JWOC

[DIDSCO]

Grahame > I wonder if you disagree just for the sake of it. Your comment doesn't seem to make sense. At the moment only 5 British men are ranked top 100 in the world, so I would say aiming to get more ranked in top 100 wouldn't be a bad start.
You say there is very little evidence to suggest our top juniors don't make it as seniors. Well there is, you only have to look at our best ever male and female performers at JWOC to see this, Siggy Gould 7th (1997)and Alison O'neal 3rd(2004). Neither made it, have made it yet, in the seniors. In Siggy's case a well structured u-25 group would probably have kept him in the sport. The guy was left out in the cold by the squad system when he most needed the support.
The group I suggest is certainly not just for former JWOC runners, it would also pick up new talent along the way, and help develop more runners like Sara, Pippa, Barrable who haven't come through the juniors. Make it easier and quicker for them to improve and then take the step up to internationals.

Simon> Hakan Pettersson, is probably one of the most talented orienteers Swedens ever had. He prioritized his education and job over an international orienteering career. He still managed to pick up a silver medal at the European Champs in 2002 which isn't too bad! And he's also the only guy I know who can memorise a whole middle distance course and run the whole course at top speed without a map.

Harry> Shame you take that classic British attitude "you can do it on your own if you want it that bad". The fact is that in modern sport that's just not realistic anymore, and thats even the case in orienteering. Athletes need good support mechnaisms to succeed. You talk about "it coming down to whether the athlete has the right mental and physical capacity to handle the training required, can the athlete stay motivate, can they avoid injury/illness"....well this is exactly what this group would do, it would find out whether you were capable of taking the step up to perform at the highest level at WOC, it would help keep you motivated with good coaching, it would help you avoid illness / injury with good coaching, it would give the young seniors a chance of developing there full potential. Being realistic most won't make it, but many more should make it than if they were left to look out for themselves.

Anyway JWOC starts in 15 minutes so I better start walking the 300m from my house to the JWOC final now....come on Britain

[Stef]

First start in the JWOC Middle Final off in about 10 mins...then Julia second start..hoping the live commentary and results will work as well as they did yesterday!!

[Becks]

Wow, for once I'm finding myself totally agreeing with Dids!

I'm also not sure you can make the top 15 at JWOC: top 100 in the world at senior link quite so clearly - the one thing that Scandi Juniors in particular (and increasingly Eastern European nations) is large amounts of competition domestically - they're more experienced at high end racing and coping with the pressure than our UK athletes, where our top W20 can lose over 4 minutes in mistakes and half a shoe in a selection race, and still get a top three placing. Credit to her, but that wouldn't happen if our fields were bigger. I don't think the Start Squad helps at all with narrowing down this pool, but that's been said a million times over.

I really like the Swiss system of having a National A team that is fully funded, a B team that is partially funded and a C team who pay their own way. (I think that's right, Helen might be able to correct me). Their programme is pretty much open, leading to bigger training sessions for people on every step of the development ladder. In all these groups there may only be one Simone Niggli or Thierry, but you need the critical mass of others pushing them to the line to be able to achieve that excellence. And harking back to what Graeme was saying the other day, if a "B" team trains together, they're likely to stay a B team. Put them head to head with the big boys and there's a chance that maybe a few will push themselves higher.

Obviously our funding system is a nightmare and I have no idea whether this would ever be feasible. But as someone who's sat in no man's land for four or five years now, it's a depressing as hell place to be, and I'm very close to giving up completely. I think an improved team spirit, which is starting to be fostered with EDS and already existing in SEDS, is one way to help perk you up in those down moments.


I don't think I've said anything to disparage the athletes out there at the moment, but just in case I want to say that having coached most of the present JWOC group, they are a hugely talented and motivated group of athletes, and I really hope they perform as well as they expect.

[Mrs H]

Victoria's still winning the b final - how many in it?

[Stef]

Victoria Stevens winning B Final, only few left to come in but weren't challenging Victorias time at radio control...

[Becks]

67 I think, with 15 to start after Vicky.

[Stef]

about 5 or 6 left i think

[andy]

Victoria Stevens winning B Final, only few left to come in but weren't challenging Victorias time at radio control...

yep, the last few starters are 3/4 mins behind, looking good!

[Becks]

Yep, she's won. Well done Vicky!

[andy]

boo, wish I had sound at work

[Becks]

I wish my lunch break was longer - should have planned my experiments after looking at the schedule for today!

[Stef]

two girls gone through radio in womens a, no julia yet tho uh oh

[andy]

two girls gone through radio in womens a, no julia yet tho uh oh

just gone through, looks like she's had a bit of a 'mare

[Stef]

yeah.....think the Long will be her best as she is very very very fit, its the map reading that lets her down

[Stef]

anne gone through in 4th