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EOC 2021: All You Need To Know

Neuch-tel,-old-map-from-2010_01_1600

Finally! Thursday May 13th at 16:40 CET the international orienteering elite will compete for medals again as the European Orienteering Championships (EOC) starts off with the Sprint Relay. EOC 2021 is the first pure sprint EOC, and is organized in Neuchatel, Switzerland.

Excellent live coverage is promised, with live TV broadcasts of all three races –  Sprint eoc2021Relay, Knock-Out Sprint (Semi-finals and Finals) and Sprint. In addition to the webTV broadcast on orienteering.sport with English and Russian commentary, the races will be broadcast on national television in Switzerland, Sweden, Finland and Norway.

Program

Three medal races are included in this year’s EOC:

  • Sprint Relay on Thursday. Start 16:40, TV from 16:30
  • Knock-Out Sprint Qualification on Friday (Start from 15:00, no TV broadcast)
  • Knock-Out Sprint final rounds on Saturday, TV from 15:00
    • Quarterfinals from 13:20 CET (no TV broadcast)
    • Semi-finals from 15:10
    • Finals Saturday from 16:20
  • Individual Sprint on Sunday. Start from 13:10 (women first), TV from 13:10.

All times are CET.

Links & Live

Use these links to follow the championships:

Race details

The races will be organized around Neuchatel and St-Blaise – see the embargoed areas below.

embargo

See the old map for (part of) the Neuchatel-area on the top of this article, and part of the St-Blaise area below.

St-Blaise-old-map_1_01

Artificial barriers will be used. They are marked on the map with the purple symbol 708 (outof-bounds boundary) and the out-of-bounds symbol behind to clarify the situation. In the terrain, there is a mobile fence combined with grids and ribbon to show these barriers.

Artificial fences will be used. These fences are grids, 110cm heigh. Most of them are branded with sponsor and event logos.

Sprint Relay

  • 4 legs (WOMEN-MEN-MEN-WOMEN).
  • The starting order is determined by the results from EOC 2018, thereafter in alphabetical order.
  • Map Neuchâtel, 1 :4000, 2.5m
  • Course planners Kim Hadorn and Nils Eyer
  • Course lengths
    • Leg 1 and 4 (WOMEN): 3.7-3.9km, 25m climb, 24-25 controls, 14-15 minutes
    • Leg 2 and 3 (MEN): 4.2-4.4km, 25m climb, 27-28 controls, 14-15 minutes
  • Results from last championships:

eoc2018_collage_1

Knock-Out Sprint

  • Knockout sprint competition is conducted according to rule 12.26 and the Knock-Out Sprint format description document.
  • For the elimination rounds, the courses may incorporate forking/splitting systems (There will be no announcement in advance which method is used in which round):
    • No forking
    • Forking with loops
    • «Course Choice Model» where each competitor picks one of three options
  • Map St-Blaise 1:4000, 2m contours and Neuchâtel, 1:4000, 2.5m contours
  • Course planners Fabian Hertner and Andreas Kyburz
  • Urban terrain with smaller and bigger buildings and park areas. The old town of St-Blaise and Neuchâtel offer tricky orienteering in narrow streets and foot paths. Flat to hilly towards the old town of St-Blaise and the north of Neuchâtel.
  • Qualification:
    • Race with 3 heats in both classes. 1’ start interval with 3 runners starting at the same time.
    • The start order in each qualification heat is determined strictly by the order of the Sprint World Ranking as of 11 May 2021 (highest ranked start first).
    • The top 12 runners in each heat qualify for the quarter final. In a case of a tie, the higher ranked runner in the Sprint World Ranking as of 11 May 2021 gets the better place.
    • Courses
      • Women qualification: 2.9-3.0km, 50m climb, 17-19 controls, 13-14 minutes
      • Men qualification: 3.1km, 55m climb, 20-21 controls, 13-14 minutes
    • The heat choice meeting will be held online with Microsoft Teams. All competitors qualified for the elimination rounds or a team leader should be present online. If a competitor is not present at the time of the heat choice, the competitor will lose her/his right to choose the heat. After everyone present made their choices, competitors who are not present will receive the available spots at random.
  • Final:
    • 6 quarter finals, 3 semi-finals and 1 final per class with 6 runners in each final. The top 3 from each heat of the quarter final and the top 2 from each heat of the semi-final qualify for the next round.
    • Course lengths
      • Quarter final: 1.8km, 40m climb, 19 controls, 6-8 minutes
      • Semi-final: 1.7km, 55m climb, 12 controls, 6-8 minutes
      • Final: 1.7km, 50m climb, 13 controls, 6-8 minutes

Sprint

  • Sprint distance, no qualification (changed EOC-rules compared to previous events). The starting order is determined by the order of the Sprint World Ranking as of 11 May 2021
    • 1st block: for those outside the 40 best-ranked competitors entered, interval 1 minute, men and women starting and running at the same time
    • 2nd block: the 40 best-ranked women, interval 1.5 minutes
    • 3rd block: the 40 best-ranked men, interval 1.5 minutes
  • Map Neuchâtel,1:4’000, 2.5m contours, by Beat Imhof
  • Course lengths
    • WOMEN: 4.0km, 65m climb, 21 controls, 15 minutes
    • MEN: 4.4km, 85m climb, 25 controls, 15 minutes
  • Course planners Judith Wyder and Nils Eyer
  • Terrain
    • Urban terrain with smaller and bigger buildings and park areas. The old town of Neuchâtel offers tricky orienteering in narrow streets and foot paths. Flat to hilly towards the north of Neuchâtel.

  • Results from last championships:

woc2018-sprint

eoc2018-sprint

Who will win the races?

Men

Based on the results from the last sprint races with top international participation, Yannick Michiels must be considered the favourite in the men’s class with a win in last weekend’s Swiss Championships Sprint in addition to wins in the two last World Cup Sprint races in the 2019-season (see results below). However, the Siwss runners will also be very strong on home ground, with young Joey Hadorn finishing second in the Swiss Championships Sprint and also several good results in the World Cup Sprint in 2019 (including 2nd place in World Cup Knock-Out Sprint). The Swiss veterans Daniel Hubmann and Matthias Kyburz always shine when there are international medals to be fought for – definitely count them into the battle – and of course also the rest of the Swiss team. Young Norwegian Kasper Fosser has impressed a lot since he entered the senior elite scene with a big bang with the silver medal at the World Orienteering Championships Long distance in Norway in August 2019 – he has beaten all of the Swiss Sprint elite in some races this spring, and finished third in the Swiss Championships Sprint last weekend.

But there are several other runners who will also be in the fight for the medals: Count in Czech World Cup Knock-Out Sprint winner from the autumn 2019, Vojtech Kral. Also the Swedish team will be strong – with Emil Svensk and Jerker Lysell the possibly the strongest. Tim Robertson and Frederic Tranchand are other runners to be counted in. And with nearly two years since the last international sprint race, there will surely be some surprises (like in China last time the World Cup was held).

Women

The biggest favourites in the women’s class are Swiss Simona Aebersold and Elena Roos – and Swedish Tove Alexandersson. Aebersold won the Swiss Championships last weekend ahead of Elena Roos – and was also in the very top at the World Cup Sprint races last year. Roos is still waiting for her first individual championships medal – with several Top3 results in the World Cup in 2019. Alexandersson is even stronger in the forest than in urban terrain, but has proven many times that she can beat everybody in urban sprint races as well.

The rest of the Swedish team headed by Karolin Ohlsson and Lina Strand will also be in the fight for the medals. Also count in Natalia Gemperle in the mix – although the Russian has been even stronger in the forest the last years. Czech Tereza Janosikova should definitely also be counted among the favourites – especially on the Knock-Out Sprint. As for the men – there might very well be some surprises with nearly two years since the last international sprint race.

Results Swiss Champs

swiss-men

swiss-women

wc2019-sprint-9

wc2019-sprint-7

Knock-Out Sprint: WC #6 2019

wc2019-sprint-6

World Cup 2021

The 2021 World Cup consists of three rounds; Neuchatel (Switzerland), Idre Fjäll (Sweden) and Cansiglio (Italy), see below. The World Orienteering Championships, organized in Czech Republic, is not part of the World Cup.

wc-1

wc-2

wc-3

Competitors

See below for a list of all competitors below – sorted by best WRE position. Most top athletes are on the list, but some federations are not participating.

WRE pos
sprint
WRE pos
forest
Name Country WRE ID
1 257 Yannick Michiels  BEL 13592
19 2 Gustav Bergman  SWE 7562
2 3 Daniel Hubmann  SUI 10849
3 4 Matthias Kyburz  SUI 12305
4 8 Vojtech Kral  CZE 12187
5 74 Tim Robertson  NZL 15525
30 6 Frederic Tranchand  FRA 17348
29 7 Ruslan Glibov  UKR 9910
9 9 Joey Hadorn  SUI 23033
10 21 Kasper Harlem Fosser  NOR 23855
15 10 Lucas Basset  FRA 7403
761 10 Eskil Kinneberg  NOR 11757
12 23 Martin Hubmann  SUI 10851
14 12 Florian Howald  SUI 10810
13 16 Emil Svensk  SWE 16905
17 25 Aleksi Niemi  FIN 18700
18 18 Milos Nykodym  CZE 14322
22 27 Jonas Egger  SUI 18893
22 45 Christoph Meier  SUI 13502
463 22 Gaute Steiwer  NOR 16697
24 40 Robert Merl  AUT 13549
25 82 Riccardo Scalet  ITA 18966
27 166 Artem Popov  RUS 15086
35 29 Audun Heimdal  NOR 10545
32 34 Max Peter Bejmer  SWE 7466
32 592 Piotr Parfianowicz  POL 14642
36 58 Marek Minar  CZE 20166
37 137 Jakob Edsen  DEN 22688
42 99 Maxime Rauturier  FRA 20176
48 43 Jonas Vytautas Gvildys  LTU 10248
44 354 Tomas Krivda  CZE 28597
50 44 Haakon Jarvis Westergaard  NOR 11163
299 51 Isac von Krusenstierna  SWE 25180
52 76 Arturs Paulins  LAT 14704
53 124 Eduardo Gil Marcos  ESP 13255
65 53 Akseli Ruohola  FIN 24217
56 127 Severi Kymalainen  FIN 12307
56 Jerker Lysell  SWE 13053
57 63 Michal Olejnik  POL 14406
62 401 Jakub Glonek  CZE 24672
63 85 Kenny Kivikas  EST 11784
64 126 Riccardo Rancan  SUI 18900
131 65 Mathieu Perrin  FRA 22868
67 195 Matthias Reiner  AUT 15405
68 152 Dag Blandkjenn  NOR 25227
69 145 Ivan Sirakov  BUL 16365
69 215 Algirdas Bartkevicius  LTU 18826
71 105 Quentin Rauturier  FRA 20655
76 694 Jonas Hubacek  CZE 20162
79 194 Tuomas Heikkila  FIN 23025
327 89 Einari Heinaro  FIN 10547
91 139 Vojtech Sykora  CZE 25347
92 129 Emil Oebro  DEN 18647
100 95 Dmitrii Nakonechnyi  RUS 14003
200 98 Kristo Heinmann  EST 10551
127 99 Mathias Peter  AUT 14853
99 312 Daniil Kashin  RUS 21401
101 154 Aron Bako  HUN 7286
110 615 Marvin Goericke  GER 9942
115 143 Loic Capbern  FRA 8188
117 308 Mattia Debertolis  ITA 19153
135 120 Sebastian Inderst  ITA 11008
129 1139 Tomas Hendrickx  BEL 10587
130 516 Ahmet Kacmaz  TUR 11402
132 197 Arto Talvinen  FIN 22099
316 133 Aleksi Anttolainen  FIN 7065
136 148 Pau Llorens Caellas  ESP 18699
142 285 Rasmus Moeller Jess  DEN 28258
318 146 Timo Suter  SUI 23936
147 176 Janis Tamuzs  LAT 17066
149 378 Ats Sonajalg  EST 16991
156 338 Sergei Rjaboshkin  EST 15512
158 219 Anton Salmenkyla  USA 25115
169 237 Mathias Blaise  BEL 28056
333 169 Reto Egger  SUI 32166
215 171 Felix Spaeth  GER 16618
179 173 Nicolas Kastner  AUT 22896
194 550 Thomas Wilson  GBR 20390
195 337 Fryderyk Pryjma  POL 21895
201 895 Wouter Hus  BEL 20876
205 554 Aleksei Asmolov  RUS 22811
320 219 Andris Jubelis  LAT 11329
373 221 Jannis Bonek  AUT 23784
225 274 Uldis Upitis  LAT 22993
248 253 Lukas Liland  NOR 27350
380 252 Erik Doehler  GER 20178
261 366 Matija Razum  CRO 15372
285 2648 Warre De Cuyper  BEL 28066
541 296 Soren Thrane Odum  DEN 18651
890 343 Vitalii Hychko  UKR 10900
395 348 Mate Baumholczer  HUN 7426
408 351 Havard Sandstad Eidsmo  NOR 33052
364 1390 Touko Seppa  FIN 28434
369 817 Zoltan Bujdoso  HUN 33353
392 1187 Quentin Moulet  FRA 32613
398 1147 Georg Groell  AUT 25271
400 1498 Taras Rachuk  UKR 28134
508 428 Guilhem Elias  FRA 28547
448 518 Joao Magalhaes  POR 28514
512 469 Evgeniy Godlevskiy  RUS 28033
956 471 Ozgur Fettah  TUR 9438
790 492 Axel Granqvist  SWE 33937
501 848 Fabian Aebersold  SUI 32449
516 1170 Riccardo Casanova  GER 23290
1032 532 Fricis Spektors  LAT 33558
584 536 Endijs Titomers  LAT 19137
656 545 Apostol Atanasov  BUL 7164
594 649 Stefan Yordanov  BUL 25423
783 Francesco Mariani  ITA 37592
835 2734 Joao Mega Figueiredo  POR 9450
1436 869 Valentin Shishkov  BUL 23822
876 1996 Malte Kjaer Hemmingsen  DEN 27392
881 1232 Dmitrii Patrin  RUS 20891
1312 909 Andreas Bock Bjoernsen  DEN 22246
2198 997 Gregor Hvala  SLO 20131
1023 2517 Jose Pedro Fernandes  POR 36128
1342 1062 Jonatan Gustafsson  SWE 40367
1137 1735 Petar Borisov  BUL 33843
1283 2106 Samuel Pihlstrom  SWE 33968
1291 2024 Jacob Steinthal  DEN 33892
1298 2000 Linus Agervig Kristiansson  DEN 37747
1321 Lobel Horvat  CRO 25312
Tadas Dementavicius  LTU 34169
Ricardo Schaniel  USA 36515
Isaac Hernandez Pindado  ESP 37625
WRE pos
sprint
WRE pos
forest
Name Country WRE ID
1 1 Tove Alexandersson  SWE 65
8 2 Natalia Gemperle  RUS 6259
4 3 Simona Aebersold  SUI 23032
14 5 Lina Strand  SWE 5654
5 19 Elena Roos  SUI 4961
10 6 Sabine Hauswirth  SUI 2100
6 7 Karolin Ohlsson  SWE 4277
7 22 Maija Sianoja  FIN 5370
9 96 Tereza Janosikova  CZE 28127
12 28 Paula Gross  SUI 18906
13 12 Sara Hagstrom  SWE 1997
220 14 Tatiana Ryabkina  RUS 4880
15 45 Martina Ruch  SUI 18903
39 16 Denisa Kosova  CZE 3061
17 49 Megan Carter Davies  GBR 844
18 35 Aleksandra Hornik  POL 19685
19 256 Victoria Haestad Bjornstad  NOR 23852
21 115 Galina Vinogradova  RUS 6258
52 21 Cecilie Friberg Klysner  DEN 23304
22 33 Sarina Kyburz  SUI 2549
24 36 Vendula Horcickova  CZE 19096
25 30 Andrine Benjaminsen  NOR 396
49 25 Lotta Karhola  FIN 18912
32 26 Lilian Forsgren  SWE 1592
34 27 Svetlana Mironova  RUS 3932
29 107 Laura Ramstein  AUT 4800
30 42 Sofia Haajanen  FIN 1963
37 37 Sofie Bachmann  SUI 18907
38 88 Alexandra Enlund  FIN 28427
41 39 Sandra Grosberga  LAT 1865
57 39 Susen Loesch  GER 3602
40 134 Anna Dvorianskaia  RUS 19063
42 138 Maria Prieto  ESP 22997
44 62 Jana Knapova  CZE 2942
46 65 Veera Klemettinen  FIN 24311
48 47 Isia Basset  FRA 332
59 51 Evely Kaasiku  EST 2672
66 55 Caroline Gjotterup  DEN 1757
97 57 Amy Nymalm  FIN 24271
80 58 Ingeborg Eide  NOR 20206
60 65 Emma Bjessmo  SWE 22886
99 61 Jo Shepherd  GBR 5339
106 64 Ingrid Lundanes  NOR 25248
67 119 Anna Nilsson Simkovics  AUT 5414
68 89 Anja Arbter  AUT 173
70 142 Tereza Cechova  CZE 22097
70 344 Olena Babych  UKR 25660
94 73 Gabija Razaityte Saunoriene  LTU 4836
75 109 Maelle Beauvir  FRA 20207
79 122 Florence Hanauer  FRA 22869
81 237 Agata Olejnik  POL 5593
140 85 Hanna Wisniewska  POL 6443
88 101 Elena Pezzati  SUI 27540
95 157 Kateryna Dzema  UKR 25007
108 114 Anna Stickova  CZE 20209
114 184 Paula Starke  GER 20062
122 250 Fanny Tilkin  BEL 32367
125 180 Kristina Ivanova  BUL 2458
127 211 Filipa Rodrigues  POR 24882
184 130 Zsofia Sarkozy  HUN 18880
132 205 Viola Zagonel  ITA 6557
134 379 Tekle Emilija Gvildyte  LTU 1945
376 134 Marianne Haug  EST 22989
137 168 Anika Gassner  AUT 20213
282 158 Carina Polzer  AUT 4657
160 244 Jasmina Gassner  AUT 25245
163 261 Anna Caglio  ITA 18989
184 179 Liliana Gotseva  BUL 1767
189 394 Lucie Arno  BEL 33074
401 189 Margret Zimmermann  EST 6631
194 276 Elif Gokce Avci  TUR 22947
288 215 Irita Pukite  LAT 4737
234 852 Virag Weiler  HUN 19884
249 694 Anastasiya Grigoreva  RUS 34017
295 253 Andreya Dyaksova  BUL 20089
265 699 Cecile Calandry  FRA 33897
373 265 Annika Simonsen  DEN 5421
268 388 Teele Telgma  EST 21884
293 376 Ana Camarasa  ESP 22119
294 1546 Caterina Dallera  ITA 37849
307 684 Csenge Gerber  HUN 28391
311 550 Ann Charlotte Spangenberg  GER 27400
363 340 Hedvig Valbjorn Gydesen  DEN 32310
343 599 Inka Nurminen  FIN 24183
357 778 Josefine Lind  DEN 3454
370 1241 Leonore Winkler  GER 22481
384 592 Marina Garcia Castro  ESP 20064
483 389 Evangelina Dyaksova  BUL 24232
819 448 Ida Haapala  FIN 28437
674 490 Ems De Smul  BEL 28073
597 509 Ayse Bozkurt  TUR 18867
510 Aleksandra Voitova  RUS 6294
527 577 Ane Dyrkorn  NOR 26755
528 Annarita Scalzotto  ITA 34014
552 669 Emma Louise Arnesen  NOR 32593
838 774 Ida Agervig Kristiansson  DEN 40702
861 806 Hanna Lundberg  SWE 37614
859 810 Vilma von Krusenstierna  SWE 28253
825 1233 Eline Gemperle  SUI 33988
828 Olesia Riazanova  RUS 24084
842 1149 Malin Agervig Kristiansson  DEN 36181
989 851 Moa Enmark  SWE 18765
1037 964 Ragnhild Eide  NOR 33701
Kristine Brunere  LAT 33566
Lene Berg Hanssen  NOR 33930
Matilde Ribeiro  POR 37388
Eef van Dongen  NED 40634

About Jan Kocbach

Jan Kocbach is the founder of WorldofO.com - taking care of everything from site development to writing articles, photography and analysis.

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5 comments

  1. Well, that was kinda boring start of this championship. Easy road and lawn running without any real orienteering challenges and routechoices left or right of big buildings without any real time to win or lose on those.
    Add non existing gps and lacking battles for very expected podium placements, a big yawn…

  2. First, could anyone provide us with some details, e.g., terrain photos, about the olive-green protest by yellow-blue “protest specialists” after the KO-sprint qualifiers?

    Second, there are reports about failure of the touch-free mode at KOSQ controls. How could these problems be avoided in the future? AFAIK, the timing at high quality events was managed in a perfect manner by Sportident staff till 2019.

    Thank you in advance, in particular to the organisers. Looking forward to watching the KO finals

  3. I watched today’s knockout sprint. The TV production included GPS tacking, but – as always for a city sprint – it is totally wrong and totally confusing. For a normal TV viewer this is just chaos – dots an lines jumping around all over the place – through buildings and fences. With the current technology, GPS tracking does not add any value. I am surprised that IOF still wants to promote the sport in this way.

    • Yes, the GPS tracking is always a problem with high buildings and narrow alleys. But there are nuances in hell here – TracTrac I always experience as surrealistic disinformation, don’t understand why they keep getting gigs like this. Finnish GPS Seuranta I find much better…

  4. We have enjoyed the TV broadcast of the KO sprint. Challenging terrain and brilliant courses, with route choices and suspense to the last control, and new route choice options in the final after removing the forbidden area.

    Congratulations to the winners, organisers and volunteers!