The Nordic O-Tour continued this morning with a sprint qualification race. The top 30 would go forward to 5 quarter-finals, from which 12 progress to two semi-finals and then 6 to the final.
I havn't had a chance to analyse the maps post-race (we get them back after the finals - I will try to post it then) so this is based on memory, which could be influenced by lack of oxygen! Starting off, we had a very short leg to control 1, followed by a longer route choice to 2. From 2 to 5 the navigation was quite simple. There was another route choice leg to 6 where I took a chance and went left through the rough open. From 8 to the end of the course there wasn't much route choice or difficulty, and it was a case of pushing up the hills as much as possible. (Note: the stairs at the end of the crag south of no.9 were closed, as we were informed at the pre-start, so route choice to no. 10 was affected by this). I didn't lose more than a few seconds anywhere, with my splits being approximately 120-125% of the fastest times for most controls. I finished 42nd in 14:38, with 54 seconds to the top 30. That gives me a good indication of the work that's needed before the WOC sprint qualifications. Maja Alm (Denmark) won in 12:29, with Matthias Mueller (Switzerland) taking first place in the men's.
Overall there was plenty of time to think, especially towards the end. Of course, you have to be careful not to start day-dreaming too much, but I suspect that the quarter, semi and finals will offer more technically challenging sprint orienteering. The semi-finals and finals promise to have fast and furious orienteering around the centre of Göteborg and can be followed with live GPS tracking and live TV broadcast - see www.nordicorienteeringtour.com/index.php/live
Link to split times from qualification.
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