okansas.blogspot.com

okansas.blogspot.com
Occassional thoughts about orienteering

Tuesday, September 21, 2004

Worst to first

I put together a fantasy WOC team for the middle final race a few days ago. I remember looking at the start list. Gunilla Svard? I felt like Gunilla would have a great chance. She lives in Uppsala, where the terrain has some distinct similarities to the WOC terrain. She seems to have come in to good form. She seems like a nice person, with a real drive to prepare well. I didn't see much chance she'd finish out of the top ten. So I put Gunilla on my team.

I followed the race coverage live on the internet. When I went back to sleep at about 6:15 a.m., I took a last look at the radio controls. Gunilla still hadn't shown up at the second radio. She must have been hurt. She was probably just walking back to the finish, hobbling on an injured knee.

I woke up a few hours later and checked the final results.

Gunilla finished last. Dead last.

Then the next day, she won the first leg of the WOC relay. Worst to first.

Gunilla's problem in the middle distance was a bad compass. Apparently the needle fell off the pin it sits on (or something like that) so that it didn't turn. I suspect Gunilla glanced at the needle, thinking it was pointing north, and ran a rough compass direction. Since the needle wasn't actually pointing north, she ran off in the wrong direction. The terrain was relatively flat and complex. Things probably didn't fit, but she must not have recognized what was going on.

Uppsala's newspaper quoted Gunilla:

"I couldn't get anything to fit. It wasn't until I'd looked for the control for 20 minutes that I realized my compass wasn't working....Since I began orienteering, I've never DNF's, so I wasn't going to DNF at the WOC."

I don't know if Gunilla had a spare compass with her. I hope she did. But, I don't really know. I used to carry a spare all the time. I don't any more.

Marita Skogum, the Swedish team leader, not only won the world champs in New York in 2003, she also had some compass problems at a WOC. She smashed her compass on a rock just minutes before her start. She got a spare compass from a team leader and went on to win the race.

posted by Michael | 6:23 PM

0 comments

Comments: Post a Comment

March 2002 April 2002 May 2002 June 2002 July 2002 August 2002 September 2002 October 2002 November 2002 December 2002 January 2003 February 2003 March 2003 April 2003 May 2003 June 2003 July 2003 August 2003 September 2003 October 2003 November 2003 December 2003 January 2004 February 2004 March 2004 April 2004 May 2004 June 2004 July 2004 August 2004 September 2004 October 2004 November 2004 December 2004 January 2005 February 2005 March 2005 April 2005 May 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 May 2006 June 2006 July 2006 August 2006 September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 December 2006 January 2007 February 2007 March 2007 April 2007 May 2007 June 2007 July 2007 August 2007 September 2007 October 2007 November 2007 December 2007 January 2008 February 2008 March 2008 April 2008 May 2008 June 2008 July 2008 August 2008 September 2008 October 2008 November 2008 December 2008 January 2009 February 2009 March 2009 April 2009 May 2009 June 2009 July 2009 August 2009 September 2009 October 2009 November 2009 December 2009 January 2010 February 2010 March 2010 April 2010 May 2010 June 2010 July 2010 August 2010 September 2010 October 2010 November 2010 December 2010 January 2011 February 2011 March 2011 April 2011 May 2011 June 2011 July 2011 August 2011 September 2011 October 2011 November 2011 December 2011 January 2012 February 2012 March 2012 April 2012 May 2012 June 2012 July 2012 August 2012 September 2012 October 2012 November 2012 December 2012 January 2013 March 2013 April 2013 May 2013 July 2013 September 2013