Archive for the ‘MTBO Championship Races’ Category
Double Gold for Adrian Jackson (AUS)
With two Gold Medals, Adrian Jackson is the MTBO Athlete of the Year.
Adrian Jackson (AUS) won double Gold Medals last week in both the Sprint and Long Distance events, making him the only athlete, and Australia the only country, to win two gold medals at the 2009 MTBO World Championships.
At the beginning of the MTBO Worlds event on August 11th, Jackson found himself trailing during the Middle Distance final that made him the Middle Distance World Champion last year.
2009 MTBO Worlds Tech Overview
Screenshot of the GPS tracking monitor used during this year's MTBO Worlds.
The 2009 World Mountain Bike Orienteering Championships (MTBO WOC) was held last week in (and around) Ben Shemen Forest, Israel. To promote this annual event, event organizers produced an Event Website, a YouTube Channel, and hinted towards the ability to track racers live via the Web (although we never found the link to this feature). This is certainly a great leap forward for MTBO marketing and advertising. Sadly, there was no MTBO Worlds “Facebook” page. But these things take time and we will certainly not fault the event organizers for not fully capitalizing on the vast amount of social networking options this year.
2009 MTBO Worlds
MTBO WOC Middle Distance Finals were held on Tuesday, Aug. 11th, 2009
The 2009 World Mountain Bike Orienteering Championships (MTBO WOC) started this week (Monday, August 10th) in Ben Shemen Forest, Israel. The events first medal event, the MTBO Middle Distance event, was held on Tuesday, August 11th with Finland and Denmark proving there MTBO skills are once again the best in the sport by taking the Gold in both the Men’s and Women’s Middle Distance event on Tuesday.
Australian Athletes Denied EOC Titles
MTBO Athlete Alex Randall, Australia cannot receive EOC title even if he wins (Photo by Tage V. Andersen)
The European Mountain Bike Orienteering Championships (EC MTB-O or EOC) — A Regional Championship Event — are set to have the world’s best MTBO athletes face off in Hillerød, Denmark this week. Elite MTBO racers from 23 nations, including two (2) world-class athletes from Australia, Anthony Darr and Alex Randall, will participate in events from June 23-27.
However, There is one interesting side note to this years competition that bears mentioning. According to the EOC Competition Rules, only current EOC Competitors whom represent full or associate member Federations of the IOF, and belong to a country defined by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as belonging to the European continent, are eligible for European titles, medals or diplomas during the EC MTB-O (and Junior EC MTB-O) championships (Section 6. Participation – Rule 6.5 and Section 25. Prizes – Rule 25.5).