17th World University Orienteering Championship

Borlänge, Sweden - July 19th to 23rd, 2010

Borlänge Hosts Perfect WUC Orienteering 


Mattias Merz

A total of 309 participants from a record 31 countries travelled to Borlänge, Sweden last week to compete in the 17th FISU World University Orienteering Championship. It was the Mayor of the city himself, Mr. Nils Persson, who declared the competition open at the Opening Ceremony on July 19th.

Women's silver medalist Caroline Cejka (SUI)Long Distance

The winner of the Men’s Long Distance was not a surprise. The favorite and former World Champion Mattias Merz from Switzerland distanced his chanceless opponents with a winning time of 01.11,16. The Swiss success continued in the women’s discipline, when Sara Lüscher won Switzerland’s second gold medal of the day. In a tight race, Sara finished with a time of 01.00.09, beating Finland’s Saila Kinni by a mere 38 seconds.

Sprint

The sprint is the latest addition amongst the different distances in orienteering. And the latest addition to the Swedish senior national team is a sprint specialist. Jerker Lysell, a promising junior, was faster than the well established runners Scott Fraser (UK) and Jan Prochazka (CZR). The women’s sprint race was won by Anelie Chataing (FRA) whereas silver went to Swiss Caroline Cejka and bronze to Michaela Guizzardi from Italy. 

Middle Distance

Long-distance champion Mattias Merz once again showed his excellence when he safely collected his second gold medal. The closest challenger was Sweden’s Patrik Karlsson, followed by Graham Grisham from Great Britain. The women’s event had another new winner in Radka Brozkova from the Czech Republic. The convincing Czech left her closest competitor, Finland’s Sofia Haajnen, over 1.5 minutes behind.

Team Sweden wins the men's relayRelay

The men’s competition was in the end a tough fight between three nations: Sweden, Czech Republic and France. At the last leg, the Czech team disappeared in the woods followed by Team Sweden, approximately 20 seconds behind. But when the orienteer appeared at the second last control, Johan Aronsson from the defending world champions Sweden had distanced himself from his competitors. And accompanied by his team mates Patrik Karlsson and Erik Rost he crossed the finish line as number one. In the Women’s Relay, competition was also tight, particularly between three teams. The Swiss, Finnish and the Czech teams have had great successes during the week and were confident also in the relay. The winner from Tuesday’s long distance Sara Lüscher (SUI) was challenged by gold and silver medallists Radka Brozkova (CZE) and Sofia Hajaanen (FIN) on the last leg. In the end Switzerland took a convincing victory, distancing the competitors with nearly three minutes.

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