14th World University Orienteering Championship
Pilsen, Czech Republic, June 22nd to 26th 2004
Czech Gold
With 256 participants for a total of 30 countries, this World University Championship confirmed the potential of orienteering as a popular university sport.
Orienteering races prove to be a particularly attractive discipline because they combine physical activity with close contact with nature. The Czech town of Pilsen took charge of the 14th edition of the World University Championship from 22 to 26 June last spring. Pilsen has a long experience of organizing WUC – in 2000 it hosted squash, and sport shooting in 2003. This western Bohemian town offers magnificent sites to exercise orienteering skills. A spectacular new discipline, the sprint, made its appearance for the first time in 2004. Pilsen is also known for its beer – there can be no doubt that the town has everything it takes to please students ... With 256 participants for a total of 30 countries, this World University Championship confirmed the potential of orienteering as a popular university sport.
Opening Ceremony
Once the accreditation was complete, participants got together on the warm-up course for the first practice runs. In fact, this course gives runners a chance to decipher the system of symbols used on maps drafted by the local organizers. The Opening Ceremony took place in downtown Pilsen. The delegations were welcomed by the President of the Organizing Committee, Mr. Ivan Mateju (who is also the Secretary General of the Czech Orienteering Federation). Then FISU's assessor Mr. Kemal Tamer, took the floor to thank the participants for coming to compete. Mr. Tamer then invited Mr. Frantisek Dvorak, president of the Czech Federation of University Sports and former FISU assessor, to officially open the games.
Long Distance
The serious business began the following day with the long distance races. The small town of Zihle (50 km from Pilsen) was the site of the first official race. Seventy young women ran 8.9 km and checked in at 14 control points with a difference in elevation of 300 m. Two students from the Czech Republic took the highest honours on the podium: Dana Brozkova (gold) and Marta Sterbova (silver) bested Swedish Camilla Bergrund (bronze). These are no newcomers – theirs were some of the best results recorded in the junior world Championships. For the men, the course was 14.4 km with 27 control points and a change in elevation of 430 meters. Once again, standards were very high. And once again the Czech Republic took the day: Michal Smola and Petr Losman clearly dominated the other athletes. Petr Losman had already won the silver medal in the 2000 edition of this championship in Roanne (FRA). Ingo Horst, a German, came in third.
Sprint
The Sprint was run for the first time in this edition. It was a total contrast with the previous day's events, since the course took only 15 minutes to rank the participants. 24th control points for the men over a distance of 3.3 km and 23 points to be discovered by the women in 2.9 km. For the women, the Czechs triumphed one more time, winning the first three places. Marta Sterbova took the gold, Zuzana Macuchova, the silver and Dana Brozkova shared the third place with Hungarian Eva Makrai. In the men's race, Norwegian Oystein Osterbo came in well ahead of Danish Christian Hansen and Ukrainian Pavlo Ushkvarok.
Organizing Committee
Cesky Svaz Orientacniho Behu (Czech Orienteering Federation) Atleticka 100/2 160 17 Praha 6 Strahov - Czech Republic phone: (420.220)513295 fax: (420.220)513295
Medium Distance
On the next-to-last day of the competition, the medium distance was on the programme. 24 control points for a distance of 6.7 km for the men and 5.7 km for the women with 20 points to be discovered. A magnificent Slovakian double hitter for the men with Marian Davidik taking gold and Lukas Bartak, bronze; Czech Michal Smola came in between for the silver medal. Another double, this time for the Czech Republic, for the ladies: Vendula Klechova and Zuzana Stehnova respectively won silver and bronze, Swedish Camilla Bergrund, already a bronze winner for the long distance, came home with the gold this time.
Relays
A sunny Saturday on the last day of these WUC events was kept for the relays. Men and women vied in teams of four. As the Czechs had won almost everything, it was no surprise to see them come in first in the relays, for both men and women. France got a superb, unexpected second place in the men's competition, thanks to the exceptional flair of the last runner: François Gonon, who brought the team up from fourth place to second. Every now and again, someone manages a brilliant feat like that in the relay races. Our congratulations to this strong French team that lived up to its promises. Slovakia came in third. For the women, the British and the Swiss took the second and third places respectively. We meet again in two years in Kosice, Slovakia for the next World University Orienteering Championship.
Results
You can download the complete results by clicking on the hyperlnks below.
