Thea Lillehov

Monday, 26. May 2008

EOC Day 3: Sprint B-final

Monday, 26. May 2008, 20:19:53

(Photo:Richard Schuh)

This afternoon the sprint finals took place, first out were of course the a-finals. In the womens category Anne M. Hausken finally got her gold medal! Six small seconds diveded between first and third place! In the mens category the sprint-king Emil Wingsted won again! Kerschi did his job very well and reached the 21. place, which is his best EOC-result.

My goal with the b-final was to get more experience with two sprint competitions on the same day. I did not ran at 100% speed, but I tried to run fast without getting too tired. I think I succeded in this, the speed was okay and afterwards the legs were still very okay. Actually they felt better in the noon than in the morning. I did one mistake in the open-air museum which costed me 20 seconds, for the rest it was ok. The two controls directly after the spectators control were a bit tricky or maybe I did not read the control description well enough, because I did not except them to be placed so low. But, that was maybe 2-3 seconds, so not a big deal. The rest of the run was okay and I was satiesfied with both legs and head.

Tomorrow it is long distance qualification. The model event took place on a 1:10 000 map, in the competition we will use 1:15 000. Just one of the strange things here.. Neverthless, long distance is one of my favourites, so I am looking forward to tomorrow!

1 comment

EOC Day 3: Sprint Qualification (with map)

Monday, 26. May 2008, 10:11:37

Ok, it was not enough for the A-final, but it was much better than anytime before! I missed the final by 29 seconds, which is about 2 minutes less than at the WOC2006.. In the end, I was 1:54 behind the winner of our heat(W2), Heli Jukkola(Fin). The race itself was ok, only some minor mistakes. On the way towards nr.3 I took the routechoice on the right side and wanted to run through the fence-opening. Coming there I could not see it. Instead of starting a search I quickly decided to follow the street to the left and take the control from there. Well, I might have lost 5-10" there, we will see when we get the split-times. On the way from 10-11 I ran around a flowerbed to much, maybe 5" lost. That was also a long route and my choice was to run around on the right side. It is a bit longer than in the middle, but you don't need to think anymore and can concentrate only on running fast. In the finish I was satisfied with the race, even if it wasn't enough for the a-final.

In some hours it is time for the b-finale, which will be very different. In the qualification it was 60:40 concrete roads:soft ground, in the final it will be only 20% concrete roads, then 20% sanddunes and the rest other soft grounds. In the sanddunes it will probably be difficult, but difficulty is not a obstacle, just a challenge:).

Our team is still not complete, Felix Breitschädel will first arrive this evening. For the rest, everybody was running today and here are the results:
W3: 1. Helena Jansson (Swe) 10:50
25. Karin Leonhardt (Aut) 13:43 (Cut for the a-final at 11:57)
W2: 1. Heli Jukkola (Fin) 10:32
23. Thea Lillehov (Aut) 12:26 (Cut at 11:57)
M3: 1. Jamie Stevenson (Gbr) 12:23
11. Gernot Kerschbaumer (Aut) 13:09 (A-FINAL!!! Cut at 13:27)
M1: 1. Michael Smola (CZE)12:08
28. Markus Lang (Aut) 13:22 (Cut at 12:39)
M2: 1. Emil Wingstedt (Swe)12:03
30. Thomas Lang (Aut) 13:31 (Cut at 13:01)

Only Kerschi in the a-finale, all other will run b-final.

Yesterday we had model event in the area between the long qualification area and the area for the middle competitions. A fantastic area!! Technically really tricky, you have to very careful with the attack points. The underground is fast, but it cost you energy because due to lots of heather and blueberry bushes. I am really looking forward to the long qualification tomorrow, this is the kind of orienteering that makes real fun!