Pictured:  Kris Jones (Forth Valley Orienteers / Swansea Bay Orienteering Club / Ulster University) wins Gold!

Picture credit: WUOC 2016. 

It was an excellent first day for Great Britain at the World University Orienteering Championships with Kris Jones (Forth Valley Orienteers/Swansea Bay Orienteering Club/Ulster University) winning the Men's race by a huge 33 seconds writes Ed Nicholas.

There were further great performances with Will Gardner (Sheffield University Orienteering Club/University of Sheffield) coming 6th; Charlotte Ward (Humberside and Lincolnshire Orienteers/University of Sheffield) coming in 7th place and Megan Carter Davies (Mid Wales Orienteering Club/University of Bristol) finishing in 8th. Peter Hodkinson (Nottinghamshire Orienteering Club/University of Tulsa) rounded of the top ten results with a very good 9th position.

There were further good results from Jonny Crickmore (Edinburgh University Orienteering Club/Heriot Watt University) finishing just outside the top ten in 12th position and Katie Reynolds (Edinburgh University Orienteering Club/University of Edinburgh) finishing in 41st.

Men

• 1st Kris Jones 13.49
• 6th Will Gardner 15.02
• 9th Peter Hodkinson 15.12
• 12th Jonny Crickmore 15.19

Women

• 7th Charlotte Ward  17.12
• 8th Megan Carter Davies 17.22
• 41st Katie Reynolds 19.46

This is a great start to the championships and the team are ecstatic with the day's results. There was huge delight in Kris's gold but also a great appreciation of everyone else's very good results.

Kris Jones, said:  "I had good confidence before the start and felt prepared for the difficult hanging gardens. I felt a little bit on the edge for the first section but was running well and didn't make any mistakes, just a bit of hesitation. I knew I had done well but with a strong start field I knew I couldn't let up. Of course I am really pleased.'"

Peter Hodkinson, said: "The preparation we'd done as a team really paid off today and I felt strong and confident in the garden section. I am really happy with large parts of the course but made one big error which cost me some time. I came with the goal of a top ten so am happy to achieve that but am also a little disappointed to have missed the chance to fight for the top places. The GB team performance today was awesome and I have a lot of confidence in our team for the Sprint Relay on Tuesday."

Charlotte Ward, said:  "I am satisfied that I achieved my goal of a top 10 performance, and feel so happy that we were able to deliver quality performances as a team. Our preparation, in particular Kris' homemade map, really helped in the hanging gardens and I felt confident that I knew the different levels. This wasn't my best race, but I'm taking a lot of confidence and enthusiasm with me to the sprint relay where I believe we will produce a brilliant team result." 

Megan Carter Davies, said:  "I wasn't sure what to make of the competition beforehand so was just aiming to have a race I could be proud of. All of the prep for the gardens was really useful, and helped me to get the best route onto the different levels, though I still made plenty of hesitations and a mistake. Today was a great day for the British team and I am excited for the Mixed Sprint Relay."

Tomorrow see's the Long Race which can be followed LIVE on the World University Orienteering Championship website www.wuoc2016.hu