Over the last week, from 12-16 July, our Aussies traveled to Edinburgh to compete in WOC 2024.
The week was filled with events: sprint qualifications, sprint finals, sprint relay, knock-out sprint qualifications, and knock-out sprint finals.
OFFICIAL AUSTRALIAN TEAM
MEN: Brodie Nankervis, Cooper Horley, Ewan Shingler, Henry McNulty
WOMEN: Caitlin Young, Erika Enderby, Mikayla Cooper, Milla Key, Nea Shingler
Team Officials: Aston Key, Mary Fleming, Natasha Key
Individual Sprint – 12 July
The competition began with a qualification sprint, with women racing in three heats and men racing in another three heats. The top 15 in each heat qualified for the finals.
Qualification Results
All our team members who raced in the qualification did a great job.
Milla and Erika, we two of our very young athletes, did great. This would be a wonderful experience for them.
Henry McNulty, Brodie Nankervis and Nea Shingler qualified for the sprint finals!
| Place | Name | Time |
|---|---|---|
| =4 | Henry McNulty | 13:31 |
| 4 | Brodie Nankervis | 13:44 |
| 9 | Nea Shingler | 14:06 |
| 16 | Caitlin Young | 14:42 |
| 20 | Milla Key | 15:11 |
| 21 | Erika Enderby | 15:07 |
| 25 | Ewan Shingler | 15:35 |
Sprint Final Results
What a technical sprint final- even from back home it even took some time to work out the best route in places.
Massive congratulations to Henry for placing 9th!
It’s great to have three Oceania athletes in the top 10 men’s finals.
| Place | Name | Time | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | Henry McNulty | 16:52 | +0:54 |
| 33 | Nea Shingler | 18:56 | +2:42 |
| 41 | Brodie Nankervis | 19:13 | +3:15 |
Relay – 14 July
The next event in WOC was a four-leg relay held at Heriot-Watt University.
Initially established in 1821 to provide practical knowledge of science and technology to Edinburgh’s working men, it became a university in 1966, and began the development of a new campus on the Riccarton Estate, to the south-west of the city.
Course information
Leg 1 & 4: 3,8 km length, 30 m climb, 20-21 controls
Leg 2 & 3: 4,3 km length, 35 m climb, 22-23 controls
Terrain
The area features university buildings in parkland. Running surfaces will be a mix of paved surfaces, unpaved paths and natural terrain, including significant areas of grass and runnable woodland. 15%–25% of courses will be on grass and other natural surfaces. The competition area is predominantly flat with some gentle gradients.
Relay team
Results
In the relay, the forking used by the course setter was very well constructed and challenged several competitors. Execution of route choices seemed to be an important race factor. It was fascinating to see a maze at the end of each leg.
Our Aussie relay team finished in 15th place!
Everyone in the team ran extremely well.
| Leg | Place | Name | Time | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leg 1 | 27 | Nea Shingler | 16:26 | +1:38 |
| Leg 2 | 17 | Brodie Nankervis | 31:49 | +2:21 |
| Leg 3 | 17 | Henry McNulty | 47:10 | +3:05 |
| Leg 4 | 15 | Caitlin Young | 63:58 | +5:15 |
Knock-out Sprint – 16 July
The final event at WOC was a knock-out sprint, where we had six Aussie athletes competing.
The top 12 runners in each heat from qualifications move on to the quarter finals.
Qualifications Results
It was incredibly tight racing.
To qualify, athletes had to nail the right route choices and execute with precision.
Well done to all the Aussie athletes!
Congrats to Henry McNulty and Nea Shingler for qualifying!
Athletes who make it through the first round of the knock-out qualifications have to then in order pick their quarter final heat.
This happens straight after the race and can be quite stressful.
Henry and Nea are picking their quarter finals heat.
| Place | Name | Time | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | Henry McNulty | 09:53 | +00:10 |
| 7 | Nea Shingler | 10:17 | +00:28 |
| 17 | Ewan Shingler | 11:01 | +01:11 |
| 19 | Milla Key | 11:42 | +01:27 |
| 23 | Mikayla Cooper | 11:42 | +01:36 |
| 31 | Cooper Horley | 11:50 | +02:00 |
Finals Results
It was another tight and difficult race. Athletes needed to keep pace with the five other athletes in their heat while also executing the perfect route choice.
While Nea and Henry did not qualify for the semifinals, they both ran well and it was great to have Aussie representation in the quarters.
| Place | Name | Time | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | Nea Shingler | 08:05 | +00:14 |
| 6 | Henry McNulty | 07:13 | +00:11 |
Well done to all WOC athletes for their accomplishments and great efforts throughout the week!
To all the Aussie supporters: people following along on social media and cheering on the athletes and those who attended the races and cheered in person, thank you! The team really value your support throughout the competition.
WOC 2025 will be held in Kuopio, Finland. We hope Australia can send another great group of athletes to compete.
Photos by IOF / Kristina Lindgren, Robert Lines and Natasha Key.
