News Archive

News

Share  Tweet Monday 9th October 2017

Round Up of the GB team at latest Orienteering World Cup - Round 4, Switzerland

The World Cup Final weekend saw three exciting races in Grindelwald, Switzerland. Almost 200 athletes from 23 nations took part.

The British team consisted of Jo Shepherd, Catherine Taylor, Alexander Chepelin, Jonathan Crickmore, Graham Gristwood, Hector Haines, Ralph Street, Chris Smithard.

GB athletes above:
Top row (left to right):  Alexander Chepelin, Jonathan Crickmore, Graham Gristwood, Hector Haines.
Bottom row (left to right):  Ralph Street, Chris Smithard, Jo Shepherd, Catherine Taylor.
 

Round up of the high class orienteering action from the 2017 World Orienteering Cup - Round 4.

For the Long distance race, athletes made use of a cable car route to take them up to 2180 m above sea level for the quarantine and start.

 

The terrain for this race was typical Swiss coniferous forest and open alpine pasture with lots of contour and rock detail on moderate to steep slopes, all between 1300 and 1900 m above sea level. The Long Distance course planned for men was 11.7 km + 780 m climb, while the women had 7.7 km + 560 m climb.

Men – Long distance results

1 Matthias Kyburz Switzerland 1:23:35  
2 Olav Lundanes Norway 1:25:05  

3

----

Magne Daehli Norway 1:27:37  
8 Graham Gristwood Great Britain 1:32:13  
34 Ralph Street Great Britain 1:41:48  
49 Alexander Chepelin Great Britain 1:44:53  
51 Hector Haines Great Britain 1:45:11  
63 Jonathan Crickmore Great Britain 1:49:21  

Women – Long distance results

1 Elena Roos Switzerland 1:10:02
2 Sabine Hauswirth Switzerland 1:11:28
3

---
Natalia Gemperle Russia

1:14:01

 

13 Catherine Taylor Great Britain 1:17:43
55 Jo Shepherd Great Britain 1:33:07
Cat Taylor, expresses in her online blog:
“World Cup long above Grindelwald. Only one real miss (#5) somewhere around 90 seconds maybe? Otherwise just some questionable routes. Really happy with how I applied myself on what was a lonely run with altitude struggles, kept fighting and the result like the run was not special but quite alright, good to be back inside top 15 again. My best long distance outside a championship (at first I thought second best ever but forgot about Portugal EOC and Finland WOC!)... hopefully helping me on my way back up the rankings, which was the aim today.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Middle distance race finished in the town square and was on similar terrain to the Long but much lower down (1000 – 1400 m above sea level).

The courses planned for men had 5.5 km with 275 m climb and women race over 4.7 km, climbing 225 m. This race and the Sprint Relay was fully televised and transmitted on IOF LiveCenter.

Men – Middle distance results

1 Matthias Kyburz Switzerland 33:31

2 Daniel Hubmann Switzerland 34:27

3 Emil Svensk Sweden 35:28

-----------

19 Graham Gristwood Great Britain 37:52

37 Ralph Street Great Britain 39:35

41 Hector Haines Great Britain 40:01

49 Alexander Chepelin Great Britain 40:20

63 Jonathan Crickmore Great Britain 42:20


Graham Gristwood, said:
“Fantastic weekend - starting at altitude, cable cars to the start, great views from the accommodation, wonderfully tough physical courses - loved it.”
Sasha Chepelin, said:
“The World Cup Finals were a tough insight into Senior International competitions for me, and although both events were excessively enjoyable, featuring some of the best views I have ever seen, my experiences during the races and post-race analysis highlighted significant room for improvement. What one can get away with at JWOC will be punished for in the big leagues.”
Hector Haines, said:
“The World Cup Final in Grindelwald was amazing! Well organised and stunning views with quality courses - and of course world class competition! My performances were actually okay, I've had worse but they put me some distance down the results! A lot of work and preparation to do over the winter but the races provided me with great motivation! Already excited to work hard and get back to and better my previous best results!”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Women – Middle distance results

1 Tove Alexandersson Sweden 35:09

2 Elena Roos Switzerland 36:24

3 Natalia Gemperle Russia 36:58

---------

10 Catherine Taylor Great Britain 38:28

41 Jo Shepherd Great Britain 43:07

 

Cat Taylor, said in her online blog: “World Cup middle, Grindelwald. I think the run was about the same amount of okay as yesterday, nothing too bad but not race of the century either. 4-5 smaller mistakes. Tried to run without too much risk, especially on the steep descents! Caught the starter before me but unfortunately for my race, it was a straight through and no running together.

10th position... I think I'm beyond the stage where "just" a top ten is something I would be properly happy with, but also after such low orienteering confidence and no individual results to speak of for so long, it’s great to be doing something a bit more useful again so maybe I should let myself off with this weekend!”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Relay Final, a Sprint Relay for teams of four (2 men, 2 women in the order WMMW) was on a 1:4000 map of the town and took athletes through many side streets and narrow pathways and across some lawn areas.

Sprint Relay – results

1 Swedish Orienteering Federation Sweden 2 57:48

2 Norwegian Orienteering Federation Norway 1 57:57

3 Swiss Orienteering Switzerland 2 58:11

-----

11 British Orienteering Great Britain 1 1:02:12
(Catherine Taylor, Chris Smithard, Jonathan Crickmore, Jo Shepherd)

 

Cat Taylor, says in her online blog: “The Sprint Relay. I managed to drop my map in the middle of the run-out and I think it was at least partly the stress of trying to retrieve it in the stampede that meant I started on the back foot and having lost some ground and the performance completely collapsed. Having taken so much out in the past two days I was just too tired to deal with it all! Also, I was in great pain, especially on the downhills. None of us had the best day ever I think but it’s hard to be too sad in such a nice place.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cat Taylor (left) and Jo Shepherd (right)

 

 

GB Mixed Sprint team (right to left):  Cat Taylor, Chris Smithard, Jonathan Crickmore, Jo Shepherd

For more information visit the World Orienteering Cup 2017 website here.

British Orienteering would like to wish all the athletes all the very best with their winter training and preparations for next year.

Top