13th WORLD UNIVERSITY ORIENTEERING CHAMPIONSHIP
Varna, Bulgaria - August 20th to 24th, 2002
An orienteering race requires great tactical skill: contrary to what one might think, the legendary 'sense of orientation' is not one of the key factors of success. Victory depends on choosing a good itinerary by observing the landscape as accurately as possible to identify it with the map. This map contains geographic data on the terrain and the vegetation in the form of predetermined diagrams, symbols and colors. The mapmaker is the one who chooses them and puts them on the map according to the measures he has taken and his way of perceiving the terrain. The orienteering athlete's skill consists of exploring, understanding and interpreting the frame of mind used to make the map. At the same time, participants must pace their efforts, and keep a clear head despite the stress of the competition, physical fatigue and pressure from their opponents…
The orienteering elite met in France for the last edition of the race in 2000. Thierry Gueorgiou (FRA) flew over the World University Championship trials to win three gold medals and gain international stardom in the discipline! The Bulgarian town of Varna hosted the 13th World University Championships in the sport. Varma is located on the coast of the Black Sea, 469 km north of Sofia. In the past, it has already hosted several international events in orienteering. The rough terrain and wooded areas correspond well to the spirit of this kind of competition. Happily, the races took place under excellent weather conditions to the satisfaction of the 198 participants present. As usual, the program included three races: long distance, short distance and the relay.
Swiss Emil Wingstedt was the one who clocked the best time in the traditional 14 km men's long distance race: 1 hour 26 minutes and 59 seconds. He came in 38 seconds ahead of Finn Ilkka Leppavuori and 1 minute 22 before British Oliver Jonhson. The Finnish Bodil Holmstrom did not have better luck—she too came in second in the long distance women's race. It is true that she was more than 4 minutes behind lightning-fast Slovakian Martina Rakayova who took the race in 1 hour 4 minutes and 34 seconds. Norwegian Marte Balchen won the bronze.
No doubt disappointed by his long distance results, Frenchman Thierry Gueorgiou tore through the next two races. In the short distance race, he came in first with more than one minute's lead over his challenger, Finnish Kim Fagerrud. Then he signed the best time in the relay race, giving his team (Jean-Baptiste Bourrin, Damien Renard and Guergiou Remi) a comfortable advance over Poland and Finland in the final results. It is true that teaming up with his elder brother had already brought him luck in 2000 because then too, they came home with the gold medal. Finland finally came to its own in the women's short distance race thanks to Anu Kopra who slipped in just in front of German Karin Schmafeld. The women's relay went to Great Britain followed by Sweden and the Czech Republic.
Next Edition
The next World University Orienteering Championship is scheduled in Pilzen from June 23rd to 29th, 2004.
FINAL RANKING
MEN SHORT DISTANCE
1. Thierry GUEORGIOU - FR 2. Kim FAGERRUDD - FIN 3. Marc LAUENSTEIN - SUI
MEN CLASSIC DISTANCE
1. Emil WINGSTEDT - SWE 2. Ilkka LEPPAVUORI - FIN 3. Olivier JOHNSON - GBR
MEN'S TEAM
1. FRA 2. POL 3. FIN
WOMEN SHORT DISTANCE
1. Anu KOPRA - FIN 2. Karin SCHMALFELD - GER 3. Vendula KLECHHOVA - CZE
WOMEN CLASSIC DISTANCE
1. Martina RAKAYOVA - SVK 2. Bodil HOLMSTROM - FIN 3. Marte BALCHEN - NOR
WOMEN'S TEAM
1. GBR 2. SWE 3. CZE
PARTICIPATION
1. AUS - 3 2. AUT - 11 3. BUL - 13 4. CZE - 12 5. EST - 2 6. FIN - 11 7. FRA - 10 8. GBR - 13 9. GER - 12 10. HUN - 11 11. IRL - 4 12. ISR - 2 13. ITA - 9 14. JPN - 14 15. NOR - 5 16. POL - 4 17. ROM - 4 18. RUS - 9 19. SLO - 3 20. SUI - 14 21. SVK - 5 22. SWE - 11 23. TUR - 5 24. UKR - 10 25. USA - 1 TOTAL: 198
