DAY 7: RELAY FINAL

After an easier day yesterday the Australian team was ready for action again today in the city forests of Kiev. The relay is an important race of the world championships as teams battle it out for their countries and not as individuals. It really shows the strength and depth of countries on the world orienteering scale. The terrain was going to be very similar to the Classic Final with lots of route choice and contour detail in the deep gullies (a bit like Aussie erosion but deeper).

above photo: the aussies guys n gals prepare before the race.

In the womens relay race Australia tried to repeat its outstanding 4th place (Denmark '06) from last year and used the same formula with: Jo Allison-Grace Elson-Hanny Allston order of combination. Jo Allison posted very positive early splits at the radio controls as she held onto the leaders. She kept her cool throughout the race and placed 10th at the change over. Grace Elson went out with the Czech, French and Lithuanian teams and had to work hard to hold Australia's position. "I had a few little errors but im satisfied with that run" commented Grace Elson handing over 8th position to move the team up two positions. Hanny Allston needed to work extra hard if she wanted the team to make the podium. Hanny lost time on the leaders but still managed to pick up a position to give Australia an overall very impressive 7th position at the finish line. All the girls were very happy. The double world champions Finland (Minna Kauppi, Heli Jukola and Pauala Happakoski) took out the win over 11mins ahead of our Aussie girls team.

above photo: Grace Elson hands over to Hanny Allston to finish off the relay.

above photo: Jo Allison tells Julian Dent about the relay course and what to expect out in the terrain.

above photo: Grace Elson is all smiles after that effort.

Almost as soon as the womens race was over the men began their race. A new record of 39countries lined up at the start line for the mens relay race, that's depth for ya. Dave Shepherd has almost fully recovered from his food poisoning now but together with the mens coach (Brett Weihart) we decided as a team to use Rob Walter safely instead. The running order could of worked a number of combinations but we decided on: Troy de Haas-Julian Dent-Rob Walter. I (Troy de Haas) had a solid race throughout and the early pace settled down a bit after 5km. The teams were closely bunched as I crossed the line in 11position, just +2mins with Sweden, France and Hungary. Heading into the forest with some hot company Julian Dent gave everything to hold onto Sweden and France. "I got a big rip in my tights and had take them off and quickly turn them around" commented Julian who lost some valuable time on the leaders and didn't feel he had the legs today to run the needed high pace. Julian handed over to Rob Walter in 11th position. This left Rob with the tough job of ending the race off with many teams around him. "I think I took a few bad route choices that would of cost me" commented Rob ending up just +9mins overall on the leaders. A solid result from the guys to be less than 10mins down but it was only good enough for 13th position in the tight mens race. It was Russia who took out the overall victory with Andres Khramov's 2nd leg run that gave them that little bit extra on the rest of the field.

above photo: Julian talks with the team after his experiences out on the course.

above photo: the cut in Julian't tights that he had to turn around mid-race ;)

WOC'07 Relay Final

Women (24 countries)

leg 1: 1 Annika Billstam (SWE) 38:09, 10 Jo Allison (AUS) +2:50

leg 2: 1 Heli Jukola (FIN) 1:16:26, 8 Grace Elson (AUS) +9:27

leg 3: 1 Minna Kauppi (FIN) 1:46:35, 7 Hanny Allston (AUS) +11:38

Men (record 39 countries)

leg 1: 1 Mats Haldin (FIN) 47:19, 11 Troy de Haas (AUS) +2:04

leg 2: 1 Andre Krhamov (RUS), 11 Julian Dent (AUS) +6:58
leg 3: 1 Valentin Novikov (RUS) 2:10:26, 13 Rob Walter (AUS) +9:16

above photo: Australia's mens relay team well in contention today less than 10mins behind the eventual winners Russia.

Tomorrow is the final day at the 2007 World Orienteering Championships with the Sprint Final in the cities botanical gardens. Australia have 4athletes competing with Julian Dent, Kathryn Ewels, Grace Elson and Hanny Allston. Hanny is the reginging world champion in this event so it should be very exciting to watch her and the other Aussie athletes. They are expecting thunderstorms overnight so hopefully it will cool things down for the runners.

Signing off from Kiev, Troy