Nathan Lawson in the qualification, photo: on the red line
It didn't rain and the sun shone for the World Champs 2024 Individual Sprint Races in Edinburgh on Friday July 12th. The races were very technical, and included features that athletes could not predict; no matter how much previous maps had been studied. When the courses were released it was clear It would be very hard to run without losing some seconds.
Sweden and Switzerland took all the medals, but the rest of the top-10s featured athletes from many nations. Grace Molloy was sixth in the Women's Race, her best senior result to date. Megan Carter-Davies, who was the defending champion was ninth. Nathan Lawson, also had his best result to date, fifteenth.
IOF Eventor - WOC24 Sprint Results
There is a fascinating analysis at World of O - WOC24 Sprint, Maps, Analysis and Results. The leader (the runner quickest up to a control) in the women's race changed eight times.
Following online: Orienteering Sport - World Orienteering Championships.
British Runners - Individual Sprint
Women: Charlotte Ward, Megan Carter-Davies, Fiona Bunn, Grace Molloy. (Megan had a personal place for this race.)
Men: Ralph Street, Nathan Lawson, Peter Molloy.
Qualification
The qualification races were in Leith, with the course two sets of short intricate legs separated by a long route choice across the Water of Leith. At 7am athletes left the event centre for quarantine. They ran from 9am, three runners every minute, men first. The crowd built up at the finish as 1000+ runners for the "WOC Tour" race arrived. Their race would use most of the map and the same finish.
Peter Molloy, photo: Rob Lines
Six of the seven British runners qualified for the sprint finals. Peter Molloy was the athlete not to make it through. He was on route from 5 to 6, passing control 7, the control prior to the long route choice. But he began the long route after he reached 7, saving two fingernails width of running. He might well have been the final qualifier in his heat without the mispunch. Control 6 of this heat was also where Florian Attinger of Switzerland lost a lot of time - he was the biggest name to miss out on qualification.
In the men's runners from 20 nations qualified for the final, with all runners from Sweden, Norway, Finland, Italy, Czechia, Austria, Hungary, Spain and France making it.
In the women's runners from 24 nations qualified for the final, with all runners from Sweden, Norway, Finland, Switzerland, Great Britain, Denmark and France making it.
Nathan Lawson, photo: Rob LInes
Nathan was 8th= in his qualification race.
Ralph Street, photo: On The Red Line
Ralph was 5th= is his qualification race.
Charlotte Ward, photo: On The Red Line
Charlotte was 12th= in her heat.
Fiona Bunn, Photo: Rob Lines
Fiona was 11th= in her heat.
Grace Molloy, photo: On The Red Line
Grace was second to Simona Aebersold in her heat, the same one that Fiona ran in.
Megan Carter-Davies (and others), photo: Rob Lines
Megan won her heat by 28 seconds.
Finals - The Setting
Spectators began gathering in the arena at the Ross Band Stand in Princes Street Gardens from 2pm. They were entertained by the opening ceremony, the commentators, and short interviews with some of the runners recorded the day before.
Before the races started
The Arena, photo: IOF / Kristina Lindgren
The races were broadcast (free of charge) on Eurovision Sport in the UK and several other European countries.
200 marshals manning temporary barriers and helping to keep the athletes safe in places busy with large numbers of people. With the technicality inducing both inferior route choices and several mistakes there was plenty of excitement for the large crowd gathered in a superb arena.
Marshals keep a path clear on steps into the final controls in Princes Gardens, photo: On The Red Line
But they couldn't be everywhere.
Fiona Bunn in the crowds, photo: Rob Lines
Men's Race
Top-10.
- Martin Regborn, Sweden
- Tino Polsini, Switzerland.
- Emil Svensk, Sweden.
- Gustav Bergman, Sweden.
- Francesco Mariani, Italy.
- Tim Robertson, New Zealand.
- Joseph Lynch, New Zealand.
- Tuomas Heikkila, Finland.
- Henry McNulty, Australia.
- Daniel Hubmann, Switzerland.
Nathan Lawson, photo: Rob Lines
Nathan ran fast and lost little time for an excellent 15th.
Ralph's fast run was wrecked by two significant errors of ~40 seconds each, to controls 11 and 19. He finished 28th. Defending champion Kasper Fosser was lying second when he did the same thing towards 19 - he ended up 17th. He commented "big disappointment aftermakimg a huge mistake late on the course... but that's orienteering."
Women's Race
Top-10.
- Tove Alexandersson, Sweden
- Simona Aebersold, Switzerland.
- Natalia Gemperle, Switzerland.
- Aleksandra Hornik, Poland.
- Malin Agervig Kristiansson, Denmark.
- Grace Molloy, Great Britain.
- Isia Basset, ,France.
- Sara Hagstrom, Sweden.
- Megan Carter-Davies, Great Britain.
- Eline Gemperle, Switzerland.
Hanna Lundberg was leading at control 10 before running by control 12 without punching.
Charlotte Ward (photo from qualification race), photo: IOF / Kristina Lindgren
Charlotte was in the lead after a very smooth execution of leg 2-3, but the next leg did not go well, and nor did the legs to 13 and 14. She finished 38th.
Fiona Bunn, photo: IOF / Kristina Lindgren
Fiona, on her World Champs debut, got in trouble on 8-9, losing perhaps 60 seconds, but otherwise had quite a clean run. She finished 31st.
Megan Carter-Davies, photo: IOF / Kristina Lindgren
The defending champion Megan was in the lead at control 7 but then made a 30 second error slipping to 26th! She recovered to 9th.
Grace Molloy finishes the sprint final, photo: Rob Lines
Grace did the second fastest time to about halfway at control 9, but then lost time to conrtrols 11 and 15. She did make the podium - an excellent 6th.
Grace Molloy at the Medals Ceremony, photo: IOF / Kristina Lindgren