Fiona Bunn finishes the long race in a "new best time", photo: On The Red Line
The 2022 international season finished with three forest races in Switzerland on 1st-3rd October. It was Round 3, the final one, of the World Cup for 2022. Saturday was relays, Sunday was middle distance, and Monday was the long races. They were on the steep slopes of alpine valleys in the east of Switzerland, with two of the starts reached by cable car.
The international racing was well attended, with over a hundred runners in each individual race. This was partly because next year's World Championships will be held a little to the west, in Flims Laax, in July and there were training camps running after the competition.
At the same arenas there were public races on Saturday and Sunday too so there were plenty of crowds. As ever, the Swiss team were well prepared for races on home terrain.
The Races
Switzerland has often hosted the final round of the World Cup. The country maintains a well-earned reputation for great organisation and setting enjoyable and compelling challenges for the runners. Often the races are in spectacularly beautiful settings. So runners like to get there if they can. But on the other hand there are only a handful of athletes left in contention for the World Cup and the generous prizes, and for many the biggest competitions of the year are past. Some have ended their seasons because of prioritisation of competitions, and it is common to find less familiar and younger runners in the team rosters. Of course the big well resourced teams will be present in strength and the competition will be tough.
In 2019 Switzerland hosted the penultimate round of the World Cup in Laufen - On The Red Line webpost.
In 2017 the last round was in Grindelwald, in 2016 Aarau, in 2015 Arosa and in 2014 Liestal. Two spectators that year would a few years later take on On The Red Line editorial duties...
There were two races in 2014: a middle, and then a final sprint, only for runners with the top 35 or so scores in that year's World Cup
In the middle race the GB runners were Cat Taylor (34th), Hollie Orr (45th), Graham Gristwood (16th), Hector Haines (38th), Ralph Street (43rd), all of whom would run in the next year's World Champs in Scotland.. In the sprint Cat was 13th (sitting in the current leader's chair for a time) and Hollie was 17th, with Graham 30th and Hector 34th.
A memorable point was how well the Swiss can do at home (and the significance of terrain type familiarity in our sport). In the middle race the Swiss took positions 1 ,2, 4 and 6 in the men's and 2, 4, 5 and 6 in the women's. In the sprint it was 1, 2, 4 and 7 in the men's and 3, 5 and 7 in the women's. The men's winner both days was Daniel Hubmann.
A notable name missing this year from the home team was several times World Cup Winner Matthias Kyburz. He was on crutches at the races, in his team kit, with some VIP and representative tasks to help pass the time.
This year the location was Davos Klosters, one of Switzerland's largest ski resorts, though it is best known for hosting the World Economic Forum. It's a spectacular part of the World, and also a fantastic location if you want to have a secure place without crowds of noisy demonstrators. It is in the eastern part of Switzerland, a place where only the narrow valley floors are flattish, and there are a lot of trees and slopes too high for trees. There are no buses from Klosters to Davos: the excellent public transport is the railway, which begins with a 5 minute section including two hairpin turns to gain height.
The first race was the day after the hunting season ended, so there was no opportunity for local training beforehand, but there was organised training available afterwards, first in Davos Klosters, and then in Flims Laax where next year's World Champs are. The GB team were among many staying on for that.
A view from the relay arena, some of the time
British Team
Britain had fourteen athletes in the team, six women and eight men. It was variously terrific races in which to represent one's country, a great chance to run against the World's best, and a very useful and motivating trip with next year's World Champs in mind. The majority of the team gathered on the Thursday. They were supported by Andy Kitchin, Mark Hayman and Tom Bray.
Andy chats with Fiona and Laura after they've run the long race
Of the women all except Laura King had been in the team in Estonia in August for the European Champs. On the men's side Ben Mitchell, Joshua Dudley and Peter Taylor-Bray had run in Estonia. Graham Gristwood, Hector Haines, Jonathan Crickmore, Nathan Lawson and Will Gardner came in. Noteable absences were Grace Molloy (studying in America) and Ralph Street ("my body hasn't cooperated at the end of this long season").
Laura King with Chloe Potter and Fiona Bunn in the arena after the long race, photo: On The Red Line
Women
- Cecilie Andersen - Bristol
- Chloe Potter - Bristol
- Fiona Bunn - Edinburgh University
- Jo Shepherd - Inverness / Halden SK
- Laura King - Edinburgh University
- Megan Carter-Davies - Swansea Bay
Cecilie, Chloe, Fiona and Laura had all been in Switzerland in August with the British Team for the World Universities Championships.
Ben Mitchell, Hector Haines, and Graham Gristwood after the long race, photo: On The Red Line
Men
- Ben Mitchell - Swansea Bay
- Graham Gristwood - Forth Valley
- Hector Haines - AROS / IFK Lidingö
- Jonathan Crickmore - South Yorkshire
- Joshua Dudley - IFK Göteborg
- Nathan Lawson - Octavian Droobers
- Peter Taylor-Bray - Manchester & District
- Will Gardner - Octavian Droobers
Joshua Dudley
Reference
World of O - Maps, Results, Analysis World Cup Round 3 - Final
IOF Eventor - 2022 World Cup Round3 - Final)
There was live TV on the internet (and from national broadcasters in some countries) for all three races.
There were online results and GPS tracking on the internet.
At the time of writing Live Orienteering links to all these.
The On The Red Line Twitter feed was active during the weekend with comments from a GB point of view.
Some days the early starters have it tougher; Chloe Potter is probably on this cable car to the long start
Interviews
Please see our YouTube channel -playlist for 2022 World Cup Final
Relays
Alpine terrain with steep slopes at the tree line at 1700-2000m above sea level. Air density is 82% at 2000m..
MEN : 4.7—4.9km, 280m climb, 18 controls, 32 minutes per leg.
WOMEN : 4.0—4.2km, 260m, 15-16 controls, 34-35 minutes per leg.
Countries can enter multiple teams and the first one counts in the main results.
This was the race at the highest altitude, with the arena only accessible via cable car from Klosters. There were no particular expectations for results but for neither the women nor the men to make top ten nations showed other teams started the weekend more strongly. The best GB teams were 12th in both races, behind Switzerland, who won both races (even without Matthias Kyburz), Sweden and Norway (as you would expect) and also Czechia, France, Finland, Poland, Germany and Austria. In the men's the other two nations ahead were Spain and Italy, in the women's it was Denmark and Latvia.
Jo did have a very good run, however, coming back in fourth place just 20 seconds down on the first leg for GB's 2nd women's team. Meanwhile Megan for GB1 had a lot of difficulty with the first control, a gaffle on a hillside. "Detailed contours vary with slopes with poor details" the notes had said. Jo's teamates Laura and Chloe kept ahead of the first team's Fiona and Cecilie to record the GB result.
Peter Taylor-Bray running leg 3 for GB2 taking over from Nathan and Ben had a bad fall and injured his knee, ending his orienteering on this trip. The team therefore did not complete. Reasonable runs from Will, Graham and Hector for GB1 took them to the 12th nation place. Jonathan and Joshua ran an incomplete team. Nathan had, by a small margin, the quickest run of the day.
Tracking - Women's Relay Leg 1
Relay weather at 1900m
Nathan Lawson leads a group (Poland, Germany, Austria) through the arena passage on leg 1 of the relay
JoShepherd on the long day, photo: IOF / Erling Thisted
Middle
Alpine terrain with a lot of contour details, stones and cliffs at 1500-1800 m above sea level.
WOMEN: 4.3km, 265m climb, 17 controls, winning time 34 minutes.
MEN: 5.4km, 300m climb, 24 controls, winning time 35 minutes.
Starts were in reverse order of World Ranking, which meant the GB athletes were on the whole earlier runners, but no-one was very early.
At the top of the results Tove Alexandersson and Kasper Fosser both won, securing the World Cup titles. Including Tove there were five Swedes in the women's top-10. Simona Aebersold of Switzerland, second in the World Cup, who had anchored the home team to their relay victory, was 5th. There were also five Swedes in the top-10 of the men's race.
GB positions were:
- In the women's: Megan - 43, Cecilie - 45, Jo - 46, Fiona - 67, Laura - 92, Chloe - 101. (field 116 runners)
- In the men's: Graham - 30, Jonathan - 61, Will - 69, Hector - 75, Nathan - 86, Joshua - did not start. (field 140 runners)
Megan Carter-Davies finishes the middle race, photo: On The Red Line
Will Gardner
Jonathan Crickmore and Graham Gristwood both had only four counting World Ranking scores before the competition. With an athlete's best five counting this meant early starts for them on Sunday. Their runs were taken into account for start times for the followng day's long race, and indeed Graham had won some World Cup points on the Sunday. So they were the last two starters for the GB men on the Monday.
Long
Alpine terrain with steep slopes varying with a lot of contour details, stones and cliffs at 1500-1900 m above sea level.
WOMEN: 10.4km/480m, 29 controls, winning time 80 minutes.
MEN: 14.4km, 635m climb, 36 controls, winning time 90 minutes.
There was quite a tough cutoff, with 2 hours 30 minutes being the maximum time allowed.
The race had a special feel with athletes starting a long way from the finish. They took a cable car up to the start. The courses began on the far side of the valley coming down to cross the road and railway, and then finished in the same arena as the middle had done, but with a different approach and final control.
The bottom of the cable car was in fog for early starters, and the first few controls were in fog for perhaps half the field. But the day developed with bright sunshine and spectators were reaching for sun cream later on.
Swiss runners won both races. In the women's it was Simona Aebersold winning by a minute and a half from Andrine Benjaminsen of Norway. Another Swiss Elena Roos was third, four and a half minutes slower than Simona. In the men's it was the incredible Daniel Hubmann. He wrote afterwards it was his 32nd World Cup win, but his first outside a World or European Champs for seven years. Max Peter Bejmer of Sweden was second, thirty seconds behind, and Kasper Fosser third.
The World of O Analysis article explains that the men's race was close, with different runners excelling in different parts of the course. In the women's Simona ran a very good race, and with the fast Tove losing time with some route choices it was less close.
GB positions were:
- In the women's all GB athletes placed higher than they had in the middle race: Megan - 21, Jo - 26, Cecilie - 35, Fiona - 43, Laura - 51, Chloe - 83. (field 113 runners)
- In the men's: Graham - 36, Hector - 49, Jonathan - 58, Joshua - 65, Ben - 79, Will - 86. (field 139 runners)
Cecilie Andersen, photo: Fred Härtelt
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Jonathan Crickmore, photo: Christian Aebersold
Hector Haines, photo: Fred Härtelt
Graham Gristwood, photo: Christian Aebersold