A Great WOC, That's For Sure

Is this the real star of WOC2006? The photo shows Per Forsberg, chief speaker for WOC 2006, and apparently a well-known TV commentator on football and athletics in Sweden. Many of you will already be familiar with his fast, loud and enthusiastic commentary, and will also recognise his many catch phrases, especially "he's too late" and "that's for sure". For those who have never heard him, think Jonathan Pearce with a slight Swedish accent.

Per kept up what seemed like a continuous stream of well-informed commentary throughout the whole of WOC. He was clearly supported by an extensive array of radio control times, TV cameras and real-time tracking information from TracTrac, as well as a team of helpers who were picking out the real action. The spectators got only part of this information, with limited viewing of the tracking information. The big screen was the biggest I've ever seen, and was used well to present a mix of split times, finish times and shots from the forest. From what I can tell it would appear that people watching via the internet probably had more information available, since they could access everything Per had. So in some ways this was the first year when watching from home really seems to have been a valid option.

So what did you get from being there? I guess it's the same question for any sporting event. There was a real sense of atmosphere at every race, with an awful lot noise (especially from Swiss cow bells) and huge numbers of flags, especially Swiss, British, Finnish and Swedish. The race arenas themselves were in fact marginally too small for the numbers that turned up, and the main spectating areas were very hard to move through at the Middle and Relay races because there were simply too many people crammed in. Apparently the Sprint race could have used an athletics stadium for the finish, but the organisers were worried that this was too big and would have looked empty. There were excellent facilities at each race, with huge tents supplying food and drink, plus an ice cream van and beer van each day, and the weather overall was warm and sunny, with just an occasional thunderstorm. And of course you have to be there spectating in order to be able to run in the forest afterwards to find how hard it really was.

There were also several points where the reaction of the crowd really added to the suspense. Remember that an orienteering crowd is extremely knowledgeable about what is going on, and has a pretty good idea of who should be doing what and when. The things that caused the biggest gasps or cheers throughout the week were:

• Simon Niggli punching the spectator control 6 seconds down on Hanny Alston. That was the point when the crowd worked out there was a real prospect of a huge upset.
• The tracking display of the long leg on the Men's Long Final, showing runners taking very different route choices. The biggest shock was when Jani Lakanen appeared to stop dead, but we then worked out that this was because we had caught up to real time and he was still doing the leg.
• David Andersson of Sweden punching the spectator control at the Middle Final and then running the wrong way along the tapes and starting the last loop backwards. I'm surprised that the gasps from the crowd weren't enough to tell him something was wrong.
• The many mistakes that showed up on the tracking for the Middle Race and Relay, where what we all thought were the world's best orienteers proved that they were human too. Particularly for the Relay it seemed that nearly everyone had a go at making a serious mistake when in or near the lead.

And finally a thought that no-one else seems to have picked up on yet. The Middle Race was originally meant to be include a Micro O section to add spectator interest. Luckily, in my opinion, the WOC organisers failed to get the financial support to do this. What we saw was a fantastic, and spectator-friendly, Middle Race with no need for gimmicks or compromise. Let's stick with proper orienteering for the World Championships, and let the races speak for themselves.

WOC+8: Who wants to win the relays?

A weird day at the relays, where several of the top teams got into a good position only to throw it away with quite serious mistakes. Norway, Sweden and Switzerland were all guilty, leaving Finland to take the Women's race and Russia to take a surprising gold in the Men's race. The French men were never in contention, and the two British teams both started well but faded away.

The overall TV coverage and commentary was excellent and made following the races very easy and exciting. The tracking system also showed numerous errors at critical points. It was a strange decision to show tracking on aerial photographs rather than the O map until most of the third leg runners had started, since the critical information was all available to the watching runners (gaffling, left and right route choice options).

So that's WOC for another year. Who fancies a week in Kiev next year?

WOC+6: Picnic time

A day off for the big boys, but day 4 of the WOC Tour for us, and a chance to see the Long Distance area. Pleasant enough but nothing special was how I felt afterwards. Not as physical as the qualifier, and actually quite dull at the end when the contours ran out and the navigation got simple. Looking at the men's course it looks like they suffered the same fate, with a ditch junction near the end being a particularly poor control site.

And then on to the traditional British Team picnic. After various exotic locations this one ended up in a corridor in the Radisson Hotel. The British supporters turned out in force and filled the corridor, much in the way that the various events seem to have event arenas not quite big enough for the crowds turning up.

As you may have guessed, it's proving hard to keep up to date, so expect some short reports to follow, with quite an exciting thing happening very soon...

WOC+5: Normal service is restored

The long distance final restored normal order, but only just. Pre-race favourites Simon Niggli and Janne Lakanen took gold, but it was close at the top, with several nations having a good day. The GB team had one of those days we now expect: nothing spectacular but pretty reasonable really. Difficult to cheer, but better than it feels at the time, as I seem to have written so often in reviewing WOC history.

From the spectating point of view the event arena was good, with everything in a long thin field in a valley. The run-in was along the bottom, with spectators sitting on the side looking down on the action. There was the token spectator control. This was a wooden platform behind the run-in that, as usual, meant a run down to it and then back out without providing any real orienteering merit other than to show the runners to the crowd. The big screen is really very big, and people are beginning to understand what to show on it. The TV control had enough cameras to build up some tension as people approached and you could see the runner's position gradually slipping down the field. There was a brief appearance of the tracking system, showing a long leg on each course and giving a first idea of how critical some of the route choices appear to have been. However it is still very difficult to integrate this into a real-time commentary, and I still think it is more useful for a highlights programme after the event.

Without seeing the splits it is difficult to be sure, but it seems there were some fairly large packs forming again. Lakanen certainly ran a large portion of the race with Gonon of France, dragging him into the top 10 (or was it the other way round?). Jamie Stevenson apparently ran the whole course on his own, which must have cost him time. Just one of those things if you accept a 2 minute start interval.

So two races gone, two to go. Another rest day for the poor elites whilst we spectators get to see what the area was really like.

WOC+4: Queen of the South

So now we know Simone can be beaten, and by a junior at that. Hanny Alston from Australia took gold in the sprint final at the end of a hectic day for the elites, the also-rans and I'm afraid to say the event officials.

Didn't have time to fit in a visit to spectate at the Qualifier, but the news was good for GB with everybody through. My secret weapon in the O-Manager game, Troy de Haas of Australia, got disqualified and then reinstated after they decided two controls were less than 30m apart. An Irish runner got re-instated because a car was parked in front of a control. The perils of sprint race planning and controlling. WOC Tour race in the morning was pleasant but nothing special. Heather Monro came out of World Championships retirement to win W21E.

Car parking for the Opening Ceremony was chaos. Glad I don't live in one of the local streets. Ten minute walk through light rain to get to the arena, but the weather then brightened up nicely until everything was over. The opening ceremony was slightly strange and one of the worst examples of its kind. It never really got going or seemed to have any point. The Crown Prince of Denmark did a short speech in which he attempted, and managed, simultaneously to sound like Prince Charles and Tony Blair. The finish area itself was quite impressive with massive grandstands for the spectators, even though the sight lines weren't particularly great. Finish out of sight to the left, spectator control out of sight behind the stage. The Swiss won the "bring a flag" competition, and it looked like Norway had forgotten there was an event on. Perhaps they knew what was to come, with Norway having a terrible set of results.

The men's race was looking good for GB all the way. BJ came in early and in the lead, GG had an absolute stormer and was in the lead at the spectator control. He lost a few seconds in the last loop, and reckoned his ninth place could have been a top six. Matt Speake got disqualified for crossing an uncrossable fence. So did Troy de Haas; the first person ever to be disqualified in a World Champs Qualifier and Final on the same day? The British women went even better than the men, with Helen Bridle finishing sixth, Pippa Whitehouse 12th and Sarah Rollins 16th. But is was the last few moments that will be remembered. Hanny Alston finished to take the lead, having been towed round the last loop by Helen. Just after that Simone punched the spectator control and we knew she was six second down on the lead. Could she do it? Not this time. Perhaps she'll have to settle for only three golds this year. Or is someone else out there going to take another one away?

WOC+3: WOC Tour Day 2

Another day, another event to run. This time the WOC Tour was just south of Arhus in the forest along the coast. This was predominantly beech with some interesting contour detail at 2.5m, not too much unpleasant vegetation but a very dense path network. It was certainly a bit easier to run than the previous day, and speeds increased all round.

Then it was another hard day sightseeing (bog man plus Viking and Roman remains in the Moesgard museum, which just happened to be the car park for the event) followed by a quick trip to the beach (water temperature 21C if you believe the sign by the life guard's hut).

And now the real event starts. Looks like we won't have time to make it to the qualifier in the morning, so it's WOC Tour Day 3 first (same place as yesterday) followed by the Opening Ceremony followed by the first final. Optimistic British spectator view says six through to the final, top 10 places for Sarah Rollins and BJ. Super-optimistic British spectator view puts GG in the top 10 as well, and gives BJ a medal. Norway, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, France, Switzerland, Ukraine, Russia and even countries like Italy and Australia will also think they've got a chance of a medal.

WOC+2: Long Distance Qualification

After a hot day spectating and competing in the Danish sunshine we can now start to answer those important questions that all spectators need to ask. Nobody has gone for a really outlandish new O-suit this year, and the new British kit is a subtle red, white and blue that seems to look better in photos than it does in real life. The Norwegians are still running round in kit that looks like it has been washed too often, and at least some of the Swedes have thrown away the sleeves of their O-tops along with the rule book that says they should have them. Enough on the fashion report.

Second important question is what is the terrain like. My WOC Tour M40 course of 7.8km took 84 minutes, which sounds pretty awful until you factor in 430m climb (that the Danes cunningly avoid bothering to mention). I could say it's like Cannock Chase or the Chilterns or Bury Walls or Mytchett but the thing it is most like is of course Denmark. Pleasant enough in most places, but with some truly horrid walk (I didn't risk the fight) and relentless short sharp climbs. Vegetation turned out to be better than I'd feared, with a fair amount of quite low bracken, and some stinging nettles hiding to keep you awake when you ran into them by accident.

As for the WOC Long Qualifier it was basically more of the same. All the big names got round safely, with the superstars making it look easy. Simone, Thierry (the only two who qualify as first names only), Nordberg, Lakanen, Novikov and Jukkola all cruised in. The Brits had a standard mix of solid (Jamie Stevenson, Jon Duncan, Alison O'Neill and Rachael Elder), nail-biting (Jenny Whitehead qualifying by two seconds in 15th place) and huge disappointment (Oli Johnson controversially disqualified for mispunching). Performance of the day must go to the Chinese girl Mingyue Zhu who qualified for the final in 15th place: time to start getting worried about the emergence of a new orienteering superpower?

And now those poor elite runners are so tired they need a day off, so that's it until Tuesday for them. Seems a strange timetable, but at least us also-rans are made of sterner stuff and have a race tomorrow. Then there's time to speculate on who might win what on the form we have seen. It still looks to me like things are going to be very close. All 45 men's middle race finalists finished withing 4 minutes of the leader in the qualifier, and the spread today was only 10 minutes. Perhaps that's why we seem to have reverted to results in 10ths of seconds. So roll on the Sprint Qualifier on Tuesday morning, just in time for some people to have their last run at WOC before the opening ceremony and sprint final on Tuesday afternoon.

WOC+1: Here we go

Two days of silence whilst we were traveling avoided the problem of getting to WOC-0, since I clearly miscalculated two weeks ago.

Anyway, the day on the ferry to Esbjerg was fine, and we spent the evening in a pleasant log cabin with swimming lake right next to it.

The following morning the weather broke for real, and we had torrential rain and thunder and lightning for two hours. After debating the options we pressed on and spent the day at Legoland, which turned out to be not too bad. There was only one surreal ride on a boat round famous locations in the pouring rain, but otherwise the sun returned for the assortment of trains, boats, fire engines and various other rides I was forced to go on.

Got to the WOC camp site in Arhus later in the evening to find it was not quite what we had hoped, lacking in nearly all facilities other than a flat grass field. We shall see how long we last here.

And then WOC Day 1, as things started with the Middle Race Qualifier. As a seasoned WOC Spectator this was one not to miss, but the rest of the family convinced me that the beach was a better bet. We even found a Viking Festival going on, complete with several hundred Vikings and horses acting out a pitched battle, plus a huge area of tents selling all sorts of Viking things (honestly).

On the results front it seems that the Brits did pretty well without me, with all six making it to the final. WOC for real tomorrow as we'll be at the Long Qualifier before starting Day 1 of the WOC Tour.

WOC-16: The blog starts here

So here we are two weeks away from the World Orienteering Championships. I'll be in Denmark to cheer on the GB team, so it seemed like a good idea to try to provide some comments and background information as things happen. This is intended to be the start of a regular series of items providing the thoughts of a regular WOC spectator. Let's see how far I actually get.