WOC - The Sprint and the Long Distance Final

Men's Sprint Qualifier Heat 1 Map

Monday was not Canada's day at the World Championships in Finland.

Serghei Logvin, Robbie Anderson, Will Critchley and Kerstin Burnett raced the Sprint Qualification. The top 15 in each of 3 heats advanced to the Sprint Final in the evening. None of the athletes had the races that they wanted. Both Serghei and Robbie were tired from the Long Distance Qualifier the day before and could not find the speed in their legs necessary to make the final.
Both Kerstin and Will had good races but mispunched. There were many controls close together in a small area of houses that all looked the same making the course very tricky.

I sat down with Will after his race to get the lowdown:

"So, Will, how do you think your race went today?"

"Go away!"

"Thanks. Some insightful words". (Actually typed by Will)

Will was particularly angry because he would have qualified for the final without his mispunch.

Louise and Emily spent the day studying maps and resting up for the Long Distance Final on Tuesday.

Toni, Emily, Louise and Kerstin study the long distance maps

In the evening, the team headed to the opening ceremonies and sprint final in the nearby town of Sotkamo. The arena was a full to the brim Finnish baseball (Pesäpallo) stadium. 

The sprint final was action packed. The organisers did a great job of turning the sleepy holiday village of Sotkamo into a challenging sprint with 47 temporary fences. The crowd was ecstatic when Finn Marten Bostrom took the gold medal in the men's race. Team Canada coach was ecstatic when the British team he had coached for the last few years managed three top 10 finishes including a silver medal for Scott Fraser. 

The Arena and a Latvian Trail-O Athlete

Both Louise and Emily raced the Long Distance Final Tuesday. The women's course started in the arena, sent the runners out into the forest with long route choice legs, passed them back through the arena for a map exchange/spectator leg/ coaching zone, returned to the woods for a second loop and finished in the arena. 

Louise in the start chute

Louise made an error on the long leg between controls 1 and 2 and continued to lose time through out the race. She finished 43rd.

Emily was much happier with her race. She was high up the leader board at the first intermediate control and managed to cross the finish line with a huge grin on her face. She finished 25th.

Their expressions say it all about their races

Both of them must now regroup for the Middle Distance Qualification on Thursday.

16th place Alison Crocker (USA) and Emily