Occassional thoughts about orienteering
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| okansas.blogspot.com Occassional thoughts about orienteering |
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Monday, April 28, 2003 Some comments from Jenny JohanssonJenny Johansson is the latest orienteer covered by the Swedish O' Federation. Among her results are a win at the European Champs middle distance event in 2000 and a silver at the same race in the 2001 WOC. Johansson is only 26 years old. Here is a short translation of a bit of the Swedish O' Federation's report:This year's WOC is in Switzerland, and it might not be the ideal terrain for Jenny, but both the sprint and middle distance should suit her. "The middle distance is in an area that is very special for Switzerland. It will be more like the map reading we are used to in Scandinavia. So, the middle distance is the race I'm going for most at this year's WOC," says Jenny. The sprint is in the town of Rapperswil and that will mean a lot of map reading at a fast pace. With two Park World Tour wins, Jenny has shown that suits her. And she also has the ability to be best when it matters. "I think that is because of two things. First, I think the big competitions are really fun. Then I'm a bit more psyched. Second, I get just nervous enough. Many others get too stressed by the big competitions." A few comments... One of the things I'm most interested in seeing this summer is how people handle the enormous differences in the terrains at this year's WOC. They're racing in everything from classic continental terrain to city streets to near-Scandinavian terrain. The variety makes for some interesting problems for runners preparing for the WOC. "Best when it matters" (in Swedish "bäst när det gäller") is something orienteers in Sweden talk about a lot. It is a bit like "clutch hitting" in baseball. It seems to come naturally for some orienteers to be best when it matters. Others seem to have a lot of trouble, often under-performing at big races. I guess that is true in most sports. I wonder what orienteer has been the best at being the best when it matters? Some day it might be worth spending a few minutes looking at WOC results to get an idea. My guess is that Marita Skogum and Oyvin Thon might be among the absolute best if you looked at how they did in every WOC race they ever ran. Is that a good way to measure "bäst när det gäller"? posted by Michael | 8:12 PM 
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