28 August 2007

Reflections on WOC 2007 - 12th place


WOC 2007 is over, and I am sat in Odessa having a relaxing few days. Kiev was an interesting venue this year, and for a lot of competitors it meant heat, traffic, stomach problems and dogs, but the orienteering was good, the races were good and the best athletes did well which is what makes the championships overall pretty successful.


From my point of view, I was very disappointed with my performance in the middle distance, I was satisfied but not overjoyed with my relay run, and I was really happy with my sprint race, especially considering I had a few stomach problems of my own to contend with.


The sprint was really fun, with 4 good route choice legs (2 good choices, 1 ok, and 1 not so good for me), and some really technical legs. I lost time on 2 route choices and I missed one control by 5-10 seconds, but apart from that my race was very good. I finished 12th, worse than last year's 9th place, but my race was technically better in general this year, and I believe that the competition was stronger with more of the top men running due to this year's schedule.


I will put all my maps and some photos up next week when I am back in Britain, but for the next few days I am going to enjoy sun, beaches and beer.

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