EOC 2018: All You Need To Know!

Excellent live coverage is offered when the European Orienteering Championships (EOC)  starts on Sunday May 6th with Sprint qualification and final – and finishes the following Sunday, May 13th, with the Long distance. The program also includes Middle (qualification Tuesday, final Wednesday), Sprint Relay (Thursday) and Relay (Saturday). 

Update: Updated with information from  Bulletin 4 and EOC 2018 live-page.

The championship is organized in Ticino, Switzerland. The Ticino region is known for it very steep hillsides – see for example the old map from the long distance terrain above.

The Ticino region is known for it very steep hillsides

All medal races will be broadcast on the International Orienteering Federations’ webTV-channel – and most also on Swiss and Finnish TV. There will also be live GPS-tracking and live results. See links to live services further down in the article. The EOC races also count in the orienteering World Cup.

The European Championships are in many ways more difficult to win than the World Orienteering Championships as more athletes from each nation are allowed to start at EOC compared to WOC. Also, with EOC being organized in Switzerland, many of the Swiss athletes have EOC as the central season goal – being prepared extremely well for the homeground championships with many training camps in the area.

Links & Live services

• EOC 2018 Live-page
• Live Orienteering with live streaming and GPS-tracking. The cost is 6 EUR/day with a pass for the total EOC costing 20 EUR. The Long distance is of lower quality with lower fee
• EOC Teams (via runners.worldofo.com)
  • Some interesting teams: Sweden, Switzerland, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Russia, Great Britain, Czech Republic, France
• EOC webpage (and Facebook, Twitter, Intagram, YouTube) – expect live services to be linked from here
• EOC Bulletins (detailed information about the races – see especially Bulletin 4)
• EOC in Eventor
• Past EOC winners and WoO results archive which includes both EOC and WOC

Program

• Sunday May 6th: Sprint Qualification and Final
  • Sprint Qual 09:30 – 11:30
  • Sprint Final Women 16:00 – 16:50 (GPS from 16:00)
  • Sprint Final Men 17:10 – 18:00 (GPS from 17:10)
• Tuesday May 8th: Middle Qualification
  • Middle Qual 10:00 – 12:10
• Wednesday May 9th: Middle Final
  • Women 10:00 – 11:40 (GPS from 10:00)
  • Men 11:00 – 12:40 (GPS from 11:00)
• Thursday May 10th: Sprint Relay
  • Sprint Relay 17:00 – 18:15 (GPS from 17:00)
• Saturday May 12th: Relay
  • Women 14:00 – 15:50 (GPS from 14:00)
  • Men 16:00 – 17:50 (GPS from 16:00)
• Sunday May 13th: Long
  • Women 09:31 – 14:00 (GPS from 09:31)
  • Men 09:30 – 15:15 (GPS from 09:30)

Race details

Sprint & Sprint relay

The sprint races are organized in small Ticino villages with narrow streets where both fast navigation and good route choices are important (see Swiss test race sprint here which should be quite relevant). There will probably also be some longer legs in the fields outside the villages in some of the sprint races, where there may be some longer routechoice legs. Above is the old map from the sprint final. The sprint races will be organized Sunday May 6th (Individual qualification in Bellinzona and final in Mendrisio) and Thursday May 10th (Sprint relay in Tesserete, the same arena as for Long and Relay).

Favourites: Very open race in the men’s class with the Swiss and Swedish men as main favourites. Also count Yannick Michiels (Belgium) into the medal favourites if he has got his injury problems under control. Vojtech Kral (Czech Republic) and Frederic Tranchand (France) performed very well at World Cup/WOC sprint races last year and may take the step onto the podium at EOC with good races. In the women’s class Maja Alm (Denmark) is the main favourite based on her results the last years, but she will be challenged by Natalia Gemperle, Galina Vinogradova, Tove Alexandersson and home favourite Elena Roos among others. In the Sprint relay, Denmark, Switzerland, Sweden and Russia are the main favourites.

Top athletes in EOC 2016 and WOC 2017:

The Sprint relay was won by Sweden ahead of Denmark and Switzerland at WOC 2017 and by Russia ahead of Denmark and Switzerland at EOC 2016.

Sprint Final:

Sprint Relay:

Middle distance

The middle distance qualification (Tuesday May 8th) and final (Wednesday May 9th) are organized in quite steep “continental-type” forest terrain just south of Lugano – althought the terrain is significantly less steep than the Long distance. The Middle distance races offer interesting hillside orienteering – with focus on navigation rather than routechoices. There may definitely be some tricky controls in these hillsides.

Favourites: In the men’s class all the Swiss runners on the start will definitely be among the favourites. Also count in several of the Norwegian runners – especially Olav Lundanes. The Swedes can also perform on the highest level – and some of the French and Russian runners will also be in the fight for the medals. In the women’s class the main favourite is Tove Alexandersson – with Natalia Gemperle, Elena Roos, Sabine Hauswirth, Judith Wyder (coming back after child birth), Helena Bergman and several others also being in the mix.

Top athletes in EOC 2016 and WOC 2017:

 

Relay

The relay is organized from Tesserete at May 12th (the same place as Long and Sprint relay), but the terrain to the south is significantly less steep than the long distance terrain in the north, with characteristics which are more similar to the middle distance than the long distance. There may also be some transport-type legs as the terrain close to the arena does not seem to be the most challenging.

Top athletes in EOC 2016 and WOC 2017 (note that the running order is not correct):

 

Long distance

The Long distance is the most special terrain in the European Championships, with the extremely steep hillsides very characteristic for the Ticino-region. The terrain is situated somewhat higher in altitude than other parts of the EOC-terrain, and will probably have some grassy areas with cottages which can be used actively in the orienteering. The race marks the end of the Championships, being organized in Tesserete  Sunday May 13th.

Top athletes in EOC 2016 and WOC 2017:

 

Registered athletes sorted by WRE ranking

WRE pos	WRE pos sprint	Name	Country	WRE ID
1	1	Matthias Kyburz	SUI	12305
1	29	Olav Lundanes	NOR	13003
8	2	Martin Regborn	SWE	15387
23	3	Frederic Tranchand	FRA	17348
3	6	Daniel Hubmann	SUI	10849
4	411	Magne Daehli	NOR	8654
11	5	Vojtech Kral	CZE	12187
5	59	Johan Runesson	SWE	15668
6	32	Eskil Kinneberg	NOR	11757
7	8	Gustav Bergman	SWE	7562
86	7	Yannick Michiels	BEL	13592
9	9	Florian Howald	SUI	10810
10	247	William Lind	SWE	12778
20	10	Emil Svensk	SWE	16905
33	10	Hakon Jarvis Westergard	NOR	11163
89	12	Tim Robertson	NZL	15525
13	215	Fredric Portin	FIN	15101
27	13	Jonas Leandersson	SWE	12555
14	54	Timo Sild	EST	16283
37	14	Martin Hubmann	SUI	10851
15	22	Fabian Hertner	SUI	10627
15	77	Oleksandr Kratov	UKR	12116
92	15	Antonio Martinez Perez	ESP	13326
32	16	Gaute Hallan Steiwer	NOR	16697
17	20	Lucas Basset	FRA	7403
60	17	Andreu Blanes	ESP	15397
18	183	Ruslan Glibov	UKR	9910
50	18	Kenny Kivikas	EST	11784
135	19	Chris Smithard	GBR	16491
19	39	Albin Ridefelt	SWE	15472
21	40	Gernot Kerschbaumer	AUT	11671
64	21	Peter Hodkinson	GBR	10688
67	23	Soren Bobach	DEN	7746
49	24	Oystein Kvaal Osterbo	NOR	18660
47	25	Tue Lassen	DEN	12487
26	284	Valentin Novikov	RUS	14278
30	26	Milos Nykodym	CZE	14322
46	27	Jonas Egger	SUI	18893
205	28	Jesse Laukkarinen	FIN	12511
28	51	Florian Schneider	SUI	15991
70	29	Andrey Khramov	RUS	11718
31	48	Andreas Kyburz	SUI	12304
560	32	Piotr Parfianowicz	POL	14642
34	41	Olli Ojanaho	FIN	19846
173	35	Kristian Jones	GBR	11299
35	900	Olli Markus Taivainen	FIN	17027
36	417	Miika Kirmula	FIN	11767
52	36	Robert Merl	AUT	13549
118	37	Andreas Hougaard Boesen	DEN	7760
38	85	Dmitry Tsvetkov	RUS	17414
563	38	Jakob Edsen	DEN	22688
39	866	Nicolas Rio	FRA	18921
40	47	Bartosz Pawlak	POL	14725
41	117	Pavel Kubat	CZE	12195
43	1010	Denys Shcherbakov	UKR	16187
78	43	Riccardo Scalet	ITA	18966
66	44	Otto Simosas	FIN	16342
45	57	Jon Aukrust Osmoen	NOR	14509
54	45	Aleksi Niemi	FIN	18700
111	46	Artem Popov	RUS	15086
48	55	Ralph Street	GBR	16782
51	–	Fredrik Bakkman	SWE	11251
53	845	Lauri Sild	EST	16281
58	53	Elias Kuukka	FIN	22101
55	84	Vincent Coupat	FRA	8581
110	56	Eduardo Gil Marcos	ESP	13255
104	57	Matthias Reiner	AUT	15405
57	210	Andris Jubelis	LAT	11329
207	59	Adrien Delenne	FRA	19918
83	61	Arturs Paulins	LAT	14704
62	299	Alan Cherry	GBR	8363
166	63	Andreas Rueedlinger	SUI	15729
374	64	Henry McNulty	AUS	13483
64	75	Ivan Sirakov	BUL	16365
107	67	Loic Capbern	FRA	8188
90	69	Kristo Heinmann	EST	10551
193	74	Dmitrii Poliakov	RUS	15056
–	78	Trond Einar Moen Pedersli	NOR	14760
79	245	Hannu Airila	FIN	6846
79	783	Max Peter Bejmer	SWE	7466
227	81	Andris Kivlenieks	LAT	11786
82	821	Thomas Natvig Arstad	NOR	18597
85	82	Tomas Kubelka	CZE	19046
116	83	Sergey Dobrynin	RUS	8889
87	475	Hector Haines	GBR	10316
88	222	Paul Sirum	NOR	21541
153	90	Magnus Dewett	DEN	8831
91	290	Artem Panchenko	UKR	14617
93	94	Marek Minar	CZE	20166
215	96	William Gardner	GBR	9766
149	97	Alexander Chepelin	GBR	8351
97	470	Bjoern Cederberg	DEN	22960
123	98	Quentin Rauturier	FRA	20655
98	227	Michal Olejnik	POL	14406
100	293	Martins Sirmais	LAT	16368
127	101	Felix Spaeth	GER	16618
102	325	Bjarne Friedrichs	GER	9624
781	116	Marvin Goericke	GER	9942
270	119	Alessio Tenani	ITA	17146
813	121	Joao Mega Figueiredo	POR	9450
126	129	Daniel Hajek	CZE	10320
127	438	Joni Hirvikallio	FIN	10663
129	185	Luis Nogueira	ESP	13880
196	129	Mattia Debertolis	ITA	19153
130	461	Kiril Nikolov	BUL	14164
131	–	Philippe Adamski	FRA	6801
133	161	Sebastian Inderst	ITA	11008
413	134	Sergei Rjabyshkin	EST	15512
431	137	Roman Ciobanu	ROU	8458
150	139	Mathias Peter	AUT	14853
234	139	Nitsan Yasur	ISR	20182
144	214	Pavlo Ushkvarok	UKR	17541
448	147	Igor Popov	RUS	22153
148	272	Roberto Dallavalle	ITA	8680
165	156	Moritz Doellgast	GER	9068
294	159	Christoph Prunsche	GER	15207
162	792	Alasdair McLeod	GBR	13474
258	166	Ahmet Kacmaz	TUR	11402
174	228	Davis Dislers	LAT	18766
436	177	Dimitar Zhelyazkov	BUL	24809
189	1974	Tristan Bloemen	BEL	7724
448	203	Morten Jorgensen	USA	22494
551	206	Giacomo Barbone	USA	7345
212	880	Sebastian Ken Baumann	JPN	25943
556	212	Joey Hadorn	SUI	23033
808	238	Kasper Fosser	NOR	23855
671	240	Tommy Hayes	NZL	22452
761	241	Asaf Avner	ISR	7199
249	529	Michal Krajcik	SVK	12095
414	262	Alexandru Blejdea	ROU	7719
265	1205	Philipp Mueller	GER	13978
844	267	George Emilian Minoiu	ROU	27308
274	280	Ivaylo Kamenarov	BUL	11467
287	592	Bryan RusselKeely	AUS	11635
308	515	Uldis Upitis	LAT	22993
330	554	Michele Caraglio	ITA	8196
360	348	Pedro Nogueira	POR	14223
364	534	Teodor Yordanov	BUL	18286
533	369	Itay Manor	ISR	21437
371	–	Vitalii Hychko	UKR	10900
378	797	Johan Hogstrand	SWE	10941
384	581	Matija Razum	CRO	15372
2520	407	Topi Raitanen	FIN	15299
923	437	Vojtech Sykora	CZE	25347
608	439	Elias Jonsson	NOR	23864
450	1278	Rafael Miguel	POR	18689
454	585	Bogya Tamas	ROU	7771
522	478	Endijs Titomers	LAT	19137
490	1247	Francois Van der Ouderaa	BEL	14543
503	1974	Oleksii Savchenko	UKR	20266
516	775	Eric Borjeskog	SWE	8136
745	556	Stefan Yordanov	BUL	25423
583	1166	Apostol Atanasov	BUL	7164
772	987	Anton Salmenkyla	USA	25115
2021	778	Gheorghe Fala	MDA	9342
802	1307	Andres Saetalu	EST	20535
1899	854	Tomas Hendrickx	BEL	10587
882	–	Ondrej Pijak	SVK	14948
1606	907	Taras Rachuk	UKR	28134
951	–	Matjaz Stanfel	CRO	13382
1865	1072	Warre De Cuyper	BEL	28066
1330	1418	Wieland Kundisch	GER	12240
1381	1974	Wannes Hendrickx	BEL	10588
1534	1974	Tom Drygalski	BEL	22507
–	1974	Wouter Hus	BEL	20876
2520	–	Yury Tambasov	RUS	17059

WRE pos	WRE pos sprint	Name	Country	WRE ID
1	8	Tove Alexandersson	SWE	65
5	1	Maja Alm	DEN	77
2	15	Helena Bergman	SWE	2511
48	2	Galina Vinogradova	RUS	6258
3	3	Natalia Gemperle	RUS	6259
4	7	Sabine Hauswirth	SUI	2100
6	4	Elena Roos	SUI	4961
20	6	Lina Strand	SWE	5654
7	13	Marika Teini	FIN	5868
21	9	Karolin Ohlsson	SWE	4277
10	11	Anastasia Rudnaya	RUS	5930
33	10	Nadiya Volynska	UKR	6284
12	20	Julia Gross	SUI	1867
13	26	Svetlana Mironova	RUS	3932
47	14	Cecilie Friberg Klysner	DEN	23304
15	16	Sari Anttonen	FIN	166
68	17	Kirsi Nurmi	FIN	4233
28	18	Ursula Kadan	AUT	2678
19	45	Sofia Haajanen	FIN	1963
40	19	Silje Ekroll Jahren	NOR	2486
61	21	Anastasia Denisova	BLR	1168
22	46	Alva Olsson	SWE	4312
35	22	Sarina Jenzer	SUI	2549
23	30	Tatyana Riabkina	RUS	4880
24	34	Catherine Taylor	GBR	5861
43	24	Josefin Tjernlund	SWE	19038
25	68	Vendula Horcickova	CZE	19096
50	25	Lilian Forsgren	SWE	1592
237	27	Anna Dvorianskaia	RUS	19063
27	605	Lisa Risby	SWE	4900
29	74	Hollie Orr	GBR	4347
30	40	Sara Hagstrom	SWE	1997
31	47	Andrine Benjaminsen	NOR	396
42	31	Isia Basset	FRA	332
32	88	Yulia Novikova	RUS	4212
63	35	Aleksandra Hornik	POL	19685
105	36	Carlotta Scalet	ITA	5184
36	52	Ingjerd Myhre	NOR	4043
41	37	Jana Knapova	CZE	2942
46	38	Sigrid Alexandersen	NOR	63
125	39	Tereza Janosikova	CZE	28127
62	41	Laura Ramstein	AUT	4800
109	43	Amanda Falck Weber	DEN	6357
140	44	Laura Robertson	NZL	4916
44	58	Inga Dambe	LAT	1107
45	53	Anna Haataja	FIN	19926
65	48	Sandra Grosberga	LAT	1865
49	50	Adela Indrakova	CZE	2430
76	49	Evely Kaasiku	EST	2672
1034	51	Charlotte Ward	GBR	6342
51	69	Paula Gross	SUI	18906
52	60	Lisa Holer	SUI	18902
106	54	Denisa Kosova	CZE	3061
54	607	Jessica Tullie	GBR	2021
55	59	Susen Loesch	GER	3602
70	55	Maija Sianoja	FIN	5370
195	56	Alice Leake	GBR	3349
58	76	Annika Rihma	EST	4894
59	70	Jo Shepherd	GBR	5339
60	297	Emma Bjessmo	SWE	22886
258	62	Kateryna Dzema	UKR	25007
102	63	Caroline Gjotterup	DEN	1757
169	64	Violeta Feliciano Sanjuan	ESP	5140
66	350	Laura Vike	LAT	6236
128	67	Anastasiia Borovkova	RUS	22189
69	320	Charlotte Watson	GBR	6354
73	301	Lotta Karhola	FIN	18912
96	73	Tuulia Viberg	FIN	6220
75	192	Elin Mansson	SWE	4057
77	154	Simona Aebersold	SUI	23032
79	237	Barbora Zhanalova	CZE	2326
81	159	Anja Arbter	AUT	173
85	322	Hanna Wisniewska	POL	6443
86	205	Anna Serrallonga Arques	ESP	192
98	86	Anna Nilsson Simkovics	AUT	5414
87	167	Anna Narhi	FIN	4251
150	89	Kerstin Uiboupin	EST	6080
123	91	Maelle Beauvir	FRA	20207
94	248	Lenka Mechlova	CZE	3830
139	96	Iliana Ilieva	BUL	5321
97	218	Marianne Haug	EST	22989
99	302	Lea Vercellotti	FRA	6208
101	599	Miri Thrane Oedum	DEN	6735
103	–	Liga Valdmane	LAT	6125
104	341	Marie Olaussen	NOR	4291
215	107	Kirstin Maxwell	GBR	3796
146	108	Irita Pukite	LAT	4737
142	110	Kristina Ivanova	BUL	2458
119	703	Vanessa Round	AUS	4991
122	186	Sofie Bachmann	SUI	18907
165	124	Arntraut Goetsch	GER	1958
246	128	Paula Starke	GER	20062
305	131	Francesca Taufer	ITA	19187
221	133	Judith Wyder	SUI	6494
272	136	Viola Zagonel	ITA	6557
161	139	Carina Polzer	AUT	4657
177	147	Aislinn Prendergast	AUS	4697
148	151	Patricia Nieke	GER	4138
324	148	Carolina Delgado	POR	18756
193	150	Irene Pozzebon	ITA	18999
153	176	Valerie Aebischer	SUI	25177
287	153	Emine Sezgunsay	TUR	5312
154	376	Olha Panchenko	UKR	4876
173	157	Olena Pitirimova	UKR	4616
165	332	Kine Hallan Steiwer	NOR	5617
276	167	Anna Caglio	ITA	18989
282	169	Filipa Rodrigues	POR	24882
172	554	Ingeborg Eide	NOR	20206
819	173	Triin Jaadmaa	EST	27629
182	737	Delphine Poirot	FRA	18914
391	182	Marta Guijo Alonso	ESP	20222
422	183	Alicia Friberg	ESP	803
453	189	Antoaneta Dyaksova	BUL	1279
209	208	Ingrid Lundanes	NOR	25248
235	212	Eirin Svanoe Hafstad	NOR	21536
738	226	Zuzanna Kubicka	POL	3156
228	228	Liliana Gotseva	BUL	1767
392	239	Olena Fedorova	UKR	25660
265	267	Nicole Scalet	ITA	5185
266	683	Elina Karklina	LAT	3242
325	271	Ida Bobach	DEN	536
291	682	Jasmine Neve	AUS	4129
327	300	Victoria Haestad Bjornstad	NOR	23852
605	306	Maiki Maalberg	EST	19902
333	408	Anna Reinhardt	GER	4857
373	419	Andreya Dyaksova	BUL	20089
419	616	Dorothea Mueller	GER	19673
889	599	Yasna Petrova	BUL	27929
–	–	Anne Obstetar	FRA	28389
–	–	Marie Violaine Palcau	FRA	4390