Brett Weihart (mens coach) discusses the race with Rob Walter (ACT).
The Mens Qualifying heats were a fast and furious affair with very tight margins for qualifying, less than 5mins making it tough on the Aussie men. Many big names missed out on qualifying including: Oystein Kvaal Osterbro (NOR), Graham Gristwood (GB), Mikhail Mamleev (ITA), Sergey Detkov (RUS) and Petr Losman (CZE). The depth in the international mens fields at the moment is possibly at the highest level we have ever seen with countries like: Belarus, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Czech, Slovakia, Poland, Bulgaria and home country Ukraine all with highly competitive men at these championships. As first starter of the day I (Troy de Haas) had the unfortunate task of crashing through all the stinging nettles and high grasses ahead of the rest of the field. I ran a ordinary race which is often enough, but the green terrain just didnt suit my orienteering style and I finished up in 17th position. Rob Walter was looking to cruise into the finals but came unstuck losing a valuable 2mins near the end of his race, which would also often be enough to qualify but saw him relegated to 18th position. Julian Dent thrived in this "bulldozer" style terrain and qualified superbly in 3rd position. "I feel I have room to improve on today's result" commented Julian Dent.
Very slow km rates (over 6min/km)through very green terrain that suited many eastern europeans.
Hanny Alston ends three days of qualifying and will look forward to tomorrow's rest day.
The Womens Qualifying heats saw larger qualifying margins as big as 11mins. This was not an issue for the Aussie women who romped around to qualify all three women comfortably to the finals at the top end of the qualifying field. Jo Allison hit the forest for the first time this week. "I made a few little mistakes, just a little scrappy but I look forward now to the finals" commented Jo Allison in 9th position. Grace Elson also ended up in 9th position and heads into wednesday's Middle Final. However Hanny Allston in her third day in a row of qualifying races didn't let the tough terrain slow her down, ending up in a promising 2nd position. "I enjoyed the terrain" commented Hanny Allston not bothered by the terrain.
Middle Qualifying Results (top15 qualify)
Men A: 1 Valentin Novikov (RUS) 28:54, 17 Troy de Haas (AUS) +5:20 NOT QUALIFIED
Men B: 1 Thierry Guergiou (FRA) 26:02, 18 Rob Walter (AUS) +6:06 NOT QUALIFIED
Men C: 1 Daniel Hubbman (SUI) 26:44, 3 Julian Dent (AUS) +:48 QUALIFIED
Women A: 1 Tatyan Riabkina (RUS) 26:52, 9 Jo Allison (AUS) +5:22 QUALIFIED
Women B: 1 Heli Jukola (FIN) 26:43, 2 Hanny Allston (AUS) +2:10 QUALIFIED
Women C: 1 Helena Jansson (SWE) 26:28, 9 Grace Elson (AUS) +5:41 QUALIFIED
Tomorrow will see a much needed rest day for all the team athletes and officials before they begin the Finals starting on wednesday. It looks like temperatures could reach the high 30's by the end of the week but all the aussies are prepared
We will also bring you tomorrow comments from the team coaches, Brett Weihart (mens) and Sue Neve (womens) along with giving you a personal insight to the team at WOC'07.
Signing off once again, Troy
5 comments:
Great job with the blog Troysi, heaps better than the WOC site.
Bad luck with the races, I know you'll be on fire for the Relay...
keep it comming!
Ozi ozi ozi ou ou ou ;-)
yeah, bad luck troysie and rob. sounded like a tough area and not very fun in all that green. hope its a great one in the relay troy. am v. impressed how fast you get up the daily 'news and pics' from the aussie team :=)
and well done to jules, hanny grace and jo! good one!! and good luck on wed. will be cheering for you all :)
Yo Troy! Heads up and all to the relay. Your club, RasKu, in Finland is following "our" own teams achievements.
Even the local, "your friend" journalist is very impressed this blog.
-Esa-
Good job on the reporting Troy Boy, good photo's, a bit disappointing that you, Robbie and shep missed out on the finals. (the first time at a woc). Good luck to those who made the finals. Any funny or fashion photo's Troy ?
I can feel for those that did not make it past the quals - great athletes that you are.
There's 10 athletes yet to race. Give them all the support they need.
Essence of a Team: "Ever put your life in another person's hands, and ask them to put their life in yours?" - Jack Nicholson.
Nev
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