Pre WOC

Now it's five days left until my first race here, at World Championships in Vuokatti, Finland. Maybe you've figured out by now that this year I'm running only the middle distance and relay, which are on similar terrain. I feel technically more prepared for this WOC than on any of the previous ones. Now I have basically been to three camps with as relevant terrains as possible and I've also ran on numerous other similar Finnish terrains over the last few years. I decided quite early that I would skip the long distance since my preparation has been too short to last 5 tough races in 7 days. Also the complex and tough middle distance terrain suits me better so I have put all the effort there. Our team has also focused more on the relay than previous years. We have a strong team that should be physically and technically capable of handling this discipline well on all the three legs.

WOC middle final 2012
By Sixten Sild

The trainings have gone quite smoothly after the last post here and I feel physically fine. There haven't been any competitions lately, so I can't say for sure how the shape is. I'm not worried though, at the beginning of the season I had some doubt in reaching the necessary level at all. Now I know that I have come this far and am able to match the top orienteers in the world. I am optimistic and still aim to peak top shape for the coming days.

Let the O-party begin!
By Olle Kärner

My schedule is quite short and tight, three days in a row: middle qualification + final on Thursday + Friday and relay on Saturday. There will surely be GPS tracking, live results and TV broadcast on some channels (YLE for ex). Links will appear on the WOC page. Until then I'll continue tuning in on the main event of the year and cheer for my teammates and friends that are running sprint and long distance.