Nicolas Simonin made two final races at WOC this year – His first was in the sprint competition. Nick describes it here:
Sprint Qualification: Sverresborg
Going into WOC this year I knew I was a better Orienteer then last year and had managed to find some good form in the two weeks building up to WOC. So I was hoping for a Final in either sprint or long before hand and knew with a good race I should be knocking on the door.
The 24hours running up to the Qualification race I was having problems with my stomach, I just tried to ignore it and take it easy and go through my normal race build up. The pain was not there the morning of the race but when I began to warm up I was empty and felt like I had nothing to give. I did well ignoring it and was fully focused in the start boxes for the job in hand.
My main goal was to focus on the orienteering and let the running take care of itself, as I knew my running is good enough to get me through. The race went well enough technically. I made about 30sec of mistakes in total on 4 controls. However from about the halfway way point my body felt like it had been hit by train. I just tired to keep fighting all the way. When I had finished I had no idea if I had qualified for the final or not until about 20mins after the last finisher. The organizers eventually read the 15 qualifiers from my heat out over the loudspeaker and then I learned that I had qualified comfortably in 10th place. Sweet revenge for last years miss by 4sec on a final place.
The sprint qualification map.
The final was now only a matter of 3-4 hours away and I had to get back to the hotel and rest for a while and get some light food and liquid into my body for the final.
some of the founding members of Nicks fan club
Sprint Final: Kristiansten Festning
In the quarantine area I was feeling nice and relaxed and the warm up felt a lot better then in the qualification race. However I knew that I needed to be on top of my game to be competitive as one needs to be for a World champs final. I was mentally prepared for all the spectators I would meet at the arena and on the course. They are the ones that make the race just as difficult as the map and course planners do. I was nice and relaxed when I entered the start and finish arena to start my race. The course was good but nothing special. We where met a few times by typical Norwegian long urban legs which take you a long way from the line and are very difficult to see which route is the quickest. The best tactic is just to thrust your gut feeling and pick one before you start wasting needless time. By the time I got up to the castle I was well and truly stuffed. My legs felt about 10kg heavier and my brain was ready to explode. I managed to keep it together on the controls around the fort and forested area. After that is was mostly flat and downhill back to the arena. The atmosphere was great the entire way with spectators cheering everyone on. The best part of the sprint for me was the bridge which we had to cross twice which was packed with hundreds of spectators all cheering. The best thing to compare it to is a mountain stage of the Tour de France. Where you have people shouting at you from both sides of the road. However the Irish support was never in any danger of getting drowned out by all the cheering. I managed to finish in 41st place about 2:20 down on Mueller. I was happy enough with my run but if there is one thing I learned from the experience it is that WOC finals are a tough as they get.
Sprint final map.
I would like to thank Ivan and Kyle very much for there support over the week. But most importantly to all the Irish supporters both there and at home. Hope that we managed to keep you all entertained for the week and I’m looking forward to seeing and hearing you again in France next year
You can view Nicks sprint route here:
http://www.tulospalvelu.fi/gps/20100808_sprint_m/
