The Australian team has continued its stellar performances, with the women’s relay team recording an astonishing 4th place in the World Orienteering Championships relay in Denmark.

Jo Allison finishes the first leg in 8th.
(Photo: WOC2006 website)

Jo Allison ran the first leg for Australia, and mixed it with the world’s best — fnishing in 8th place, only 15 seconds behind fifth place. In the second leg, Grace Elson emerged from the pack of runners, and was in 5th place by the second spectator control. She lost time in the last section  of the course, but did enough to send Hanny Allston out in 9th place, well ahead of 10th.

The last leg was chaotic to say the least. The leading Swedish team lost time early, and Finland’s Minna Kauppi emerged as a clear leader. Meanwhile, Hanny was making ground through the pack — coming through the spectator control with a pack of runners in 4th-7th place. The last split control was decisive, with Dana Brozkova of Czech Republic and Tatiana Riabkina from Russia having a longer split. This left only two fighting for 4th place — and Hanny applied the pace to Norwegian Anne Magrethe Hausken. The final kilometres were nerve-racking for those watching the GPS tracking, but Hanny kept her calm, showing maturity beyond her 20 years. She ran to the last control in a clear 4th, allowing time to celebrate with her team-mates in the finish chute. Hanny’s time was fastest on the last leg by more than a minute, and more than 3 minutes faster than the 3 top place-getters.

Hanny’s lead on 5th place Norway was such that
the girls had time to celebrate in the finish chute together

The men’s relay was won by Russia, from Finland and Sweden. The Australian team finished 20th after having troubles early on in the piece. But Troy de Haas ran superbly on the final leg, pulling up four places and running one of the fastest times for the final leg.

Results*
*Results no longer available

Hanny, Jo and Grace after the finish.