Scots head to Norway for WOC 2019

The days, weeks and months of training are complete; maps have been poured over and endless potential courses analysed, but now there is little more the athletes from all over the world can do to prepare for the World Orienteering Championships which start in Sarpsburg, Norway on Tuesday 13 August.

“The forests are wild and fabulous to run through, but technical in places”, said Peter Hodkinson, who will be the first member of the British team to enter the forest in Tuesday’s Middle Qualification race.  He goes on to say “I am looking to have a stable, clean run tomorrow and finish in the top 15 to qualify.  I am confident that all 6 British runners will make it through.”

Joining Peter in the Middle discipline are Oslo-based Matt Speake and Ralph Street.  Ralph finished an excellent 13th last year, and is hoping to build on that in this exciting terrain.  INVOC’s Jo Shepherd is joined in the women’s team by Cat Taylor, fresh from the Scottish 6 Days where she took victory in both world ranking events, and the winner of this year’s Scottish Orienteering Championships, Megan Carter Davies.

This year is the first where the forest orienteering disciplines have been separated from the sprint races, making for a much more select British team.  Jo will be joined in the Long race on Wednesday by Edinburgh University graduate Charlotte Watson, and Scottish athletes Graham Gristwood and Hector Haines.  It’s great to see Hector and Graham back in the team and running at their best again after injury setbacks in recent years.

The Middle final takes place on Friday, and the Relay brings the Championships to an end on Saturday.

For live results, GPS tracking and live feed see the Championship website here:  https://www.woc2019.no/en/