Adrian Jackson kicking ass and taking names at the 2010 WOC.

Maybe it’s the ascent, maybe it’s because we have a soft place in our heart’s for Australia, or maybe its because we feel Australia always gets the shaft in MTBO reporting, but regardless we found the untold story of this year’s World MTB Orienteering Championships to be the continuing ascension of Australia’s top MTBO athlete (and our favorite), Adrian Jackson (AUS). Jackson, with another career best with 3 more WOC Medals (1-Gold, 2-Silver), put Australia in 3rd Place overall with his wins alone. Jackson was unable repeat his Long Distance 1st Place victory in last year’s WOC in Israel, but was able to take 2nd Place with only 2-minutes separating Jackson from Anton Foliforov of Russia.

Although he doesn’t appear to pursuing the World Cup title, his performance at this year’s  Championship events gave him enough World Cup points for an 11th Place standing in the Top 25 Men world wide — a distant 151 points behind the leader — but still a respectable position. It’s unclear if Jackson is interested in competing in the final World Cup event, but if he was able to repeat his WOC performance in Italy next month, he could possibly be in contention for the World Cup podium (Note: the math works out to a possible 3rd Place finish at best but still fun to what-if). Simply put, if Jackson had been racing in the World Cup all along, he would currently be the leader going into Italy and would have most likely taken the World Cup title with points to spare.

Jackson at 2009 WOC in Israel (Orienteering Victoria)

It’s too bad that Jackson is not competing in this year’s World Cup, but its clear that he is one of the top MTBO athletes in the world regardless of a World Cup victory. We can’t imagine the travel expenses and time required to compete in one major competition in Europe, let alone a dozen or more. We Americans can understand why the IOF has yet to hold a World Ranking Event in Australia considering how few compete in world class MTBO events and how many Europeans would have to travel a long way to race. However, if Australian MTBO via Jackson continues to crush the Euro-centric competition, the IOF is going to have to reconsider their future venues. Maybe one day in the not so distant future, we can have Europeans MTBO athletes fly “down under” for at least one of the World Cup events. This way Jackson and the whole Australian MTBO Team can finally save some money and time away from home while continuing to stomp the competition into that tasty Australian dirt! We can only hope a day like that will happen sooner rather than later!

From all of us at MTBO America, we would like to wish Adrian Jackson (can we call you AJ now?) a congratulatory “Great Job!” We look forward to seeing more from you next year!

Meanwhile, for all you IOF officials out there reading our blog (we know you’re out there), we hear Victoria is nice this time of year. Think about it!

2010 MTBO WOC and World Cup Round 3 in Montalegre, Portugal

The 2010 World MTB Orienteering Championships (WOC) were held in Montalegre, Portugal last month, along side Round 3 of the MTBO Worlds Cup (WOC/World Cup Round 3 Event Website). Athletes from Europe, Asia, and Australia competed in Sprint, Middle, and Long Distance events for WOC medals and World Cup points that will count towards next month’s final Worlds Cup round in Italy. This time Russia, not Denmark, proved that it is the emerging dominant force in World Class Mountain Bike Orienteering.

The Russians not only repeating their 1st Place finish in the Men’s W21 Relay, shutting out Denmark by a mire 35-seconds , but also capturing 11 WOC Medals (4-WOC, 7-JWOC) — 5 of them Gold (2-WOC, 3-JWOC) putting them in 1st Place overall. This marks a huge improvement in the Russian MTBO program when compared to their 2009 WOC standings that found the Russians only taking one gold (1st Place in M21 Relay), one silver (2nd Place in M21 Long Distance), and one bronze (3rd Place in M21 Sprint).

Ironically, despite the first place showing at the World MTB Orienteering Championships, Russia MTBO athletes still trail in the overall World Cup standings. Regardless on how their showing at the WOC in Portugal elevate their World Cup point totals, Russia’s highest ranked M21 athlete, Anton Foliforov (RUS), is currently holds a thin lead for 3rd Place, while their highest ranked W21 athlete, Ksenia Chernykh (RUS), is separated by the leader by over 100-points, is way back in 8th Place. Although the MTBO World Cup is “not over until it’s over”, it’s possible that when the dust settles in Italy next month, Russia’s top MTBO athletes could be left without a World Cup podium spot.

MTBO M21 Leaders
The leader of the Russian team, Anton Foliforov (RUS), currently in 3rd Place in the MTBO World Cup standings, was a big winner at this year’s event taking 1st in Long Distance and 3rd in Sprint Distance. Foliforov’s performance in Long Distance was a huge improvement over his 5th Place standing during the WOC in Poland two years ago. Foliforov’s performance in this Third Round of the World Cup still puts him 60 points behind the leader — mainly because he missed the First Round in Hungry. However, if he continues to excel in both Long and Sprint Distance events and put up a good showing in Middle Distance during next month’s final round in Italy, Foliforov might be able keep Samuli Saarela (FIN) from Finland — only 1-point behind him in 4th Place — from overtaking him and knocking him out of the top-3.

Erik Skovgaard Knudsen (DEN) and Beat Schaffner (SUI), currently leading the MTBO World Cup rankings in 1st Place and 2nd Place, respectfully, appeared to not be in top form during this year’s competition. Knudsen placed 3rd in Long Distance, 5th in Sprint Distance, and was disqualified during the Middle Distance event. Meanwhile, Schaffner was able to get into the top 10 in two events — 7th in Middle and 8th in Sprint Distance events — but only placed 12th in Long Distance. Both still did well enough to earn World Cup points (awarded to places 1st through 35th), but not enough to keep Anton Foliforov and Samuli Saarela from threatening their standings going into the final World Cup events in September. Knudsen and Schaffner will need to be at their best in Italy if they expect to hold onto their current World Cup ranking positions.

The untold story of this year’s World MTB Orienteering Championships is about Australia’s top MTBO athlete (and our favorite), Adrian Jackson (AUS). Jackson, with another career best with 3 more WOC Medals (1-Gold, 2-Silver), put Australia in 3rd Place overall with his wins alone.  Jackson was unable repeat his Long Distance 1st Place victory in last year’s WOC in Israel, but was able to take 2nd Place with only 2-minutes separating Jackson from Anton Foliforov of Russia. It’s too bad that Jackson is not competing in this year’s World Cup, but its clear that he is one of the top MTBO athletes in the world regardless of a World Cup victory.

MTBO W21 Leaders
The Women’s leader continues to be Christine Schaffner (SUI) from Switzerland with a repeat performance of her last year’s 1st Place finish at the WOC in Israel. Placing 1st in Long Distance, 2nd Place in Sprint Distance, and a respectable 5th in Middle Distance, Schaffner was able to take the World Cup 1st Place rank away from Michaela Gigon (AUT) of Austria in the World Cup standings. The two are now only separated by 3 points going into the fourth round making the final World Cup event in Italy a nail-bitter of a decider that will determine which woman will capture the title and be considered the best W21 MTBO athlete in the world.

Michaela Gigon (AUT), on the other hand had a tough time at this year’s Championships with an early disqualification in Sprint Distance, an event she placed 1st in during Round One in Hungry. However, she made up for this disappointment with a powerful 1st Place finish in Middle Distance, repeating the 1st Place finish she earned just a few months ago in Poland. Gigon’s 6th Place finish in Long Distance also gave her enough points to hold onto 2nd Place in the World Cup rankings and she is still the favorite going into next month’s competition in Italy. However, with Schaffner’s outstanding performance at this year’s WOC, and her unexpected disqualification in Sprint Distance taking her point lead away, Gigon will need to be at her best to take the lead back and win the W21 World Cup title in September.

Anna Kamińska (POL), much like Adrian Jackson, is the untold rising star in the Women’s division with a surprising 1st Place finish in Sprint Distance, giving her a 7th Place ranking in the World Cup standings overall. This is a vast improvement over her first World Cup appearances where she placed 25th in Sprint Distance in Hungry. It appears that Kamińska has found her grove in the Sprint Distance competition and it will be interesting to see if she can repeat her performance in Italy next month. With over 100-points separating her from the leader, it’s unlikely Kamińska will earn a World Cup podium position, but with the impressive improvement she has made since her first World Cup showing in Hungry only three month ago, Anna Kamińska will be an athlete to watch in 2011.

2010 WOC Results:

Sprint Distance – 11 July
M21  9.0km — 180m
1 — Adrian Jackson — Australia — 22:08 *
2 — Tonis Erm — Estonia — 22:26
3 — Anton Foliforov — Russia — 22:30

W21  7.0km — 150m
1 — Anna Kaminska — Poland — 21:25
2 — Christine Schaffner — Switzerland — 21:27
3 — Martina Tichovska — Czech Republic — 22:04

M20  6.6km — 160m
1 — Grigory Medvedev — Russia — 17:58
2 — Andreas Konring — Denmark — 18:10
3 — Krystof Bogar — Czech Republic — 18:32

W20  5.8km — 140m
1 — Marie Brezinova — Czech Republic — 20:41
2 — Barbro Kvale — Norway — 21:02
3 — Tatiana Repina — Russia — 21:16

Middle Distance – 13 July
M21 20.1km — 590m
1 — Samuli Saarela — Finland — 1:06:34
2 — Adrian Jackson — Australia — 1:07:14 *
3 — Luca Dallavalle — Italy — 1:10:02

W21 14.9km — 435m
1 — Michaela Gigon — Austria — 1:00:39
2 — Rikke Kornvig — Denmark — 1:01:12
3 — Marika Hara — Finland — 1:01:53

Long Distance – 16 July
M21 Final A
1 — Anton Foliforov — Russia — 1:53:02
2 — Adrian Jackson — Australia — 1:55:05 *
3 — Erik Skovgaard Knudsen — Denmark — 1:56:03

W21 Final
1 — Christine Schaffner — Switzerland — 1:54:05
2 — Ksenia Chernykh — Russia — 1:56:42
3 — Marika Hara — Finland — 2:01:13

M20 Final
1 — Pekka Niemi — Finland — 1:46:00
2 — Maciej Gromadka — Poland — 1:46:01
3 — Vojtech Stransky — Czech Republic — 1:49:09

W20 Final
1 — Olga Vinogradova — Russia — 1:26:29
2 — Brigitta Koos — Hungary — 1:31:54
3 — Barbro Kvale — Norway — 1:34:25

Relay – 17 July
M21
1 — Russia — 2:45:34
2 — Denmark — 2:46:09
3 — Czech Republic — 2:48:10

W21
1 — Denmark — 2:56:56
2 — Finland — 3:01:46
3 — Czech Republic — 3:01:58

M20
1 — Czech Republic — 2:57:16
2 — Russia — 3:02:01
3 — Finland — 3:02:29

W20
1 — Czech Republic — 2:30:46
2 — Russia — 3:02:03
3 — Austria — 3:25:31

Medals – WOC
#     Country     Gold     Silver     Bronze     Total
1     Russia         2     1     1     4
2     Denmark     1     2     1     4
3     Australia     1     2     0     3
4     Finland     1     1     2     4
5     Switzerland     1     1     0     2
6     Poland         1     0     0     1
7     Austria     1     0     0     1
8     Estonia     0     1     0     1
9     Czech Republic     0     0     3     3
10     Italy         0     0     1     1

Medals – JWOC
#     Country     Gold     Silver     Bronze     Total
1     Russia         3     2     2     7
2     Czech Republic     3     1     3     7
3     Finland     2     0     1     3
4     Norway         0     2     1     3
5     Denmark     0     1     0     1
6     Hungary     0     1     0     1
7     Poland         0     1     0     1
8     Austria     0     0     1     1
—————————-

MTBO World Masters/Worlds Cup (Round 2) runs June 3 - 6, 2010 in Gdańsk, Poland

The World Masters MTB Orienteering Championships start today (June 4th) in Gdansk, Poland along side Round 2 of the MTBO Worlds Cup (also known as the Polish Cup). Athletes from all over Europe and Asia (and 1 from Australia) will be competing in the Sprint, Long, Middle, and Mixed Relay distance events over the weekend and earning points towards the final Worlds Cup round in Italy in September.

For results and updates:

* World Cup Round 2 Event Website
* MTBO World Cup Gdańsk Live Internet Commentary
* IOF MTBO World Cup Results/Ranking Website

The International Orienteering Federation (IOF) is the final authority on all MTBO competition rules.

The renewed MTBO World Cup is already underway with the first round completed last weekend in Hungry. This first of four rounds, one of the largest MTBO events in the World, not only served as the Hungarian MTBO Cup but also as the opening of the international MTBO season in Central Europe. The next round will be held at the World Masters MTB Orienteering Championships in Gdansk, Poland, in June, followed by the third round during the World MTB Orienteering Championships in Montalegre, Portugal, in July. The entire 2010 World Cup series will come to its climatic conclusion in Teolo, Italy, in September 2010.

MTBO World Cup Schedule

MTBO World Cup Round 1 (Hungarian MTBO Cup)
Veszprem, Hungary
23 Apr 10 | Distance: Sprint
24 Apr 10 | Distance: Middle
25 Apr 10 | Distance: Long Mass Start

MTBO World Cup Round 2 (World Masters MTB Orienteering Championships)
Gdansk, Poland
04 Jun 10 | Distance: Long
05 Jun 10 | Distance: Middle
06 Jun 10 |  Distance: Mixed Relay

MTBO World Cup Round 3 (World MTB Orienteering Championships)
Montalegre, Portugal
11 Jul 10 | Distance: Sprint
13 Jul 10 | Distance: Middle
16 Jul 10 | Distance: Long
17 Jul 10 | Distance: Relay

MTBO World Cup Round 4 (MTBO World Cup Championships)
Teolo, Italy
18 Sep 10 | Distance: Sprint
19 Sep 10 | Distance: Middle
20 Sep 10 | Distance: Relay

More Information

• MTBO World Cup 2010 Results Website
• Round #1 – Hungarian MTBO Cup
• Round #2 – World Masters MTB Orienteering Championships
• Round #3 – World MTB Orienteering Championships
• Round #4 – MTBO World Cup Championships

Juniors and Beginners are the future of the sport of MTBO.

To expand the sport of Mountain Bike Orienteering, every race director should include beginner courses in each of their MTBO events. Nicknamed “Brownie Events” by Australian MTBO racers, serious riders are known to get “brownie points” by bringing beginner riders to their events.

The concept behind the brownie event is similar to the White courses held during Foot Orienteering meets with junior- or beginner-level courses consisting of an un-timed loop-course of 1- to 1.5-miles, and timed loop-course of 2- to 3-miles. During an event these beginner course are designed to reduce the chance of new riders getting lost, allowing riders come back to the start/finish within a short amount of time, and to allow beginners to have positive experiences to build from.

Typically, race directors should build these courses using the simplicity and advantages of flat terrain, limited route choices, and larger scale maps. Most junior- and beginner-level courses can be built into the regular racecourse allowing for both types of racers to be on some of the same trails at the same time. This not only allows new riders to race shoulder-to-shoulder with some of the more experienced competitors, but gives experience riders the opportunity to help and encourage younger riders.

Make some room in your next event for brownies, and you’re sure to bake up batch after batch of competitive MTBO riders for years to come!

MTBO America Turns 1-Years-Old!

To celebrate MTBO America turning 1-years-old, we’ve dropped all our prices on MTBO America Gear! Get yours today! Happy Birthday MTBO America!

In celebration of our first MTBO America Anniversary, we’re offering MTBO America gear through Cafepress.com at reduced prices. When you buy Official MTBO America Gear, a portion of the proceeds goes towards supporting our advocacy to bring mountain bike orienteering to the United States!

You can also support MTBO America by sending us a donation. All donations over $100.00 will automatically include one of our MTBO America Gear items of your choice! Check out our Donations section for more information on how you can help MTBO America today!