Comments on: WOC 2017 Sprint: Maps and Results

By: JK

JK — Tue, 04 Jul 2017 13:32:22 +0000

I don’t know if it is just semantics Dave R, but the SEA can *lead* the Jury, but shouldn’t have been *chairing* it. Certainly in TrailO the Jury appoints a Chair/spokesperson and the SEA gets no vote – the SEA is there to guide only. The idea is NOT to point the finger at the SEA or organising team but to establish what the decision should be based on the rules as they stand, but taking fairness into a/c.
In my opinion, Graeme has got it right in a nutshell – those are the only 4 options. Maybe in another world time penalties could be given (e.g. double the advantage gained – that might have worked for AMH in Falun), but that isn’t a current option – likewise taking out legs might on occasion be fairer to all.
In this case I’m suprised that Graeme’s 3rd option wasn’t followed – accept that the entrances to these OOB were not as clearly marked as they could have been, but since these are all Elite orienteers they should have quickly realised their mistake and returned as indeed the Swiss chaps did.
Having people cross and not come back the same way and allowing the results to stand must be wrong even if they are far down the field as it enables them and their country to get better rankings and/or Long starts in the future.
As for the situation when someone crossed a forbidden fence and then returned then I’d have been less generous – unless it was a 30cm high ornamental one of course.

By: Fly on the Wall

Fly on the Wall — Tue, 04 Jul 2017 13:09:59 +0000

This looks like rubbish course setting to me. Why would IOF approve of a venue and map that needs gimmicks and tricks to make it work? Garden beds and walls are obvious to the naked eye, so why go to the trouble of putting artificial OOB on a course? Failure all round by setter, controller, organiser and IOF. Not fair to competitors and fails the sniff test. Who at IOF will be held accountable for this?

By: Dave R

Dave R — Mon, 03 Jul 2017 21:29:17 +0000

Good questions Graeme.

As background, I was told at WOC2015 that the SEA chaired any jury, so there may be a disinclination for a jury to find fault with anything that the SEA has oversight of.

This is not a good position to put anyone in.

By: Leif Størmer

Leif Størmer — Mon, 03 Jul 2017 18:53:36 +0000

The problem here is that the map was not correct. Then it is more difficult to disqualify the runners. However, going back to earlier EOC’s and WOC’s and looking at what the jury has decided in similar cases then I think it would be correct to disqualify those runners who ran through the entire street and didn’t return. This would be in line with the jury decision at EOC in 2012 when Hausken was disqualified (and lost a medal) for running through a not mapped 10 meter wide open gate in an impassable fence. Those who returned should not be disqualified as this is in line with the jury decision at WOC in Finland 2013 where a protest from a runner who jumped over an impassable fence and immediately jumped back again was accepted.