Team GOLD for the girls! JWOC 2019 roundup
The 2019 Junior World Orienteering Championships finished in the best possible way last weekend with the girls taking Great Britain’s first ever JWOC gold medal.
With the medallists from earlier in the week – Fiona Bunn and Grace Molloy – on legs two and three, all eyes were on first leg Megan Keith. The pressure was on and Megan handled it brilliantly, sending out Fiona with the pack on second leg. A strong second leg by the Russians sent Grace out 1:20 down on last leg but Grace is in the form of her life, and fought back to take an astonishing first ever victory by the British team.
The boys’ team was also thrilling the British spectators. Freddie Carcas came back six, well within the pack on first leg for the British first team, closely followed by Finlay Todd for the second team. Eddie Narbett and Alastair Thomas of Edinburgh University took over from Freddie, both running really well to bring the team back in sixth, only the second time ever the British junior men’s team has finished in the coveted top six positions, and bringing to end a truly spectacular week by the British team.
It is the last Junior World Championships for Freddie, Finlay, Fiona, Eddie and Laura who move on to the senior ranks next year. What a great debut though for Eilidh Campbell (33rd in the sprint race), Peter Molloy (43rd in the long) and Megan Keith (relay GOLD). Grace Molloy will be massively inspired by her success this year, and I think we all join her in looking forward to seeing what JWOC 2020 in Turkey will bring next year.
– Claire Ward, SOA Performance Director.