DAY 8: SPRINT FINAL

The Sprint Final was the last competition of the 2007 World Orienteering Championships held in almost perfect running conditions (high 20's) around Kiev's botanical gardens.


In the mens race Australia had the young and talented Julian Dent qualified to the Sprint Final. Julian was begining to feel a little tired after the past week of racing but so was everyone else with very few fresh runners left. The Sprint Final was going to be the highest speed of all races as they competed around the open and technical gardens. "It was a good clean run with very few errors. I just feel like im not strong enough to make the podium yet" commented an ever improving Dent. The times we very very close with positions going down to the nearest tenth of a second. Julian ended up just +1:11 on eventual winner Thierry Gueorgiou in 22nd position. All of the team is impressed with Julian's class this week and we can expect to see him up towards the top in future World Champ's to come.


above photo: Julian Dent warms up before his start in the Sprint Final.

In the womens race Australia had the reigning World Champion with Hanny Allston pumped to defend her crown. There were alot of women who wanted to take it away from her and none more than Simone Niggli. Grace Elson continued her consistent form and placed yet again in the 30's to prove her overall ability over all distances. Whilst Kathryn Ewels lost valuable time on the tricky controls to end up in 46th position. Hanny Allston started towards the back of the field and had alot of work cut out in front of her. Hanny ran her own race to place 9th just +1:20 on Simone Niggli who took out yet another World Champs title. It looks like Hanny is becoming very used to being in the mix of the top10 women in the world.


movie: Hanny Allston's start in the Sprint Final

WOC'07 Middle Final
Mens: 1 Thierry Gurgiou (FRA) 14:44.0, 2 Matthias Merz (SUI) 14:44.9, 3 Martin Johansson (SWE) 15:03.6, 22 Julian Dent (AUS) 15:55.6
Womens: 1 Simone Niggli (SUI) 12:06.9, 2 Minna Kauppi (FIN) 12:26.9, 3 Lena Eliasson (SWE) 12:46.7, 9 Hanny Allston (AUS) 13:26.9, 30 Grace Elson (AUS) 14:42.4, 44 Kathryn Ewels (AUS) 17:07.7


above photo: the crowds were out in force to watch the exciting Sprint Final.


As soon as the race was over the hundreds of team athletes and officials began packing up and heading home. Whilst some of us others headed on a charterd cruise down the Dnipro river with many other partying athletes and officials. It is nice to relax a little after months of build up to such a big competition.

above photo: Hanny Allston and Jarrod Voss check out of the team hotel and depart the Ukraine just a few hours after finishing her race.

above photo: Me and Julian relax with a well deserved drink on the Dnipro river cruise.


above photo: Brett Weihart and Dave Shep look back over the past week.


The Australian team athletes and officials all head their own way now, with some going to other races, some going back to work or some even having babies.
Julian Dent: will take a short holiday up in Far North Queensland, Rob Walter: will await the arrival of his and girl friend's (Allison Jones, former team athlete) new born baby, Reuben Smith: will head to Melbourne to work after a few years living in Sweden, Dave Shepherd: will head back to Canberra, Troy de Haas: will spend time in China and then race in Thailand, Kathryn Ewels: will continue around the globe onto Canada and work near Vancouver, Jo Allison: will head back to Canberra with Shep, Anna Sheldon: will head to the UK for a few days recovering before heading home, Grace Elson: will visit Matt Crane's home for a few days also in the UK, Hanny Allston: will stop over in Kuala Lumpur for a few days before preparing for the Tokyo marathon, Brett Weihart (mens coach): will head back home to his family in Gothenburg Sweden, and Sue Neve (womens coach): will visit the UK before heading back down-under.

Thanks for reading and supporting the team everyone. All the guys n gals in the team have enjoyed sharing WOC'07 with you. Next year WOC'08 will be held in the Czech Republic between July 12th-20th. http://www.woc2008.cz/

All the best for now, Troy