Here is a summary of Australia’s performances at WOC 2014 in Italy which concluded on Saturday with the relays for men and women. There are two aspects to our performances given the new system the IOF have for determining the numbers of runners each country has in the middle and long distance events. They are the individual performances of each of the athletes in the team and also the points that we earn from the long, middle and relay which go towards determining our quota for 2015.

Individual performances

Sprint Qualification

Hanny Allston 7th, 14:243, +1:26. Felicity Brown 16th, 15:09, +1:31. Rachel Effeney 3rd, 13:51, +:12

Julian Dent 12th, 13:18, +:41. Lachlan Dow 22nd, 13:32, +1:02. Simon Uppill 22nd, 13:50, +1:04.

Hanny, Rachel and Julian qualified for the final.

Sprint Final

Hanny Allston 24th, 17:42:3, +2:10:3. Rachel Effeney 27th, 17:52:4, +2:20:4. Julian Dent 36th, 17:32:7, +1:55:5.

Long Distance

Hanny Allston 13th, 85:86, +6:12, Vanessa Round 43rd, 98:23, +18:39. Simon Uppill 43rd, 115:35, +20:50.

Middle Distance

Hanny Allston 15th, 42:02, +4:59. Jasmine Neve 55th, 54:45, +17:42. Julian Dent 25th, 43:54, +5:42.

Team Performances

Sprint Relay

Rachel Effeney 6th, 14:46, Julian Dent 10th, 15:50, Simon Uppill 13th, 16:24, Hanny Allston 10th, 14:45

The team finished in 10th place, +2:41 against the winners Switzerland.

Womens Relay

Jasmine Neve 42:51, 14th, Rachel Effeney 55:41, 23rd, Hanny Allston 40:57, 16th

The team finished in 16th place, +28:08 against the winners Switzerland.

Mens Relay

Simon Uppill 42:54, 17th, Lachlan Dow 47:15, 22nd, Julian Dent 46:33, 17th.

The team finished in 17th place, +19:53 against the winners Sweden.

Our performances in the events which generate points for determining the number of runners in 2015 (ie: middle, long and relay) means that in 2015 Australia will have two runners in both the women’s and the men’s. Given that 2015 is also the year for the Oceania Championships middle and long distance events in Tasmania in January in conjunction with the World Cup events, it is possible that Australia may have three runners in the middle and long next year at WOC if an Australian athlete can win the Oceania Middle or Long. The winner of these regional championships which are held every two years automatically qualifies to compete in that event at WOC in that year. So there is some great opportunities for our elite athletes in the next year, both at the World Cup events in Tasmania and also at WOC to be held in Scotland in the first week of August 2015. The preparation for these starts now.

In a weeks’ time we will have our JWOC team competing at the Junior World Orienteering Championships in Bulgaria. A prelude for these events will be coming soon.