Nordic Orienteering Championships &World Cup
Salo, Finland 6-10 June 2009
ESOC’s Helen Bridle represents Great Britain in World Cup races 1 & 2.
Salo, Finland 6-10 June 2009
ESOC’s Helen Bridle represents Great Britain at World Cup races 1 & 2 and in both the Long Distance & Relay races at the Nordic Orienteering Championships.
The W21 Sprint Final, and some of the other races, can be “followed” using the GPS tracking website.
Day 4 - Sprint Wednesday, 10th June (World Cup race 2)
A disappointing morning for Great Britain as only two out of twelve qualify for the afternoon’s Sprint Final. ESOC’s Helen Bridle is one of them, finishing tenth in her heat and 27th in the Final; Sarah Rollins also reaches the Final and finishes 20th. Once again the Gold medal goes to Finland’s Minna Kauppi.
Day 3 - Middle Distance Tuesday, 9th June (World Cup race 1)
Following their success in the Relays, both the Swedish men & women produce the winner in the first World Cup race of the year; Helen Bridle is third fastest of the seven GB women. A report is available on the British Orienteering web-site.
Results || British Orienteering report
Day 2 - Relays Sunday, 7th June
Sweden dominates today’s relay competition with strong wins in both the men’s and women’s classes. For Great Britain Helen Bridle gets the women’s second team off to a great start, finishing the first leg in 6th place, Helen Palmer’s strong run sends Karen Poole off in 8th place on the last leg and the team finish 12th. A report is available on the British Orienteering web-site.
Results || British Orienteering report
Day 1 - Long race Saturday, 6th June
In the first race of the weekend, Helen Bridle is Team GB’s highest placed competitor in the W21 class which is won by Finland’s World Champion Minna Kauppi.
The terrain is particularly suitable for the Scandinavian countries and the home country is dominant in the women’s race with four finishers in the top seven. Last year’s good form in the World Champs was maintained with Minna Kaupi winning in front of Merja Rantanen and Anne Margrethe Hausken (Norway) in 3rd. In the men’s race, however, there are no Scandinavian medal winners; Switzerland finish 1st and 2nd (Daniel Hubmann followed by Matthias Merz) with France 3rd (Thierry Gueorgiou).
Note on the Nordic Championships
In this, the first major event on the international calendar, a good position is more difficult to achieve than in the World Championships. Whereas in the World Championships each country is limited to 4 competitors in each race, in the Nordic the host country is allowed 12 competitors and the other top countries 8 competitors per race. Competition is particularly fierce this year as hosts Finland are arguably the strongest orienteering nation, particularly in the women’s races.