WOC 2007 KYIV

[graeme]

The gaffling, particularly the ladies, is extraordinary.

this looks much, much more effective than butterflies.

and the course planning looks fantastic.

[johnloguk]

Yes it looks awesome. The other thing that struck me was there is more urban terrain on the long map than the sprint! Great stuff.

[Kitch]

Its probably better than winning a race which Thierry chose to sit out

what crap !
if big Terry didn't run its because he felt his best chance (chances) lay elsewhere.

[awk]

what crap !
if big Terry didn't run its because he felt his best chance (chances) lay elsewhere.

He did that at the World Cup in Sweden: sat out the Long, and then stormed both Middle and Sprint; very very impressive. IIRC he's also been pretty blunt about the Long in the past - doesn't rate it compared to the other 2 disciplines.

[graeme]

Which is exactly my point. Having back to back long and middle finals means many of the top runners choose not to run in one or other the WOC final. And this devalues both.

Do you really think Merz wouldn't have liked to have beaten Tero?

[Gross]

yeah, yeah.... like everyone think's the WOC in Japan is devalued because lots didn't attend, or Jamie's first World Cup victory is devalued because it was in a very small field in Oz?. GOLD is GOLD.... he'll be well chuffed!

[Gross]

Achhh.... my guessing of the planning was wrong... I had 19 down as the last control.... got the finish right though:) [visiting the museum 2 years ago]

[EddieH]

Unusually I disagree with you Graeme. World Champion is World Champion whatever happens. Had Baxter not had that travesty of justice that took away his Olympic slalom medal, would he have felt the less of it because the conditions deteriorated after he had skied. Come to think of it that could easily happen in orienteering - it certainly does in golf. Gold is GOLD.

[Kitch]

Do you really think Merz wouldn't have liked to have beaten Tero?

Why would he care ?
Georgiou wasn't there - his choice, end of story
He chose to specialise, knows he's the best middle racer, not the best long racer.

Merz wins the Long word champs race for this year. He destroyed the field. You might as well argue that anyone who beats him in a poxy badge event for the rest of the year should be crowned World Champion, its one race if you want the title, believe you can take it, you run it.

many of the top runners choose not to run in one or other the WOC final. And this devalues both

Same point
these are different races in different disciplines. If people aren't capable of racing them all they choose - that is the whole point of having differnet disciplines - to drive specialisation to find different champions.

would you argue that Olympic 200m title is devalued by the 400m being scheduled too close ?

[graeme]

would you argue that Olympic 200m title is devalued by the 400m being scheduled too close ?

Of course, if there wasn't sufficient recovery time. But this argument has long ago been won, and its why they're scheduled at opposite ends of the week.

I know JD and JS opted out of the middle race, not because they're no good at it:!:, but because they know that one day isn't sufficient time to recover and perform to the best of their ability. This is not the athletes choice - its the choice of the schedulers

And do remember the original point I made was that the womens gold medals are worth every bit as much as the mens. The athletes can only contest the events that are put in front of them.

Gold is gold, and like any other commodity, the more of it there is around, the less valuable it is. That's why even most elites nowadays won't even remember who the "world champions" were.

[mharky]

you have been coming out with some jobby recently

[Gnitworp]

Gold is gold, and like any other commodity, the more of it there is around, the less valuable it is. That's why even most elites nowadays won't even remember who the "world champions" were.

Yes, winners of the single, bi-annual, 'Classic' individual world championships of the 70's and 80's were household names; 'everyone' knew who they were. Only geeks and aficionados now remember the names of all the modern champions.

[Gross]

A comment on the BOF website today suggests that GB should adjust it's expectation on WOC due to increasing competition from Eastern Europe. Fair enough....

But anyone know offhand what BOF expectations are from WOC?? I know that a relay result is not so important* as the funding agencies aren't so interested... be interesting to know how close GB performs in relation to it's targets....

*when lottery funding first came in there was a specific requirement to perform in relays & a lot of training was targetted at that... now individual performance is the most important..... politics:)

[mharky]

Is misqoute from some guy in formular 1 on the news today.

Just improving is not enough, if your opponents are improving faster than you then you are going backwards.

[rob f]

you have been coming out with some jobby recently

unusually i agree with mharky. At the end of the day gg and pippa have trained for the sprint, jamie for the long and matt crane for the middle, they knew which was best for them and they trained for that discipline. Those who train for all 3 may have worked harder, but all the same if you win a gold you are a champion, end of. Equally if you work so hard that you achieve something exceptional for you, you are a champion. Some people who were 8th, 12th, even 33rd may have achieved something in the finals, just because they werent contested by every top orienteer doesnt mean that achievement is devalued