Scots head to World Cup in Finland

The weekend marks the start of the international orienteering season, with the first World Cup races of 2019 to be held in Finland. Great Britain are taking a team of 11 athletes, including the Scots Jo Sheperd, Jess Halliday, Alasdair McLeod, Hector Haines and Alexander Chepelin.

On Saturday the athletes race over a normal middle distance course, with Saturday results being reversed to form the start list for Sunday’s long distance course. The first back from the long distance race takes victory on Sunday too.

The forests being used are tricky and tough with lots of intricate rock detail and energy-sapping marshes, which should make for tight, exciting races.  The action then comes out of the forest and moves to Helsinki’s city centre for a Mixed Sprint Relay on Tuesday, which brings to an end the opening set of races.