WC2

[Homer]

Anyone have an insight into what happened in the Sprint Relay today?

Decent result for GBR in 5th, but only thanks to half the field mispunching or getting disqualified. EMIT timing. Coincidence??

[greywolf]

Didn't watch it live but splits and tracking suggest most (14/17?) of mp were due to missing out a fairly noddy control just before the finish

[NeilC]

Didn't watch it live but splits and tracking suggest most (14/17?) of mp were due to missing out a fairly noddy control just before the finish

We were sent an image of the map that was being handed out in the arena and not only was that control on a straight line between the last and third-to-last control but also most of the circle had been cut away to show the OOB blocks. A classic scenario for not spotting it on the map.

[IanD]

As a geriatric, I frequently grump about orienteering becoming a test of visual acuity in spotting things on the map rather than a test of navigation ability. Perhaps some of the elites may have a better understanding after this one?

[greywolf]

having now seen the competition maps rather than the loggator version it's easy to see why that control got missed

[Lard]

It looks like the final was just a lottery as to who spotted most of the optimum routes.
#notmysport

[Scott]

It's less of a lottery if, like most of the top athletes, you've spent hundreds of hours analysing routechoice problems on your homemade map and exploring Google Streetview.

It's fair to ask whether those sort of preparations should be part of the sport. Sadly, short of holding all international events in countries where that type of data isn't available, there's not much that can be done to prevent it, so it's up to the planners to find ways of setting courses where the athletes don't already know all the answers in advance.

[Snail]

IOF could possibly revert to the system used for WOC many years ago, where an event centre is known, but the event itself could be anywhere "within XX kilometres".

That could either mean many more embargoed areas, or perhaps none at all. It would be more challenging preparing for maybe 20+ different possible locations. Athletes wouldn't know the location until bussed to quarantine.

That could improve the event quality, but might have to mean a lower-key media etc presence, which is probably why it won't happen.

[Scott]

That might work if your sprint race is in a completely private location - like the "horticultural expo venue" used for the recent World Games - but as soon as you start closing public roads then it becomes impossible to keep some quite specific details about the location a secret. Usually at least one of the local council, police and highways authority will need to publish information about road closures on their website months in advance, and then there's the consultation with local businesses, residents etc.

[IanD]

You can do a lot to frustrate those who study Streetview etc by making unexpected changes to the area. You can create temporary blockages across otherwise useful routes (and the blockage need be nothing more than a thick red line on the map, a line of tape on the ground, and a marshal primed to copy down the bib numbers of "cheats"). Even better, you can sometimes open unexpected corridor routes through buildings that would normally be OOB.