JWOC Sprint Interview

An interview with Emma Waddington

Sunday morning was the first of five Junior World Orienteering Championship races in Rauland, Norway; the sprint, held in the small village of Åmot. It was a hot, sunny day as our athletes competed against 39 different nations for title of junior sprint champion. One Canadian who did particularly well was Emma Waddington, who placed 28^th out of 135 female athletes, only 2:08 behind the leader.

How did you prepare for the sprint, both physically and mentally?

“I did a lot of speed training, like intervals and tempo runs, and a lot of track & field. Mentally I spent a lot of time reviewing model maps, looking at Google street view of the town of Åmot, and playing a route choice game to practice making quick decisions.” Link to route choice game

How did you find the map and the course?

“It was different from many North American sprint maps, it wasn’t the typical flat city grid that I’m used to. The route choices were very deceiving, since all the roads were so winding and hilly, It was difficult to determine which was the quickest.”

W20 Sprint

How did you feel during and after the race?

“Like death. The heat and the climb really got to me by the spectator control, but when it was over I was really happy about my performance.”

What do you think you did well?

“I was always a step ahead in planning my routes and knowing my exits out of the controls. I took advantage of some longer legs to plan my next steps.”

What do you think you could improve upon?

“Reading my control descriptions to know exactly where in the circle the control was.”

What is your advice for aspiring orienteers?

“Run hard, be focused, but don’t psych yourself out.”