Some 140 British veterans have been enjoying the Italian sunshine in the Gargano area of Puglia (Italy) for a few days now, competing in the 2022 World Masters Orienteering Championships.

Monday saw the completion of the two-day Sprint Championships with both Finals and Qualification races taking place in small towns with historic centres. In Italy, the latter always seems to signify narrow and twisting streets, small passages, tricky navigation, and lots of stairs, and both Peschici and Vieste fitted the bill perfectly.

John Simmons (Bristol Orienteering Klub) and Peter Gorvett (South Yorkshire Orienteers) won their heats in M65 and M75 respectively and Sarah Rollins (Southern Navigators), Alison Simmons (Bristol Orienteering Klub), and Eileen Bedwell (Cleveland Orienteering Klub) won in W45, W65, and W90 in the very intricate terrain of Peschici. Peter, Sarah, and Eileen maintained their good form in the Finals, taking Golds in the Vieste race and they were joined by others who seemed to be keeping their powder dry in the Qualifiers!

The full list of medallists is incredibly impressive – five Gold medals put GBR on equal footing with Sweden and second in the unofficial medals table overall. The Gold medals were in M45 (Nick Barrable, South Yorkshire Orienteers), M60 (Graham Patten, Warrior Orienteering Club), M75 (Peter Gorvett), W45 (Sarah Rollins), and W90 (Eileen Bedwell).

Sarah-Jane Barrable (South London Orienteers) completed a family podium double with Silver in W35 and Allie Wilson Craw (Newcastle and Tyneside Orienteers) won Bronze in W65.