Victorian Orienteers Enjoying European Events

Many Victorians have followed their compass needles and headed north to Europe for the summer to compete in a range of orienteering events.  And they’ve been putting in some great performances!

WORLD MASTERS, SLOVAKIA, AUGUST 11-18

Forest Results

Ted and Blair have both qualified for the A finals in the two forest events, after a qualifying race on a 30 degree day; both finished in the top 20 in their heats, with the first 27 going through.  Philippa and Stephen had a tougher day, but both showed determination and perserverance, and completed their courses in unfamiliar terrain.

Sprint Results

Ted van Geldermalsen placed 16th in the A final of M65, while Blair Trewin placed 70th in the M50 A final – just getting into these finals is an achievement!  Stephen Collins was very unlucky to miss the cutoff, but finished 18th in the B final of M65, While Philippa finished 29th in the B final of W65.  By all accounts, the qualifying race was more technical, while the final was straightforward and favoured speed.

The action moves to the forest, with the Middle and Long Distance events still to come.

Here’s a list of Victorian orienteers competing at WMOC 2023.  You can check results at https://www.wmoc2020.sk/

• Stephen Collins
• Philippa Lohmeyer-Collins
• Blair Trewin
• Ted van Geldermalsen

Former Victorian resident Andras Bogdanovits is also competing for Hungary.

OTHER EUROPEAN EVENTS

In MTBO, Ricky Thackray has been tuning up for the World Champs, at the Italian Cup.  Ricky reports:

I recently rode in the Italian Cup MTBO on 15-16 July, consisting of two events (long and middle distance) in northern Italy in very warm conditions (low 30s).  The Saturday long distance race was fairly straightforward through forested areas, villages, lakeside riding and flat vineyards with little route choice and I had a pleasing win in M40 against a large field.
 
Sunday’s race was the complete opposite.  It was one of the most complex maps I’ve ridden on (attached map – note that yellow is not rideable but orange is) and involved difficult route choices with great focus to ensure you were on track.  The entire event was ridden through vineyards with several steep hills!  Unfortunately I made many route choice errors, failing to notice dead end tracks, which meant I missed out on a second win by a little under a minute and not far ahead of 3rd place but it was a real eye opener into just how complex events can be.  The course setter did a great job.

Peter Cusworth also rode into the winner’s circle in Czech Republic.  Results here  Peter won 4 stages, and the overall competition in M70 in the Czech 5 days competition in quite a strong field.  Overall the event had over 1,000 riders!  Carolyn Cusworth was happy to finish all five of her W60 courses.  Ricky finished a very strong 9th in M40, in a field of over 60 riders.    Look out for Ricky competing in the World MTBO Champs in Czechia from August 18.

Meanwhile a strong Australian contingent competed in the Italian Dolomites – congratulations to our Victorian podium placegetters after 3 tough stages at high altitude:

• Sue Key 2nd W65
• Torren Arthur 2nd M20
• Simon Rouse 3rd M45

Some moved on to the OOCup, held in very detailed karst terrain in Slovenia, held over 5 days.  Ted van Geldermalsen took 2nd place overall in M65, after his usual consistency, while Simon Rouse and Sue Key were each 5th in M45 and W60 respectively.  Ted also placed 2nd overall at the subsequent Hungaria Cup.