World Orienteering Champoinships - update
At the halfway point in the World Championships week there have been mixed fortunes for the Scots in the British team.
In the Sprint race round Trondheim city centre both Scott Fraser and Murray Strain (both Interlopers) qualified well, 2nd and 5th in their heats respectively. There was disappointment for Scott in the final though when he ran straight past the 17th control - close enough to be picked up by the radio sensor - but he just forgot to punch. He finished in 9th place less than 15s behind the winner, Mattias Muller of Switzerland, which makes his disqualification all the more painful.
Murray had another solid race in the final to finish 18th, just 44s down, which is a strong result in his first WOC and a good platform for future success.
In the women’s race Helen Bridle (ESOC) qualified comfortably for the final in which she also took a very respectable top 20 in 20th place.
Hollie Orr (EUOC) made her WOC-debut in the middle distance qualification however one mistake in the tricky terrain dashed her hopes of getting through to the final. She will be back for plenty more championships in the future and is already looking forward to the challenges they present.
Matthew Speake (Interlopers) qualified comfortably in the men’s race with plenty saved for the final on Saturday.
Scott bounced back from his disappointment in the sprint to finish 4th in his long distance heat. His tactics of staying relaxed and cruising through the train paid off and should give him a favourable start draw for the final. After a solid run in the sprint race, the nerves got the better of Helen who made 1 too many mistakes and unfortunately failed to qualify for tomorrows long distance final.
WOC then continues with the middle final on Saturday and the relays on Sunday.
Be sure to tune-in tomorrow at woc2010.com to watch Scott live online. Will his cool nerves and fast legs finally earn him a WOC medal?
More info also available at:
Britishorienteering
And twitter.com/murraystraining for some updates straight from the event.
Posted on 11th Aug 10
by Oleg Cheplin -
Filed under: News
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