefully as there were some difficult controls in the beginning. In the second half, there were some longer legs where I could increase my pace as I had strength left, Portin told after the race.
Increasing the speed was the key to success as Portin was the fastest Finn in the second half.
Severi Kymäläinen from Tampereen Pyrintö was second and a happy silver medalist.
-I made some small mistakes in the end, but I don’t think I could have won the race even without those misses, Kymäläinen told after the finish line.
Tero Föhr, silver medalist from WOC 2007, was third 1.42 behind Portin.
Kinni did what expected
-I made one mistake, but I kept in my mind, that this is going to be difficult even for the other runners. That thought kept me going, Kinni told.
She was right and Kinnis speed was good enough for the gold medal. Kinni was a clear favorite in the women’s race after Minna Kauppi announced that she is not going to run.
The competition behind Kinni and Rantanen was extremely tight as five runners were fighting for bronze. In the finish line, all of them were inside 12 seconds. Bronze medal was shared by Sonja Kyrölä (Tampereen Pyrintö) and Outi Hytönen (Kangasala SK) with the same time 2.04 behind Kinni.
-I was nervous before the A-final and made some bad route choices. Then Saila (Kinni) caught me. I was happy to see that I’m technically and physically capable of running with her speed, Kyrölä told.
Hytönen was happy as well when she was able to fulfill her long-term goal.
-My coach Erkki Knuuttila is living in Ikaalinen. When we started our co-operation four years ago, he said that I’m going to take a medal here in this competition. He was right and I am very happy with that, Hytönen told after the race.
Difficult for non-Finns
Both physically and technically very demanding competition was also a WRE event which means that even non-Finnish runners were allowed to participate. However the tough and merciless terrain did not favor foreigners.
Emily Kemp from Canada and Angelniemen Ankkuri was 18th in the women’s class 5.03 behind Kinni. Latvian Laura Vike (Hämeenlinnan Suunnistajat) was 26th and the world champion Svetlana Mironova (Koovee) was left to 32rd place among the 39 women who qualified to the A-final.
Pavel Kubat (Vaajakosken Terä) from Czech Republic was the best male-alien with 13th place. Italian-Russian Mikhail Mamleev (Ikaalisten Nouseva-Voima), bronze medalist from WOC 2009, could make his way to A-final. However Mamleevs flight back to Italy departed from Helsinki-Vantaa airport (230km from the competition venue) at 19.00. Mamleev was not sure if he is going to be in Helsinki on time. With that thought in his mind, Mamleev stressed and made a big mistake which made him to finish 40th. Yuri Kirianov (Hämeenlinnan Suunnistajat) was another Russian to qualify to the A-final. He was 46th. Luhalahti showed its dark sides to Frenchman Frederic Tranchand (Paimion Rasti) who was not even close to qualify to the A-final. Tranchand made several big mistakes and missed the A-final by five and half minutes.
The qualification race was held in the morning. In the women’s class 39 women were qualified among 150 participants. In the men’s class 215 runners tried to take their way to 50-man A-final.
Maps and courses
Finnish Championships Middle 2015: M21
» See map in omaps.worldofo.com
SM-keskimatka D21
» See map in omaps.worldofo.com
Results
Men
| 1 | 39 | Fredric Portin | Norway | FIN | 37:28 | ||
| 2 | 38 | Severi Kymäläinen | Tampereen Pyrintö | FIN | 38:40 | +1:12 | |
| 3 | 47 | Tero Föhr | Vehkalahden Veikot | FIN | 39:10 | +1:42 | |
| 4 | 32 | Aapo Leskinen | Lynx | FIN | 39:37 | +2:09 | |
| 5 | 49 | Jani Lakanen | Koovee | FIN | 39:58 | +2:30 | |
| 6 | 42 | Oskari Liukkonen | Hiidenkiertäjät | FIN | 40:05 | +2:37 | |
| 7 | 22 | Olli-Markus Taivainen | Pellon Ponsi | FIN | 40:38 | +3:10 | |
| 8 | 37 | Jussi Suna | Turun Metsänkävijät | FIN | 40:50 | +3:22 | |
| 9 | 48 | Tobias Henriksson | OK Trian | FIN | 40:55 | +3:27 | |
| 10 | 17 | Olli-Pekka Koistinen | Hiidenkiertäjät | FIN | 40:57 | +3:29 |
Women
| 1 | 130 | Saila Kinni | Tampereen Pyrintö | FIN | 36:36 | ||
| 2 | 132 | Merja Rantanen | Jämsän Retki-Veikot | FIN | 37:06 | +30 | |
| 3 | 134 | Outi Hytönen | Kangasala SK | FIN | 38:40 | +2:04 | |
| 129 | Sonja Kyrölä | Tampereen Pyrintö | FIN | 38:40 | +2:04 | ||
| 5 | 114 | Miia Niittynen | Koovee | FIN | 38:43 | +2:07 | |
| 6 | 128 | Tiia Miettinen | MS Parma | FIN | 38:46 | +2:10 | |
| 7 | 135 | Venla Niemi | Tampereen Pyrintö | FIN | 38:52 | +2:16 | |
| 8 | 120 | Sanni Kivelä | Angelniemen Ankkuri | FIN | 39:18 | +2:42 | |
| 9 | 126 | Sofia Haajanen | SK Pohjantähti | FIN | 39:24 | +2:48 | |
| 10 | 119 | Sari Anttonen | Keuruun Kisailijat | FIN | 39:47 | +3:11 |
- Full results: http://online4.tulospalvelu.fi/tulokset/en/2015_keski/
Very good, I liked