O-zine 3-2004 - International Orienteering Federation

O-zine
International Orienteering Federation
On-line Newsletter
Issue 3 – October 2004
‘Retired’ three years ago – now the
Queen of the World Championships
BY ERIK BORG
Gold, gold and silver. Karolina A. Höjsgaard became the Queen of the World
Orienteering Championships (WOC)
three years after retiring from international
orienteering.
Although Karolina won a World Championships selection race, she was not selected
for the Swedish team for the 2001 World
Championships in Finland.
– I didn’t feel like continuing with orienteering after that. I wanted to have children
too, relates Karolina.
Karolina gave birth to her son Oscar on
12 July, 2002. She did, however, return to
orienteering after a while.
PHOTO: ERIK BORG
– Why did I start orienteering again? I
think it was because I had never really
succeeded. I had more to give and wanted
to try to reach the very top. I also missed
orienteering during the period when I was
away from the sport, Karo states.
Five medals from five WOC starts
With gold both in the long distance and in
the relay, and silver in the sprint distance,
Karolina A. Höjsgaard ended with an incredible set of results during the World Championships.
In this issue: ‘Retired’ three years ago – now the Queen of the World Championships; From gold medallist to ‘golden’ coach; The
XXII IOF Congress in Sweden; It all started with chocolate; Gueorgiou always the best; Simone Niggli-Luder: Happy with one
gold medal; A great ending; The II World MTB Orienteering Championships.
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BARBRO RÖNNBERG
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
O-zine
Karolina A. Höjsgaard
Date of birth: 12 March 1971
Civil status: Married to Thomas
Höjsgaard, son Oscar born on 12
July, 2002.
Clubs: Domnarvet GOIF (previously OK Måsen, Oxelösund) both
Sweden.
Home page: http://www.atea.se/orientering/karolina/karolina.asp
Resident: Borlänge, Sweden
Profession: Orienteer / accounting
manager
Major successes: World Championships gold medal in long distance and
relay 2004, 3 World Championship
silver medals, 1 European Championships gold medal relay 2004,
2 silver and 1 bronze medal from
Nordic Championships, 6 Swedish
championships, team gold medal
from the 2003 Nordic Cross Country
Championships.
PHOTO: ERIK BORG
she had lost one and a half minutes on
a route choice along Lilla Grillsjön. She
had thought mistakenly that there would
be an unmarked path along the edge of
the lake.
Karolina A. Höjsgaard on the way to the gold medal in the long distance race.
Karolina was the best competitor at the
2004 World Championships. In Switzerland in 2003 she won two silver medals.
In total she has won five medals from five
WOC starts.
– Many others are certainly as good as me
physically and technically, but at championships I think in the right way. Some other
runners suffer from too many nerves and
too much tension, Karo believes.
The last three months before the World
Championships in Västerås Karolina took
leave from her job, prior to that she had
worked part-time from September 2003.
Everyday life had been hectic especially
with a small child even though husband
Thomas did his bit.
– I felt like I lacked energy the whole
spring, states Karolina.
The seven weeks before the European
Championships in July disappeared in injuries and illness, but then everything went as
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planned right up to the major orienteering
festival of the World Championships at the
beginning of September.
Inspiration in the final part
of the course
– For me the gold medal in the long
distance was bigger than the relay gold.
I had been focusing on the long distance
the whole year. The long distance gold
was emotionally the greatest thing I have
experienced in my sports career. It felt
even better as my family, most of my relatives, and many work colleagues and club
members were present, adds Karo.
Karolina was uncertain at the beginning of
the long distance race, then she managed
to calm herself down and then the ‘flow’ in
her orienteering came. When she arrived at
the spectator control at the beautiful arena
beside Västervåla church she heard that
she was in the fight for the gold medal. She
was in third place just 13 seconds behind
Marika Mikkola of Finland. Norwegian
Hanne Staff was only one second in front
of her.
In the sprint race the day before the long
distance final, Karolina won the silver
medal after a major mistake in the qualification race. She was only 10th in her
heat where the best 15 go forward to the
final.
– Hearing that I was in the fight for gold
was a big inspiration for me. Before the
spectator control I had no idea of my position, comments Karolina.
She ensured the gold medal for Sweden
in the relay through a fantastic sprint. She
punched right behind Heli Jukkola of Finland at the last control, but Karolina was
fastest on the run in to the finish. Gunilla
Svärd and Jenny Johansson ran the first
two legs for the Swedish golden team.
She ran fast and technically well in the
final part of the course. In the first part
– In the final I made two errors of about
half a minute, but I think the silver was
the best I could hope for in the sprint race,
believes Karolina.
www.orienteering.org
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Marita also worked with people, but working as the coach of the best national team
in the world provided a new dimension.
Her role became to help athletes who
were already incredibly motivated and
determined.
– This very fact meant that high expectations were placed on me and on what we
had to do, comments Marita.
Marita is away from home about half the
year. She is actually away from home
more now than she was at the peak of her
active career.
PHOTO: ERIK BORG
– There are more international commitments
for the athletes nowadays, adds Marita.
Assisting the athletes
Marita Skogum (left) with the Swedish gold medal women: Karolina A. Höjsgaard (with her back to the
camera), Jenny Johansson and Gunilla Svärd just after crossing the finish line at the WOC relay race.
From gold medallist
to ‘golden’ coach
BY ERIK BORG
Fantastic career
Marita Skogum was a competitor when
the World Championships were last held
in Sweden in 1989. This year in Vasteras,
when Sweden again hosted a World Championships, Marita’s orienteering reputation
was again put to the test, but this time as
the coach of the Swedish women’s team.
On both occasions with the same result
– gold medals.
Marita won a total of 10 World Championship medals in the course of her active
career, six of which were gold. In 1989,
she won gold in both the classic distance
and the relay. She won relay gold in 1991
and then she again won both the classic distance and the relay in 1993. Only
Hanne Staff of Norway has won more
WOC medals than Marita.
Sweden was the best nation measured in
number of medals won and was without
doubt the best women’s team in Vasteras.
Marita believes the explanation for the excellent results lies in thorough preparations.
At home Marita also has three ‘gold
medals’ in the form of her three children
aged 7, 10 and 14. Before she took over
as coach of the Swedish women’s team in
November, Marita worked as a physical
education teacher.
– We had a physical fitness project for the
three years prior to the 2004 WOC and
a mental fitness project for the last one
and a half years. We also organised many
short training camps covering o-technical training in relevant terrain. When the
World Championships finally arrived, we
were very well prepared. The team spirit
was very good, and there was a feeling of
confidence and calmness about the team,
comments Marita.
www.orienteering.org
– Being a coach is fun. It is a fantastic
feeling to see the joy in the eyes of the
athletes when things go well for them.
It is also inspiring to support the athletes
on their route to success. You gain a lot
in return from helping others. You get to
know yourself better too when taking on
a coaching role, Marita believes.
Of course, as a physical education teacher
Marita became a world champion both
before and after becoming a mother.
Resuming her international career was
not actually part of the plan but it just felt
natural to continue her career when she
had found the ‘right’ formula to obtain
top performances. This formula is good
to have in her role as coach.
– I am able to bring with me the knowledge
of what it feels like to be a top athlete, the
understanding of what is required to reach
the top and the realisation that there are
always ups and downs in an athlete’s career.
As a coach I cannot affect what happens in
the forest during the race. Then it is up to
the individual athlete herself, but as a coach
and manager I can contribute by providing
the best possible conditions and opportunities to achieve a top performance and allow
the individuals themselves to ‘grow into the
role’ of top performer, states Marita.
Her athletes won two gold medals and one
silver medal in a World Championship
where the margins were very small indeed.
Marita feels that it has become considerably tougher at the top than previously.
Many more athletes do well.
– The level has indeed become much
higher, believes Marita.
In her role as coach Marita focuses to
a significant degree on the fact that the
individual athlete’s life shall be good and
function well in all areas.
– I focus on getting the pieces of life’s
jigsaw to fit together. There are many aspects to life. It is important to find the right
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balance. Besides physical and orienteering
technique training there is also work and/or
studies. Some athletes also have families,
states Marita.
Just as when she was a top athlete herself,
Marita still gets a special feeling before an
important race.
– It’s a special type of the same excitement
that I had when I was an athlete. You feel
that something is about to happen and that
you are ready for it, she says.
Marita believes that tension is something
positive. At the same time, though, the tension should not gain the upper hand.
– As the coach I have to be calm and balanced, she adds.
– To be able to experience the World Championships in home terrain is something
very special. You don’t get the chance
very often. In one way it is easier as you
are familiar with the conditions, and distance and travelling are not a problem.
You don’t have to be away for weeks on
special training camps abroad in order to
prepare properly. On the other hand the
expectations for a top performance can be
perceived as greater, Marita believes.
A great festival
In 1989, Marita ran up the finish lane to win
the gold medal in front of a great crowd of
spectators. The World Championships in
1989 was a real orienteering festival, but
Marita feels that this year’s WOC was even
greater in this aspect. The big video screen,
spectator controls, the start in the arena and
an excellent speaker service meant that
everything was more intense and increased
the atmosphere greatly.
– Being a spectator at a major orienteering
race has become much more exciting, she
comments.
This year the World Championships were
on home soil. Next year they will take place
in Japan. There will not be much opportunity for many training camps there ahead
of the actual championships.
– We will have to find similar terrain that
is not so far away. Such terrain exists. The
WOC training camp in Japan in November
will give us a good idea of what we can
expect next year, concludes Marita.
The XXII IOF Congress in Sweden:
Czech Republic, Hungary and Russia future
World Championships organisers
PHOTO: ERIK BORG
President since 1994, was not standing for re-election. The former Senior
Vice-President, Åke Jacobson, Sweden
was elected President of the IOF for the
Congress period 2004-2006. Hugh Cameron (AUS), Marcel Schiess (SUI) and
Edmond Szechenyi (FRA) were elected
Vice-Presidents. Leho Haldna (EST),
Jan-Erik Krusberg (FIN), Iordanka
Melnikliyska (BUL), Brian Porteous
(GBR) and Shin Murakoshi (JPN) were
appointed Council members. Sue Harvey
was appointed IOF Honorary President
for life.
The new IOF Council: First row from left Vice President Marcel Schiess (Switzerland), Leho Haldna
(Estonia), Åke Jacobson (Sweden), Shin Murakoshi (Japan) and Senior Vice President Hugh Cameron
(Australia). Second row: Vice President Edmond Szechenyi (France), Jan-Erik Krusberg (Finland),
Iordanka Melnikliyska (Bulgaria) and Brian Porteous (Great Britain).
Olomouc, the 5th largest city in the
Czech Republic will be hosting the 2008
World Orienteering Championships
(WOC), whilst the host of the 2009 WOC
will be the Hungarian town of Miscolc,
situated at the foot of the Bükk Mountains. The 2008 and 2009 editions of the
World Trail Orienteering Championships
will be organised in conjunction with the
WOC in Czech Republic and Hungary
respectively. The 2007 World Championships in Ski Orienteering will be held in
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Rybinsk, Russia. These were the decisions taken by the 22nd IOF Ordinary
General Assembly in Västerås, Sweden.
For the first time ever, the IOF Congress
and General Assembly were organised in
conjunction with the World Orienteering
Championships.
Åke Jacobson new IOF President
The XXII General Assembly witnessed a
change of IOF President as Sue Harvey,
The General Assembly delegates ratified
Council’s decision to approve membership applications from four countries.
Liechtenstein, Turkey and Colombia
were admitted to full, and Puerto Rico
to associate membership. All of these
membership applicantions had previously been provisionally approved by
the IOF Council. The IOF now has 63
members.
The 23rd IOF Ordinary Congress and
General Assembly will be held in
conjunction with the 2006 World Orienteering Championships in Aarhus,
Denmark.
www.orienteering.org
O-zine
It all started with chocolate
BY ERIK BORG
When 11 year-old Åke Jacobson won
his very first orienteering race, he won a
chocolate bar and was hooked on the sport
from then on. Since then, the new IOF
President has accumulated vast experience
of orienteering at all levels of the sport.
It was one of Åke’s best friends who
recruited Åke to a course for beginners
in 1958.
– At that time we were keen on athletics
but decided to give orienteering a try”,
says Åke.
PHOTO: SAMI SUODENJOKI
Åke became a very keen orienteer and
orienteering has been part of his life ever
since. The IOF got a very experienced
new president indeed at the IOF Congress
in Västerås.
From 1973 to 1976 Åke was the Secretary General of the Swedish Orienteering Federation (SOFT). He was also the
President of SOFT from 1986 to1994.
Prior to this he had extensive experience of orienteering administration at
club level.
He became a member of the IOF
Council in 1988 and has been a Vice
President from 1992 to 2004.
Åke also has solid mapping experience and mapped on a full-time basis
in 1970-71.
Åke has orienteered in over 50 countries
around the world, and as a junior he
reached Swedish national team level.
Team leader rather than figurehead
– I don’t really think that anyone who
knows what the workload of the president of an international sports federation
involves actually aims to take on the job.
It is rather a question of wanting to realise
your ideas and visions in relation to the
sport’s development, and that can also
be achieved without being the president.
I had the ambition of becoming an IOF
Council member for that reason, and it
just happened to be the most suitable solution at this point in time that I took over
as president. But I am of course inspired
www.orienteering.org
Åke Jacobson was elected President of the IOF for the congress period 2004–2006.
by the task and it gives me a good chance
to try to realise many of my ideas, comments Åke.
– I have a lot of visions for orienteering
that I would like to see realised, and the
best way to make these happen is to work
within the structures now in place in the
IOF. And working with people from all
parts of the world for something in which
you all believe gives me the energy required, as well as the reward for the time
spent.
– I have shared the tasks of the President
with Sue Harvey for some years now so I
have had time to get adjusted to both the
tasks themselves and the expectations.
We all work for the IOF on a voluntary
basis and all of us on the Council have to
share the workload to make it possible to
combine the work for the IOF with a fulltime job. When I took over as president
we changed the way the Council works
slightly and my role is more to act as the
Åke Jacobson
Born: 3 March, 1947
Civil status: Married, one daughter
Club: OK Silva (former clubs: Gnosjö
FK, Bredaryds SOK, SOK Hellas,
Stockholms Studenters IF, Skogsluffarnas OK, Sundsvalls OK)
Resident: Dösjebro, Skåne, southern
Sweden though born in Gnosjö and also
lived in Stockholm and Sundsvall.
Profession: Director of Silvi Nova
AB
Sports level in orienteering: Reached
Swedish national team level as a
junior.
coach / team leader than to be just the IOF
figurehead.
Working everywhere
Åke’s regular job is also challenging and
very international.
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– My private business is a group of companies within the forestry and agriculture
sector. The core business is consulting,
mainly in relation to different development
aid activities around the world. In addition, we have forest plantations together
with a sawmill and furniture factory, and
a dairy with milk production in south-east
Asia. It’s a reasonably sized activity that
can be managed by myself and another
part-owner. Since much of the activity
is centred in Asia, that’s where I spend a
considerable part of my time, he says.
Åke and his family live in Dösjebro which
is close to the university city of Lund in
the province of Skåne in southernmost
Sweden, where they have a farm. Åke is a
member of the local club OK Silva.
– Nowadays I only take part in orienteering
events when we have IOF activities around
the world, or when I am working abroad
and happen to come across an event. My
extensive travelling makes it difficult to
be a ‘regular’ orienteer when I am at home
– and the family is engaged in other sporting activities (horses). I have still managed
to keep my weight down to that of 20 years
ago, but not through running so much as
from looking after my farm (7 horses) and
working in my forest, comments Åke.
You have orienteered in a lot of different
countries!
– In the beginning I kept count of all the
countries and I recall that I came to 45
some 15-20 years ago. Since then I have
not really kept count, but the figure ought
to be closer to 50 now. Such numbers are
not very important to me; more important
is the opportunity to meet orienteers from
as many different countries as possible,
states Åke.
versity orienteering club and we enjoyed a
very successful period – competition-wise
– with good results in Tio-Mila and other
relay events.
– I worked as a mapmaker on a full-time
basis in order to draw the map for the Nordic Championships in Sundsvall in 1971.
This was funded by money obtained from
sponsors of the event. I had already started
making maps on a part-time basis in the
1960s and continued to do so until I left the
position of General Secretary of the Swedish Orienteering Federation in 1976.
– My first important responsibility at
club level was for Sundsvalls OK in 1973
when I was in charge of organising the
ski orienteering World Meeting. At that
time there was no World Championship
and the club, with the support of the
Swedish Ski Federation (under which ski
orienteering belongs in Sweden), extended
an invitation to take part in the first unofficial World Championships. However,
we were not able to use that title for the
event so therefore we called it WM, which
stood for World Meeting, but which was
interpreted as Weltmeisterschaft (as the
official language of the IOF at that time
was German).
Higher recognition needed
– We have a number of important areas that
we must develop over the coming years.
I believe one of the most important tasks
for us is to continue to increase the recognition of our sport in the international sports
arena and among the general public. I think
our athletes deserve more appreciation
and recognition for their performances,
which I believe are comparable to the
performances of any other top athletes in
the world.
– We also need higher recognition in
order to become eligible for inclusion in
multi-sport games, such as the Olympic
Games. In practice this means that we have
to continue to spread the sport to more
countries on all continents, and to raise the
level of development so that athletes from
all around the world are able to compete
at the highest level. For that we also need
to adopt a more global view in allocating
events and an events programme that is
attractive to both athletes and the general
public, states the IOF President.
– The IOF, like many national federations,
is hampered by limited finances, which
restricts our opportunities to realise what
we would like to do. Increased income
generation, therefore, will be an area to
which Council will have to devote a lot of
time in the forthcoming years. We have
tried in the past to raise more money without it costing us anything. In the future I
believe we have to be prepared to invest
in order to generate income. This may
be, for example, in relation to our World
A true all-rounder
Åke is now a passive member of his local club, but earlier he was very much
involved in organising events and drawing
maps. He started mapmaking already in
the 1960s.
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PHOTO: ERIK BORG
– When I first started orienteering, I concentrated of course mostly on my career
as an athlete, but in my first club I began
making maps and was also involved in organising my club’s events. It was not until
my time at university that I became more
deeply involved in leadership matters,
becoming chairman of the Stockholm Uni-
The Congress delegates witnessed a change of IOF President. Sue Harvey (GBR) handed over to Åke
Jacobson (SWE).
www.orienteering.org
O-zine
Championships, or in relation to obtaining
TV coverage of our events.
Orienteering and the Olympics?
– Prospects are brighter for the Winter Olympics, but again it depends on ourselves
as to how good our chances will be. We
need to demonstrate a high level of activity in a wider geographical area than today
in order to convince the IOC, and that is
something only our member federations
can create, states Åke Jacobson.
“Best Championships Ever”
– I believe the 2004 World Championships
in Västerås was the “Best Championships
Ever”. Certainly in terms of the quality of
the arena production, it was for the first
time, really exciting to be a spectator at
an orienteering event. With the concept as
demonstrated in Västerås, we have come
far in realising our ideal WOC concept.
Other World Championships have had single components that outmatched what we
saw in Västerås, but taken together it was
a fantastic experience to be present at the
WOC races. What we have been lacking
and to some extent what is still lacking is
the possibility to demonstrate the essence
of our sport to the general public. We
took a big step forward with the WOC in
Västerås. A few steps more and the status
of our sport will increase further, the IOF
President summarises.
www.orienteering.org
PHOTO: PIRJO VALJANEN
– The performance level of our athletes
and the general quality of our top events
certainly merit inclusion in the Olympic
Games. We know, however, that we do
not yet fulfil the eligibility criteria (for
foot orienteering) and that is something
on which we have to work hard over the
next few years. As it now stands, the IOC
has set a number of restrictions on the
overall size of the Games, the Summer
Olympics in particular. This means that it
is very difficult for a new sport to make it
onto the Olympic programme until some
other sports are removed, and that will
not be an easy process for the IOC. We
are following developments closely and
we are preparing ourselves to be ready
for inclusion when an opportunity arises.
We are not there yet, and I don’t want to
speculate about when such an opportunity
might arise. I am more concerned about
trying to develop our own sport so that we
become an attractive candidate once there
is an opening.
World Champion Thierry Gueorgiou together with silver medallist Valentin Novikov, Russia (left)
and bronze medallist Anders Nordberg, Norway.
Thierry Gueorgiou
always the best
BY ERIK BORG
Just like at the European Championships
in July this year and the World Championships in Switzerland last year, it was
Thierry Gueorgiou who won the middle
distance titles.
And just like normal he ran as near perfect a race as it is possible to run.
- I only had very small mistakes, maybe
ten seconds in total. It was a good run,
says Thierry modestly.
In practice it was a fantastic run and it
is particularly impressive that he always
performs well each time he runs a middle
distance race.
- The first gold medal in Switzerland was
very special, but it is also something special to beat all the Scandinavian runners
in their home terrain, adds Thierry.
What was it like to succeed in defending
your World Championship title?
- It’s much harder to win a second time.
I felt the pressure of being the big favourite, he states.
His preparations for the World Championships included 40 training days
in Swedish terrain. His training comprises many sessions in the terrain with
a map.
Russian Valentin Novikov took the
silver 21.2 seconds behind Thierry. The
bronze went to Anders Nordberg of
Norway while Swedes Emil Wingstedt
and Johan Näsman finished just outside
the podium.
Thierry’s original plans for the World
Championships in Västerås included the
long distance event, but he subsequently
decided to focus solely on the sprint
and middle distance races instead. He
finished 5th in the sprint race. He believes it would have been too difficult
to concentrate on the middle distance
if he had run the long distance final just
two days before. And it is the middle
distance in which he was the reigning
world champion.
Thierry had trained a lot during the winter and early season with his focus on
the long distance race. At the European
Championships in Denmark he also ran
the long distance event but he lost his
concentration and made many mistakes.
He has made a lot of progress in this
distance, though, and the next World
Orienteering Championship is already
in 2005!
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Happy with one gold medal
Simone Niggli-Luder
Date of birth: 9 January, 1978
Civil status: Married to Matthias Niggli
Clubs: Ulricehamns OK (Sweden) /
OLV Hindelbank (Switzerland), previously Turun Suunnistajat (Finland)
Home page: www.simattu.ch
Resident: Ulricehamn, Sweden / Münsingen, Switzerland (120 km from
Zurich)
Profession: Orienteer, university degree
in biology
Major successes: 6 World Championship gold medals 2001-2004, European
Championship gold medal in sprint and
long distance 2004, Winner World Cup
2002, 13 Swiss championship titles,
one Finnish championship title and two
Swedish championship titles. Swiss
Sportswoman of the Year 2003.
lens, I think could at least have been in
contention for a medal, she adds.
PHOTO: SAMI SUODENJOKI
In the middle distance final, Simone finished sixth after making mistakes in the
first part of the course.
Simone Niggli-Luder won one gold medal at the 2004 World Championships.
BY ERIK BORG
In 2003, Simone Niggli-Luder won everything. In 2004 the result was one gold
medal of four possible.
– I am happy that I managed to win a title
at this year’s World Championships too. I
have now won a gold medal at three WOCs
in a row, she comments.
Are you disappointed that you didn’t manage to win more gold medals?
of the finals when she won the sprint race
by a margin of 29 seconds ahead of Swede
Karolina Höjsgaard. After this victory Simone was the favourite in the long distance
final, but she had major problems at the
second control when a branch dislodged
one of her contact lenses.
– It took me about two and a half minutes
to get it back in the right place again, comments Simone.
– Of course I tried to win more, but I got
three top six places, and I believe it is also
good for the sport that it can be seen that it
is not so easy to win, says Simone.
If it had not rained so much during the
night before the long distance final, Simone would have run with glasses which
could have prevented the incident. After an
incredibly strong finish to the race Simone
ended in 4th place.
Simone’s gold medal came on the first day
– If I hadn’t had problems with my contact
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One week after the World Championships,
she and her husband Matthias Niggli travelled home to Switzerland, but they will
return to Ulricehamn in Sweden in spring
2005 for a longer stay in the small Swedish town where they have been living for
several months before the 2004 WOC.
– We are very happy in Ulricehamn.
The big Nordic relays are very exciting.
There are excellent training conditions
here and good opportunities for training
and competing. The tough competition in
the Swedish Elite series of races is also a
motivating factor. I have become a better
orienteer in Nordic terrain, both physically
and technically. I have become much more
stable compared with previous years, states
Simone.
She is unsure of exactly how many more
World Championships she will compete in
after the World Championships in Japan
in 2005.
– I will probably continue for a few more
years yet though, Simone smiles.
www.orienteering.org
O-zine
A great ending
Hanne Cecilia Staff
PHOTO: ERIK BORG
Date of birth: 3 February, 1972
Civil status: Married to Bjørnar
Valstad
Resident: Nittedal near Oslo, Norway
Club: Baekkelaget SK (previously
Nittedal OL)
Profession: Orienteer / Deputy elite
sports director at Wang Elite Sports
Gymnasium from October 2004.
Major successes: 4 World Championship gold medals, 4 WOC silver
medals, 4 WOC bronze medals, 4
European Championship gold medals, 5 Nordic Championship gold
medals, Overall winner of World
Cup 1998 and 2000, Overall winner
of Park World Tour 1998 and 2002,
won short distance and relay at World
Games 2001, 27 individual Norwegian championships, 9 Norwegian
relay championships, 4 Norwegian
royal cups.
Hanne Staff and Bjørnar Valstad took five medals from the WOC 2004 in Västerås home to Norway.
BY ERIK BORG
Hanne Staff is the greatest orienteering
medallist of all time with a fantastic total
of 12 World Championships medals. In
Västerås when she took the first (and last)
lap of honour of her orienteering career,
she was applauded ecstatically. Her husband, Bjørnar Valstad, now has ten WOC
medals. His career does not necessarily
need to end here.
Hanne’s victory in the middle distance race
was her third individual World Championship title. When she ran a lap of honour in
front of more than 6,000 spectators, she
was met by outstretched hands, enthusiastic celebrations and many hugs. The Norwegian orienteering star is well liked by
everyone. She always has a friendly word.
She always has time to write autographs.
She always shows concern and interest for
others. She never says anything negative
about anyone, but she also has her tough
side. This comes out when she is competing in a race.
– There is nobody I would rather have as a
friend than Hanne. She is also the person
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I would least like to have as an enemy. In
a competition she is determined and ruthless, says Anders Gärderud, the Norwegian
national team coach.
He was quite moved after Hanne’s gold
medal. Gärderud has had close contact
to both Hanne and her husband Bjørnar.
Anders has helped Hanne to develop her
running technique. She has improved
physically during the two years he has
been coach and she attributes her continued success to him. At the same time she
believes that she was probably even better
in physical terms in 1998.
fantastic race. I orienteered and ran as well
as it is possible to do in such terrain. I felt
from the first control that I was orienteering inside a kind of tunnel in which I had
full control. I only lost half a minute at a
couple of places and I didn’t really feel
tired at all, says Bjørnar.
In addition to victory in the middle distance race, Hanne also took the silver in
the long distance event and a bronze with
the Norwegian women’s team in the relay
in Västerås.
He has good vision. Even so it is not easy
to see everything on a detailed 1:15,000
scale map when running at top speed. The
big magnifier on the compass means that
he has invaluable help to interpret the map
when attacking the controls and on short,
detailed legs. He also wore spiked shoes
with 10 mm long spikes to give him extra
grip. He only uses these long spikes in
important races such as selection races,
Nordic Championships and World Championships. Otherwise he uses shorter spikes
in normal races.
Two gold medals
Favourite terrain
Bjørnar Valstad won the long distance race
and the relay.
Bjørnar also won the long distance race
at the World Championships in 1999. In
Scotland he won the title in style in a terrain type that he feels is almost tailor-made
to suit him. In addition, everything had
– The gold medal in the long distance is my
greatest moment as a sportsman. It was a
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O-zine
gone according to plan before the WOC
five years ago. This year, Bjørnar suffered
repeated setbacks due to persistent illness
and injury. In Västerås, he also won in a
type of terrain that is almost the complete
opposite of the forests of his youth in central Norway.
At the beginning of the 2004 season, Bjørnar began to wonder if he had become too
old for international elite level sport or
rather that his body had been subjected
to too much stress over too many years.
He suffered from a series of illnesses and
injuries that seriously affected his training
and preparations.
PHOTO: ERIK BORG
– Because the terrain was one of the most
demanding that an orienteer from midNorway could be faced with compared
to the terrain back home, and in view of
all the challenges I have had to overcome
this season, I rank the gold medal in 2004
higher than the first one I won in Scotland,
states Bjørnar.
Bjørnar Valstad sprinting in to the second individual World Championships gold medal of his career.
particularly important to me. We have been
together throughout our whole orienteering career and have a great team spirit. It
has also been fun to get good results at the
same time, Hanne smiles.
– If Bjørnar loses a fortnight or a month
of training, it actually does not have so
much effect as he has such a solid base
after many years of hard training, states
Norwegian coach Anders Gärderud.
The WOC gold medal in Västerås, though,
hasn’t given her any financial bonus. Apart
from the Park World Tour, there has not
really been much money in the sport of
orienteering.
Three extra years
– Although we don’t earn much money,
we have what we need. Bjørnar and I
have been able to adapt our other work
to fit around orienteering. We have been
able to have training camps wherever and
whenever we wanted. We have adapted our
lives to the important races.
Is there anything you will miss?
Hanne announced already in 2001 that
she might retire, but she continued her
international career for another three years.
However there is no doubt that her career
really is over now.
– I don’t know if I have actually fulfilled
all my ambitions, but it is now time for
other things. I don’t feel as though I have
had to sacrifice anything even though of
course some things have had to give way in
favour of my sport. I am looking forward
to spending more time with family and
friends, comments Hanne.
Although she is now retiring from top
international competition, Hanne will
continue to train and compete, not least
in order to run in the major relays for her
Norwegian club Baekkelaget.
What have the years of elite sport given
you?
– A lot of fun and lots of good friends with
whom I will keep in contact for the rest of
my life. These are the two most important
aspects. My national team-mates Birgitte
N. Husebye and Elisabeth Ingvaldsen are
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– Maybe the ‘kick’ and feeling you get
when you really master something and
perform well in a pressured competition
situation. It will be difficult to get this
feeling when I am just running for fun. I
will have to find challenges in new areas,
says Hanne.
Maybe Japan
His time in the national team may be over,
but Bjørnar is open for the possibility of
running another World Championships
if his body will let him. As a result of
his victory in the long distance event, he
has a free place in this distance at next
year’s WOC in Japan. In order to utilise
this, though, he must also qualify for the
Norwegian team.
– I will train this winter. If my body holds
Bjørnar Valstad
Date of birth: 27 April, 1967
Civil status: Married to Hanne Staff
Resident: Nittedal near Oslo, Norway
Club: Baekkelaget SK (previously
Stjördals-Blink, NTHI, Nydalens
SK)
Profession: Orienteer, works part-time
at Nelfo, Oslo
Major successes: 4 World Championship gold medals, 3 WOC silver medals, 3 WOC bronze medals, Nordic
Championship gold medal short distance 1999, Overall winner of World
Cup 2002, won relay at World Games
2001, 8 individual Norwegian championships, 4 Norwegian relay championships, 3 Norwegian royal cups.
together, and I feel that I am at a level
where I can run well in the WOC selection races next year then I will take part,
he states.
Next year’s World Championships in Japan
will be in a terrain type that Bjørnar masters very well. Hanne has no objections to
Bjørnar extending his career.
– Whether or not he continues is a matter
for Bjørnar. We decide ourselves when we
want to retire, comments Hanne.
– In any case I do not intend to continue
until I finish in 10th, 20th or 30th place,
or maybe not even qualify for the finals. I
want to retire when I am at the top, adds
Bjørnar.
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O-zine
The II World MTB Championships
“down under” attracts 27 nations
BY BLAKE GORDON
Teams from 27 countries will be competing for the medals in the second edition
of the World Mountain Bike Orienteering
Championships. The Championships will
take place in complex gold mining terrain
in Victoria, Australia from 18th to 23rd
October.
The “best mountain bike area I’ve seen
yet” – to quote one of the course planners
– gives hope for some really challenging
route-choice problems for the world’s best
while they cope with some hilly, lung-bursting terrain. With significant winter rain (for
the first time in several years) tracks may be
softer than those experienced at last year’s
Australia-New Zealand Challenge.
Aussies on the podium?
Alex Randall is one of the Australian men competing in the World MTB Championships.
This year the top four Australian women
– Belinda Allison, Carolyn Jackson, Julie
Quinn, and Emily Viner – have each had
their share of wins in state, national and
international competition. They know how
to win and have been pushing each other,
lifting their standard to new heights. The
other two places on the team are taken by
Mary Fein and Anna Sheldon.
The Australian men have also been sharing
the honours around. After tough internal
competition, David Searle, Paul Darvodelsky and Anthony Darr were selected for the
team together with Alex Randall, Adrian
Jackson and David Baldwin.
103 competitors in the men’s class
In the men’s competition the top five
nations are likely to be France, Finland,
Czech Republic, Switzerland and Russia,
with Slovakia, Latvia, Italy and Australia
close behind.
Women at the top
Korhonen and Mervi Väisanen, Tommola
anchored the Finns to gold in the 2002
World Championship relay. There is a
strong possibility that the Finnish women
may repeat their victory this year.
The Finns, Czech and French will certainly
go in as favourites to repeat their podium
finishes from the 1st World MTB-O Championships in Fontainebleau, France in
2002. French Laure Coupat, gold medallist
in the World Championships sprint race in
2002 and overall winner of the 2003 World
Cup, has to be the red-hot favourite in any
race she contests.
The Czech Republic girls led by Marie
Hrdinova will compete strongly. Several
New Zealand women converts from foot
orienteering will be representing the Kiwis
for the first time. Watch out for Marquita
Gelderman, Christina Renhart, Di Michels
and Claire Heppenstall who have made
several trips across the Tasman to train and
practice in Australian conditions.
Finland’s Päivi Tommola who won gold
in the long distance race in 2002 and had
two wins in the 2003 World Cup is also a
real medal prospect. Teamed with Kirsi
Other strong contenders for medals are
Austrian Michaela Gigon, Swiss Christine
Raeber, Hungarian Anna Fuzy, and German Anke Dannowski.
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Mika Tervala, Finland won the 2003
World Cup with compatriot Jussi Mäkilä
in second place. The French had Benjamin
Midena in fifth, and Herve Clor in sixth
place, while Ctibor Podrabsky from the
Czech Republic was fourth. Russia’s Victor Korchagin was third. Both Korchagin
and Maxim Zhurkin are likely to ride well
in the technical terrain in Australia. Switzerland’s Simon Seger and Remy Jabas
have both been showing great form in this
year’s World Ranking Events.
With 103 men competing in the World
Championships, it is hard to pick the
winners. Look out for Slovakian Mikulas Sabo, Swiss Alain Berger and Beat
Schafner, Italian Ivan Gasparotti, Estonian
Margus Hallik and Latvian Ants Grende.
And, untested in international competition, the “sleepers” from New Zealand
- particularly Phil Wood and Stuart Lynch
- could well surprise the rest of the world
with top 10 placings.
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