Summary of EOC in Dalarna

The European Championship in Dalarna in Sweden two weeks ago was not any success for me. The qualification races went OK, and I qualified to both the Long and Sprint finals after stable performances.

The Long Final was held in Skattungbyn north of Mora. I did a technical stable performance, with no really mistakes, except 40 sec to the 7th control. But unfortunately my shape was not good, and I was probably not physical prepared for the hilly terrain with soft and stony ground. This was my first long distance competition this season, because I was both sick and dislocated my shoulder in April. My result was a 34th place, 11 min behind Olav Lundanes.

The Sprint Final was held the following day from Lugnet ski stadium in Falun. Also this time I did an OK race, without any big mistakes. But I lost a few seconds on most of the legs, and finished as 16th runner, 53 sec behind Jonas Leandersson. My shape was obviously not as good as I had hoped before EOC, and afterwards it easy to say that I should have skipped the Long distance. But I was probably also to defensive in my orienteering, and used too much time planning the coming route choices, instead of just run fast where it was possible.

EOC in Dalarna was anyway a great experience with good competitions, a lot for spectators and great TV productions. The Norwegian team did well, especially Olav Lundanes who won both the Middle and Long distance. My club mate Fredrik Johansson did an excellent leg when the Swedish second team won a silver medal in the relay. A really sad ting happened also in the relay, when Daniel Hubmann got seriously injured, and is out for the rest of the season. It’s really sad, especially since WOC is held in Switzerland this summer. My thoughts go to Daniel, and I hope he will recover well and come back stronger than ever.

I have uploded many of my Picures from EOC. Most of them are from the celebration of the Norwegian National Day, the Relay and the Banquet.