WMOC 2008

[Spookster]

WMOC starts in Portugal on Sunday. Good luck to all the Brits going (just over 200 of us).

It should feature:

• the biggest Sprint Race ever? (over 3,000 people )
• some really nice forested sand dune terrain
• some nice weather

WMOC website

Hopefully we can also get easy internet access, to keep an eye on how well the Juniors are doing at JWOC .

[Axel]

Anybody know where to find the results of the sprint qualifiers and is there a live link to results for the this competition?

[DJM]

I'm currently sitting right next to the person responsible. Things were hectic in the arena this morning (hundreds of changes of SI-card number for example) and the uploading of results to the web took a lower priority. We're now about to do the start draw for tomorrow and then the results will go up.

Some good Brit results however ... watch this space!

[DJM]

Results now available at http://www.wmoc2008.fpo.pt/index.php?lang=en&op1=124. Still working on the start draws for tomorrow's finals!

[Axel]

Some good results in the heats. Best of luck tomorrow to all.

[Neil M40]

Preliminary results are available at http://www.wmoc2008.fpo.pt/results/sf_live.html

I think we have 3 champions - Liz Godfree in W60, Elizabeth Brown in W90 and James Crawford in M50.

[DJM]

The Long Qualifiers have now ended in the intricate sand dune terrain of Pataias and it's now off to the Finals (more sand dunes!) at Pedrogao on Saturday. Full results are at http://www.wmoc2008.fpo.pt/index.php?lang=en&op1=124 - plenty of A Finalists from team GBR and some top 12 results (aggregating all heats) from the following:-

Jon Musgrave (M45A)
Martin Dean (M50A)
Mike Pearson and Peter Gorvett (M60A)

Beccy Osborn (W35A)
Sarah Dunn (W40A)
Jane Morgan and Hazel Dean (last two starters in W45A - expect a real battle here!)
Jackie Hallett (penultimate starter in W50A)
Sue Hands and Hilary Palmer (W60A)
Anne Donnel (W75A)
Elizabeth Brown (going for the Sprint and Long double in W90A)

Good luck to all the Brits. The weather looks set to be perfect too ...

[AndyO]

Eddie Harwood also qualified for the 'A' final in M55

[AndyO]

Provisional results now through - showing Gold for Sarah Dunn on W40A, Silver for partner Jon Musgrave on M45A. Great work, superb results!

Also good results for
M50A - Simon Beck 8th, Martin Dean 11th
M55A - Eddie Harwood 5th
M60A - Mike Pearson 4th
W45A - Alice Bedwell 3rd, Jane Morgan 13th

I know I've missed others in a large entry, but well done everyone.

[Darwin]

Not forgetting silver for Pete Gorvett in M60A!

[Tatty]

to Elizabeth Brown, SO winner in W90
Inara Gipsle , TVOC, 3rd in W55
Anne Donnell, BOK, 3rd in W75
Jackie Hallett, BOK, 6th in W50
Mike Pearson, WCOC, 6th in M60

[Big Jon]

GB 3rd in combined sprint and long medal table - behind Sweden and Finland, but ahead of Norway - 5 golds to 4.
Races were superbly organised and the forest wonderful - especially the long final - think Culbin and vegetation with attitude

Well done to the Portugese federation who put on a superb event - and good weather!!

[DJM]

Big Jon said

Well done to the Portugese federation who put on a superb event - and good weather!!

Yes, well done the Portuguese Federation indeed! They took on the challenge of staging by far the biggest event they have ever held in their short history, including the world's biggest ever Sprint race (3000+ starters), and succeeded magnificently. Attention to detail was terrific, so much so that the competitors simply saw a well-oiled machine in operation, few realising just what a mountain of preparation had been completed in the 2-3 years beforehand.

The event director, Carlos Monteiro, must take the lion's share of the credit for organising so superbly, ably supported of course by his team of over 300 volunteers, drawn from all over Portugal.

One lesson for us to learn in the UK is that every one of the volunteers was accommodated and fed throughout the week (or fortnight, for the team leaders and other key helpers). I wonder how many major British events treat their helpers so appreciatively ...

[DJM]

The full results medal table (Sprint and Long combined) is posted below and shows by far the best British performance at any WMOC (or VWC before the name change) ever:-

FED... G... S... B... Total
SWE... 23.. 13.. 10.. 46
FIN... 12.. 5... 8... 25
NOR... 4... 6... 6... 16
GBR... 5... 5... 3... 13
AUS... 1... 2... 3... 6
LAT... 1... 2... 2... 5
RUS... 2... 1... 1... 4
EST... 0... 1... 2... 3
FRA... 0... 1... 2... 3
LTU... 0... 1... 2... 3
SUI... 0... 1... 2... 3
DEN... 0... 1... 1... 2
ESP... 0... 1... 0... 1
GER... 0... 1... 0... 1
SVK... 0... 1... 0... 1
USA... 0... 1... 0... 1
UKR... 0... 1... 0... 1
BUL... 0... 0... 1... 1

Sorry about the messy formatting but I don't think this forum supports tables ... Full results are available from the event website http://www.wmoc2008.fpo.pt/

[roadrunner]

From the results for the sprint final:

W90 Final (1) 825.0 km 30 m 10 C

That's some sprint!!