50th World Military Championship Orienteering 2017 – Day 3 – Long Distance Event

Second Gold Medal for Mironova and Sild at the 50th WMC Orienteering 2017 in Hamina (FIN)

HAMINA (FIN) - After their first gold medal in the distance competition on Monday, Russian Svetlana Mironova and Estonian Timo Sild were once again the strongest orienteers in Tuesdays’ long distance race at the CISM World Military Orienteering Championships 2017.

On the women’s 7.3 km course, Mironova was 71 seconds faster than her fellow citizen Anastasia Rudnaya: “I was tired after yesterday’s race. I could really feel it, especially along the final sandy uphill after the last control. Yesterday, I was flying there, but today going up was a real struggle”, smiled Mironova. The winner tried to save her energy during the first kilometers of the race and rather concentrated on a technically perfect orienteering. “I really thought that Anastasia (Rudnaya) would win today because she started later than I and usually the first athletes are creating some paths for those who start later helping them in the forest”, added Mironova.

In fact, Rudnaya was leading the race until the middle part of the race, but some problems during the end of the race prevented her from winning the gold medal: “I face some problems with the compass orienteering, especially in the green areas”, said Rudnaya.

Timo Sild won a clear victory on the men’s 13 km course. Although the Estonian made a small mistake at the first control, he was afterwards able to perform optimally: ”After that minor mistake, I was able to focus again and I think that was a crucial factor to help me winning the gold medal today. Of course, I did not know how I ran compared to the others, but I thought that if I sustained the same tempo as yesterday, I would achieve another good performance”, declared Sild.

Apart from the Estonian Sild, the Russians made a great impression yesterday. Indeed, Leonid Novikov took the silver medal in the men’s race and four Russian women were part of the top 5 in the women’s race.

The Polish runners surprised today. Alexandra Hornik was the only woman able to challenge the Russians by taking the bronze medal 1.40 behind Mironova. “We have had a three-week training camp in Finland so I was well prepared. I am physically in good shape so I just had to make a good technical run. Before the race, I thought I would make it to the top 6, but I was really dreaming of a medal. Yesterday I made some mistakes in the middle distance, but I knew that today I would fight for the medal”, Hornik said. Wojciech Kowalski was the bronze medalist of the men’s race. The Polish orienteer said that the beginning of the race was important for him. He caught the Finn Miika Kirmula up at the first control and after that, the duo ran almost the whole course together. He admitted that Kirmula’s high tempo and precision were an advantage. “To be honest, I thought I could make it to the top 10 with a good performance. I did not expect a medal, though. I guess I was lucky today because I had the opportunity to run with Kirmula”, Kowalski said.

The Polish coach Janusz Porzysz was very satisfied with his athletes’ performance. “I did not expect any individual medals but, on the other hand, in the previous championships we have been running better in the long distance than in the middle distance”, added Porzysz.

For the results of the long distance event, click here!

Today, June 14, the athletes will enjoy a rest day as the programme features a cultural day instead of the competitions.

The final competition will be the Relay that will take place on Thursday, June 15.

For the start lists, online results, official results, GPS Tracking and route gadget of the long distance competition that is taking place today, check https://www.vehkalahdenveikot.fi/wmoc2017/)

For more information regarding the 50th WMC Orienteering that is currently taking place in the city of Hamina, Finland, from 10 to 16 June, check the OC Website: http://puolustusvoimat.fi/en/web/sotilasliikunta/wmoc2017 or their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/puolustus/!

The official hashtag of the 50th WMC Orienteering 2017 is #50wmoc2017

(Source: CISM Media and Communication Department)

(Source: WMOC OC http://puolustusvoimat.fi/en/web/sotilasliikunta/wmoc2017)

(Pictures: Maxime Morlet, CISM Media and Communication Assistant)