JWOC

[Gross]

Being inclusive.... Latvia (2.5million) got a bronze in relay & Lithuania (3.5million) got top 20's in all but 1 individual event.

Congrats to Brits on giving their best.... you can't ask for more.

[Meat Market]

Brooner you big noping Aussie hating racist! You're not my friend any more... To be fair the evidence was there- the ritualistic beatings, the mass exterminations...

How did the Croatians get on this year?

[Gross]

IFK Mora got 3 medals in JWOC relays.... Czech in M, Sweden & Swiss in W - good prospects for future races if they don't all become crocks like their present batch of imports:)

[Nails]

haha lily

[ifititches]

awk wrote

" with Becca Roberts mispunching"

Not according to the results I've just been looking at Andrew? One of the Finns was the mp in the combined team, unless the legs were interchanged between the runners.

Some really good runs within those GBR relay teams and congratulations to everyone for their performances. It must have been a great experience and I'm looking forward to seeing some maps and hearing more about it over the summer!

[brooner]

what I said was meant rather tongue in cheek! but given that a lot of the Irish runners compete over here quite regularly I think its good that people are taking an interest as to how they're getting on.

It was the 2nd leg finn who mispunched in the team that Becca was in.

I thought GB were going to finish higher in the men's, Duncan had done well by the 2nd radio control to get us up to within striking distance of the top 10 but might well have had a longer gaffle after that, but i'm sure thats higher than it had said GBR finished on the live updates last night but maybe thats was my sleepiness confusing matters.

[brooner]

ah i've figured out why, the final results don't include 2nd teams.

[ER]

I was awake; just. Czech male teams came in 1st and 3rd, but only one medal is awarded per country; hence the Lativians who were 4th team picked up the bronze and the Czech team who came third overall do not get a medal because their first team won gold.

The Czech third leg runner held off Lundanes. There was a sprint finish in the Women's. Lots of excitement especially when Duncan was reported as 11 th at the first radio control on the final leg.

Responding to Gross's reference to Latvia and Lithuania being countries with relatively small populations, it is great to see different countries sharing in success, but I don't think size has much to do with it.

The commentary team were good to listen to - in big event style the numbers they were quoting for the crowd present rose from 16,000 to 20,000 in a matter of minutes. Obviously there were a lot of people there.

The GB team are to be congratulated - they will all have given their best in representing their country and learnt loads about the road to podium glory.

[LostAgain]

What do the Czech's have that we don't?

They have managed to get 2 mens teams into the top 3, I take it they are all Juniors and no age difference to the rest of the competitors there?

A remarkable result for a relatively small nation suggesting huge strength in depth.

Something you expect from Norway where Orienteering is something almost everyone is exposed to.

[andy]

Czech male teams came in 1st and 3rd, but only one medal is awarded per country; hence the Lativians who were 4th team picked up the bronze and the Czech team who came third overall do not get a medal because their first team won gold.

is that the same in all orienteering competitions on a world level?

I'd be pretty upset if I had come third in a world champs relay, only to not get given the bronze medal because I happen to have been beaten by someone from the same country as me

strikes me as a little bit odd

[Gross]

The GB team are to be congratulated - they will all have given their best in representing their country and learnt loads about the road to podium glory.

You cannot ask people to give more than their best - it's important to remember that. And it's more important that the athletes (as juniors) had fun, learnt & enjoyed while giving their best! Well done the juniors....

Now why Czech, Latvia, Lithuania, etc etc are getting better results than GBR is a question that needs asked. This was meant to be neutral terrain & mention in advance by GBR staff etc was of potential top 10 places... are we being fed false expectations?

I pointed out to BOF recently that the senior GB teams realy performances were showing a downward trend. The response from BOF was that stastitics for relays mean nothing as our funding partners aren't interested in them:)

[distracted]

is that the same in all orienteering competitions on a world level?

I'd be pretty upset if I had come third in a world champs relay, only to not get given the bronze medal because I happen to have been beaten by someone from the same country as me

Pretty sure at the world champs there is only one relay team from each country, so that problem won't happen...

[awk]

What do the Czech's have that we don't?

Others more knowledgeable can confirm or deny, but I suspect that one thing they have is a much bigger pool: numbers of juniors at Czech races appear to vastly outstrip the numbers we get. Taking up Gross's highlighting of other smaller nation performances - it's not the overall population that matters, far more critical are the numbers competing, and Eastern Europe is way ahead of us on that front from what I've seen.

Having said that, without wanting to be complacent, JWOC relays (indeed, JWOCs full stop) have rarely been the source of outstanding results, and there have been worse ones from latterly exalted performers.

My apologies to Rebecca - I saw the 'mp' against her name on leg 3 on the live results, and drew the wrong conclusion.

[awk]

iI'd be pretty upset if I had come third in a world champs relay

They'd be even more upset if not allowed to run, which is another alternative.

[Blanka]

What do the Czechs have that we don't?

Orienteering is a lot bigger back in the Czech Republic than it is over here in Great Britain. When you look at the numbers of orienteers as a percentage of the population they are a lot higher so the pool to choose from is a lot greater. The sport also has a much higher profile and people know what orienteering is (sport which involves running) rather than thinking of it as that treasure-hunt-type-of-thing-I-did-in-scouts, which helps recruitment.

What also helps is that clubs are centred on cities/towns and there is a lot more club based training, so rather than an Essex-based club there'd be a Chelmsford based one (for example), which allows an awful lot more shared training and socialising. (But again, not possible with the British concentration of orienteers in any one area).

I think a big thing is attitude. Having read reviews of past JWOC's (available on the Czech Orienteering Federation's website to anyone), which include pretty personal reviews of the team's and each athlete's performance, I can see that the Czech management call good results good but aren't afraid to say it when they think an athlete was just not up to scratch. In GB orienteering, everyone just seems to pussyfoot around congratulating the athletes even if we sometimes know the results were a pretty poor performance. From the Czech events I've been to I think this emphasis on competitiveness starts early on, with kids as young as 10 being encouraged at the start by their parents to beat a particular rival and so forth, something we don't often see (or not as strongly) in GBR. I am not saying this bigger competitiveness is always a good thing as it might put off some kids who would prefer to do the sport recreationally, but I think calling bad results bad is well-placed at the top level.

Finally, there is a financial incentive as athletes get some bonuses for being well-placed at major events (not quite sure how many places, but I think it's based on medals, podium places and maybe top 10). Is there a similar incentive here?