Occassional thoughts about orienteering
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| okansas.blogspot.com Occassional thoughts about orienteering |
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Monday, May 06, 2002 I'd like to study the maps of these 5 peopleI once spent a day looking at Lennart Gustavsson's O' maps. All of his maps and routes were in binders. I spent the day sitting at Lennart's house looking at his routes. It was really fun. I got to know a lot about how Lennart orienteered (and Lennart was very good, he was on the Swedish B-team in the early/mid 1980s). After studying a bunch of his routes, I could look at a leg and pick the route that Lennart would take.Lennart taught me a lot about orienteering. Looking at his maps and talking with him was a great way to learn. It'd be great to get a bunch of maps and routes from a good orienteer, spend a few hours studying their maps, then get a chance to talk to them about their orienteering (over a nice cup of coffee). In my mind, I see myself sitting outside at a Swedish summer house, with a thermos of good coffee, a stack of maps and a couple of bullar. If I could spend a day looking at their routes and talking with them, which five orienteers would I pick? Hanne Staff. Hanne doesn't write much on the Staff-Valstad web page, but everything she write is interesting. She's a fantastic orienteer with enough experience that she's bound to have a lot of good ideas. Oyvin Thon. Oyvin was the world champ when I first started orienteering. He was the first "star" of the sport I'd ever heard of. He could orienteer anywhere. He won world championships in Scandinavia (Finland) and continental (Switzerland) terrain. Lennart Gustavsson. In the mid 1980s, Lennart was on the Swedish B-team. He was a very good map reader, but not quite strong enough as a runner. His best result was a 6th place in the Swedish Champs in a place called Kalmarden (very challenging navigation). Lennart makes my list even though I've already studied his maps. When I spent a day with his maps, I didn't know much about orienteering. I spent a day with Lennart's maps in 1988, when I first moved to Sweden. I know a whole lot more about orienteering know. It'd be interesting to look at Lennart's maps again and see what I could learn. Ted De St Croix. Ted's top ten finish at the 1985 World Champs is the best ever result by a North American (and it is probably the best ever result by a non-European). I've met Ted a couple of times, but never really spent time talking to him. I read an article he wrote after the 1985 World Champs and found the article to be interesting. Peter Gagarin. I've seen a lot of Peter's routes, but he still makes my list. His advantage over the people who didn't quite make the top five is that he knows me pretty well and he understands the circumstances an orienteer in the U.S. faces everyday. Another big advantage, is that Peter is a good bit older than the others on my list (and than me). He could probably teach me things that'll help my orienteering as I get older...slower...and have more trouble seeing things. There are a bunch of other orienteers who didn't quite make my top five list. Marita Skogum, Kent Olsson and Bjornar Valstad are very close. They didn't make the cut because I can learn a lot by reading what they've already written. I'm sure I'd learn more by looking at their maps and talking to them, but I'd rather use my "top five" for other orienteers. Jorgen Rostrup and Pasi Ikonen, both world champions, didn't quite make my list because they are both so young. I have great admiratioin for what they've achieved. But, I think it'd be more interesting to learn from people who've been orienteering a bit longer. posted by Michael | 8:37 PM 
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