World Cup Round 1: Competition Round-up

This year’s World Cup kicked off with an Individual Sprint on Friday afternoon, followed by a Mixed Sprint Relay on Saturday afternoon and a Knock-Out Sprint on Sunday, with Friday’s individual race serving as the qualification race for the KO Sprint.  

Individual Sprint 

The picturesque town of Locarno, located on the shore of Lake Maggiore, offered challenging courses that weaved through the narrow streets of the old town before bursting into the intense atmosphere of the main square. In addition to a stacked start list, athletes had to contend with temperatures of up to 27 degrees - quite the contrast to the blizzard conditions our athletes faced at the JK three weeks ago! 

With five of the GB athletes making their senior debut there was a range of emotions on the start line, but all enjoyed the opportunity to pull on a GB vest, and the majority were pleased with their performances. Grace (20th) and Peter Molloy (13th) were our top-placed finishers, with both also qualifying for a place in the KO Sprint on Sunday. 

“It was a solid race to start the international season but a few too many mistakes to get a top result. The start of the race was very intense, with lots of tricky navigation and route choices. I felt stronger in the easier middle section and physically had a good race. I’m excited for the remaining races this weekend” Grace Molloy 

Peter Molloy- “I’m really delighted with the run and result today, a big World Cup PB for me! I had a bit of a shaky start but soon just decided to trust my gut and focus on executing my routes rather than spending too much time choosing them, It was a real grind to the end but I kept pushing all the way and to have finished in the lead was very exciting. A great run with the tricky course punishing lots of the top runners today”.  

Images below: Grace Molloy, Peter Molloy, Cecilie Andersen and Harry McMurtrie. Credit: Silvan Scheltti and Simon Buser.

Mixed Sprint Relay 

The relay took place on a fast, flat course, with the current European Champions – Norway – delivering a commanding performance to take the win.  

The Piazza Grande provided a fabulous race arena, and there was a great atmosphere around the whole course, with hundreds of spectators lining the streets. Racing was fast and furious, and included a technically demanding loop through the old town.  

There were some great individual performances within the four GBR relay teams, but unfortunately no podium this time.  Our highest-placed team of Cecilie Andersen, Peter Molloy, Nathan Lawson and Grace Molloy finished 12th nation.  

Imogen Pieters commented on her relay experience; “It was a super-fast and fun course; it was hectic on the first leg as the navigation was easier than yesterday so you couldn’t get away with small mistakes.  A great experience though”. 

Images below: Rachel Brown, Emma Crawford, Rachel Duckworth at the start-line, and Eddie Narbett. Credits: Silvan Schletti and Simon Buser. 

Knock-Out Sprints 

The final day of racing took place on another hot sunny day in Locarno, with only the Molloy siblings in action as the sole GBR qualifiers from the individual sprint on Friday. The athletes faced a series of 6-person head-to-head races, with runners gradually being eliminated in each round of racing! 

Grace was up first in her quarter-final, and the pressure was on from the start, with three tricky butterfly loops through the cloisters of the castle. Grace kept her calm and executed her race smoothly, emerging from the loops in 3rd. She extended the gap to those behind her over the rest of the race, qualifying comfortably for the semi-final.  

In the semi, athletes had the challenge of “runners’ choice” where Grace successfully picked the shortest of the three options on offer.  An exciting race followed, including an intricate section through a school, where Grace ran well to finish in 5th place. 

“I was pleased to run a composed quarter final through some technical loops. In the semi-final I knew I would have to be perfect to get a top 2 in such a strong race. I made a few small mistakes at the end of the course and that was enough to put me out of the fight for the final. It was great to get more quality experience in the build-up to WOC”. 

In the men’s competition, racing was very tight through the butterfly loops with Peter emerging into the old town section in 5th place. Through the final few controls, he deliberately took a different route to the athletes ahead of him, hoping to gain places, but unfortunately it didn’t pay off and he finished in 6th place despite a sprint finish. 

“Disappointed to go out in the quarters but I can take lots of positives away from today’s performance. The butterfly loops around the castle meant that you were doing technical orienteering on your own from the start and some small hesitation and misses meant that I couldn’t stay with the leaders despite a strong final few controls. Still, it was brilliant fun to compete at this level and hopefully I’ll have more chances to improve in the KO discipline”.  

Images below: Grace crosses the finish line in the Knock-Out Sprint. Grace at the start line of the Know-Out Sprint. Credits: Silvan Schletti. 

GB Team Results