Some of the WOC team at the very wet opening ceremony Photo taken by Natasha Key
MIDDLE QUALIFICATION – 8 JULY
We had 3 men and 3 women competing in the middle qualification, fighting for a spot in the top 15 of each heat to move onto the middle finals. Well done all- we had some great finishes in the middle qualification. Big congratulations to Matt Doyle and Caitlin Young who will compete in the middle finals!
Official results: Men’s Heat 1 20 Kylian Wymer AUS 32:03 +6:46 Men’s Heat 2 9 Matt Doyle AUS 28:56 +3:06 Men’s Heat 3 19 Henry McNulty AUS 31:07 +5:28 Women’s Heat 1 23 Grace Crane AUS 37:17 +12:52 Women’s Heat 2 30 Justine Hobson AUS 56:49 +32:38 Women’s Heat 3 13 Caitlin Young AUS 31:00 +5:54
MIDDLE FINAL INFORMATION & RESULTS– 9 JULY
The middle final was held in Neulaniemi, an area with landscape characterised by significant relative elevation differences, high rocky hills, and undulating terrain. Neulamäki rises 200 metres above sea level and 120 metres above Kallavesi (lake). The forests in the area have a basic structure of economic forests, but they have not been harvested for the last 30 years. The oldest forests are 100-130 years old, and approximately half of the forests are over 80 years old. Terrain is mostly coniferous, half of the forest is dominated by spruce and slightly less than half by pine trees. The proportion of deciduous forest is only small and it is sporadic. Runability varies from good to challenging due to stony ground in some areas. Fallen trees in unharvested forests may slow down running speed. Visibility ranges from good to excellent.
Course: Men 5.8km, 255m climb, 18 controls Women 5.0km 230m climb, 16 controls
Official results: 35 Matt Doyle 42:45 +9:03 43 Caitlin Young 50:54 +17:37
In the middle final, Matt Doyle finished 35th- the best result for him in a WOC race. Here’s what Matt had to say after his race:
“I’m satisfied with my performance today, a few wobbles but my best WOC result. Looking forward to racing the relay on Saturday.”
“I’m a bit disappointed with my run today. It started well but I got confused with some tracking on way to 3 and I was a bit mentally out of it after that. It was still very fun and I was happy to be apart of the middle final and excited to give it another shot in the long!”
-Caitlin Young
LONG INFORMATION & RESULTS – 10 JULY
The long distance race was held in Neulaniemi again, an area characterised by significant relative elevation differences, high rocky hills, and undulating terrain. Terrain is mostly coniferous, half of the forest is dominated by spruce and slightly less than half by pine trees. Runability varies from good to challenging due to stony ground in some areas.
Course: Men 16.0km, 565m climb, 27 controls Women 13.3km, 475m climb, 23 controls
It was a close finish at the top for the women’s long. After over an hour and half of racing, first and second place were decided in 9 seconds. What a nail biter! Caitlin finished in 38th place and Emily 14 minutes behind her in 48th place. Leith and Brodie finished in 43rd and 44th respectively, only 15 seconds apart.
On 11 July, athletes took a much deserved break after the arduous middle and long through the Finnish forest and rested their legs before getting ready to compete in the final WOC event: 3-leg relay on Saturday 12 July.
RELAY INFORMATION & RESULTS – 12 JULY
The relay was in Puijo, which has small detailed areas with boulders and small cliffs and steep slopes. There are also parts of the hill that are quite empty from details. Vegetation consists of an old forest with deciduous trees, pines and spruces.
Runability is good. Fallen trees may slow down running speed. Bigger elevation differences can make it physically harder. Visibility is mainly good. Track density is high because Puijo is a recreation area in the heart of Kuopio. Along with buildings, there are also other man-made objects.
Course: Men 6.1-6.5 km, 295-315m climb, 15-19 controls Women 5.2-5.5 km, 245-265m climb, 14-19 controls
Photo taken by Natasha Key Pictured Grace Crane Emily Sorensen and Justine Hobson
Women’s relay team: Grace Crane, Emily Sorensen and Justine Hobson
Photo taken by Natasha Key Pictured Henry McNulty Matt Doyle and Leith Soden
Men’s relay team: Henry McNulty, Matt Doyle and Leith Soden
Results: In the mens relay, Henry got off to a great start in leg 1. For the first ~10 minutes of his race, he was coming 3rd and keeping pace with Topi Syrjalainen (FIN) and Martin Regborn (SWE). Henry finished leg 1 in 11th place, with Zefa Faavae (NZ) only a second behind. Matt finished his leg in 20th place and Leith came in 22nd for the team.
It was a dramatic fight for the final spot on the podium for the mens relay. The last runner for Sweden, Max Peter Bejmer, punched the wrong control which left Finland and France in a head-to-head race to the finish for 3rd place. In the end, Finland came out on top, as Miika Kirmula (FIN) finished 22 seconds ahead of Lucas Basset (FRA).
Congratulations to New Zealand for their historic 9th place relay finish!
In the womens relay, Grace completed leg 1 in 20th position, Emily had a solid run and moved the team up 2 spots into 18th place and Justine came in strong in the final leg, putting Australia into 16th place.
Official results- Men: 1 Norway 1 1:41:38 2 Switzerland 1 1:43:28 +1:50 3 Finland 1 1:46:27 +4:49 9 New Zealand 1 1:56:00 +14:22 22 Australia 1 2:05:48 +24:10
Women: 1 Sweden 1 1:41:32 2 Norway 1 1:44:00 +2:28 3 Switzerland 1 1:45:32 +4:00 16 Australia 1 2:18:52 +37:20
Photos taken by IOF/ Kristina Lindgren unless stated otherwise.
