Final day of WOC.
After a week of orienteering the WOC week has come to an end.
The relay today will see Jeremy leading out the South African team followed by Nicholas with Michael listed as the final runner. Starting at 13h30 Jeremy hopes to better Michaels' performance from last year before handing over to Nick.
live coverage is available at http://www.woc2012.ch/en/live-centre.html from 13h30 SA time.
The long qualification saw good runs from both Nicholas ad Jeremy. Jeremy achieving his best ever result in the long distance and Nicholas happy with his run. The points allocated no longer attract an additional 5% for being a WOC qualifier, and therefore some of the results appear not as good in comparison as they were on the day.
The middle distance however was a disaster for all three runners. The third of the qualifying races in consecutive days, Jeremy was battling with fatigue, and the terrain was much tougher than anticipated. Even the winning times were longer than the organizers had predicted. 'This is my worst world ranking run in 8 years.' says Nicholas Mulder. Perhaps a longer training week in the terrain would have improved things ponders Mulder. Jeremy finished outside the points, but inside the overtime, and Michael scored 55 points, which he is very dissappointed about after 1145 in the sprint qualifier and 918 in the sprint final.
Michael is now the top ranked SA orienteer at 310 in the world. http://iof.6prog.org/WR_Athlete.aspx?aid=RSA32
All South African Runners are viewable here: http://iof.6prog.org/WR_Aths.aspx?how=F&fed=RSA
Saturday, 21 July 2012
Sunday, 15 July 2012
First ever Qualification to WOC Final for South Africa
Team South Africa got their 2012 World Champs programme off to a brilliant start on Saturday, when Michael Crone became the first ever South African to successfully qualify for a World Champs A-Final.
The Champs, being held in Lausanne, Switzerland started off with the Sprint distance qualifications in the morning, with Michael and Jeremy Green representing the country. The qualifcation area, which comprised the Lausanne Polytechnic University campus and his surrounds, perfectly suited Michael in his Men's C-Heat. The course of 4.0km and 16 controls was very fast and not too technically challenging, very similar to conditions back home. An easy start allowed Michael to get into a smooth tempo which he maintained throughout, only making about 25 seconds of mistakes in total. This was good enough to place him in 11th position on the heat, with the top 15 going through to the final. Michael ran a time of 13:56, 35 seconds down from heat winner Frederic Tranchand of France and only 7 seconds before the 15th place cut-off.
Jeremy, competing in the B-Heat in the Sprint Qualification, placed 25th in a time of 15:31, some 2:08 down on the heat winner, Mattias Merz of Switzerland, and 1:04 behind the 15th place qualification line. Jeremy was still very happy with his performance, which was a personal best placing for him at a World Champs.
Michael's qualification meant he was the 15th starter in the 45-man Sprint final on Saturday afternoon. A tough start saw Michael loosing time early on, with two additional mistakes further on in the course. "Running in the Sprint Final was a good experience for me. My goal was qualification into the final. I didn't really have a plan for it once I got there". Michael's final position was 43rd, with a time of 18:41, about 3 minutes behind the winner, Matthias Kyburz of Switzerland. South Africa's best performance in a Sprint remains Martin Terry in 2003 in Rapperswil, Switzerland. There Martin placed 32nd, with Qualifications in Sprint only being introduced a year later in 2004. Since then, South Africa's best performance has been a 21st place in a Qualification.
Michael is aged 21 years old and is only competing in his 2nd World Champs. Last year, in Aix-Les-Bains in France, he placed 25th in the sprint qualification race, over 4 minutes off the final qualification place. His improvement in the last 12 months have caught many off guard and his qualification into the final in 2012 has surprised most of the orienteering world.
"In the future I can do better in the Final. I made the final, even though I had mistakes, so I know I can repeat this qualification performance. It wasn't a fluke." says Michael. His split times in the final back this up, indicating that a top 30 position is very possible if he reduces the number of mistakes. "Next time I will prepare for both qualification and final!" he says.
Michael's team mates and the South African spectator contingent at World Champs are ecstatic with his performance. Jeremy Green notes: "We always knew he'd make it into the Sprint Final. We were just expecting it to be next year in 2013 and not this year! We thought he would have needed just a little more experience before he broke through, but we're thrilled to have been wrong."
The South African Team at WOC 2012 comprises of Michael Crone, Jeremy Green and Nicholas Mulder. The next race is the Long Distance Qualification on Sunday afternoon, with Nicholas Mulder and Jeremy Green competing. On Monday, all three South African men will run in the Middle Distance Qualification.
The Champs, being held in Lausanne, Switzerland started off with the Sprint distance qualifications in the morning, with Michael and Jeremy Green representing the country. The qualifcation area, which comprised the Lausanne Polytechnic University campus and his surrounds, perfectly suited Michael in his Men's C-Heat. The course of 4.0km and 16 controls was very fast and not too technically challenging, very similar to conditions back home. An easy start allowed Michael to get into a smooth tempo which he maintained throughout, only making about 25 seconds of mistakes in total. This was good enough to place him in 11th position on the heat, with the top 15 going through to the final. Michael ran a time of 13:56, 35 seconds down from heat winner Frederic Tranchand of France and only 7 seconds before the 15th place cut-off.
Michael Crone in the Sprint Qualification
photo by World of O / Photo Gallery
Jeremy, competing in the B-Heat in the Sprint Qualification, placed 25th in a time of 15:31, some 2:08 down on the heat winner, Mattias Merz of Switzerland, and 1:04 behind the 15th place qualification line. Jeremy was still very happy with his performance, which was a personal best placing for him at a World Champs.
Michael's qualification meant he was the 15th starter in the 45-man Sprint final on Saturday afternoon. A tough start saw Michael loosing time early on, with two additional mistakes further on in the course. "Running in the Sprint Final was a good experience for me. My goal was qualification into the final. I didn't really have a plan for it once I got there". Michael's final position was 43rd, with a time of 18:41, about 3 minutes behind the winner, Matthias Kyburz of Switzerland. South Africa's best performance in a Sprint remains Martin Terry in 2003 in Rapperswil, Switzerland. There Martin placed 32nd, with Qualifications in Sprint only being introduced a year later in 2004. Since then, South Africa's best performance has been a 21st place in a Qualification.
Michael Crone coming down the finish chute in the Sprint Final
photo by World of O / Photo Gallery
Michael is aged 21 years old and is only competing in his 2nd World Champs. Last year, in Aix-Les-Bains in France, he placed 25th in the sprint qualification race, over 4 minutes off the final qualification place. His improvement in the last 12 months have caught many off guard and his qualification into the final in 2012 has surprised most of the orienteering world.
"In the future I can do better in the Final. I made the final, even though I had mistakes, so I know I can repeat this qualification performance. It wasn't a fluke." says Michael. His split times in the final back this up, indicating that a top 30 position is very possible if he reduces the number of mistakes. "Next time I will prepare for both qualification and final!" he says.
Michael's team mates and the South African spectator contingent at World Champs are ecstatic with his performance. Jeremy Green notes: "We always knew he'd make it into the Sprint Final. We were just expecting it to be next year in 2013 and not this year! We thought he would have needed just a little more experience before he broke through, but we're thrilled to have been wrong."
Jeremy Green punching the 8th control in the Sprint Qualification
photo by World of O / Photo Gallery
The South African Team at WOC 2012 comprises of Michael Crone, Jeremy Green and Nicholas Mulder. The next race is the Long Distance Qualification on Sunday afternoon, with Nicholas Mulder and Jeremy Green competing. On Monday, all three South African men will run in the Middle Distance Qualification.
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