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European Orienteering Championships - Middle Final

Mramorovy, Cerna Voda was the scene of today's middle distance final writes Jess Tullie. Great Britain had four athletes lining up in the A final after yesterday's tough qualification race.

The B finalists started first and because tomorrow's relay is in the same area, adopted a number of different strategies.  Fresh legs will be beneficial. Alice  Leake has thankfully recovered well from yesterday's bump and came back with a smile on her face and excited for tomorrow. If Kirsten Strain had a choice, it would be the JK's snow instead of the heat of Czech Republic, but she knows that you have to learn to race in all conditions and she got on with it. She's looking forward to running 2nd leg tomorrow (thankfully a cooler forecast). Hector Haines and Matt Speake put in mean performances to both finish in the top five whilst Jonny Crickmore wasn't far behind, pleased to improve on yesterday. Peter Hodkinson ran a steady race, mixed in with faster sections to prepare for tomorrow.

After a five hour wait in quarantine, the A finalists got down to business. Dave Rollins did a great job of keeping the athletes happy, telling funny jokes and generally being cheerful (athough thankfully didn't carry through with his threat of tickling athletes that were looking grumpy). He has had a lot to put up with in quarantine this week, ranging from chatterboxes to those who prefer a quiet corner.

 
Picture left - Cat Taylor relaxing in quarantine

 

 

 

Liz Campbell greeted the athletes at the pre-start and made sure all were ready to race.

The boys were off first and Alan Cherry was ready for a strong race after such a brave performance yesterday. After finishing, Alan said, "It was tricky and tough underfoot and I was feeling very tired from the previous days of racing. I made a few too many small, messy mistakes to get the result I was hoping for. It was great fun running into the noisy arena, where kids kept out of mischief by running alongside the run-in with us."

Jess Tullie had a tough day in the forest. She got into a muddle at the beginning, making it impossible to achieve the run she wanted but is determined to bounce back tomorrow.

Jo Shepherd's (pictured right) plan of no nonsense and keep cool paid off today. She remarked, "I rushed into the course and lost some time at the first control, but pulled myself together and had a good race after this. Delighted to finish in 30th." Two top 30 results in the European Champs is quite an achievement!

Cat Taylor was our top performer today, finishing in 15th and said, "After a topsy turvey start to the year, I'm happy to get my first international of the year under my belt. A perfect first step to my comeback after injury."

The team are in good spirits and ready to race hard in tomorrow's relay. If there's anything to learn from today, it's that there's going to be some tricky controls and low visibility. Plenty of opportunities to orienteer our way to sucess.

Photos thanks to Dave Rollins

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