trail-O

Stegal has just returned from Norway and he has taken this gift for our readers; thanks to Martin for his availability.
Here's blog's Martin


MARTIN JULLUM’S INTERVIEW (by Stegal)

Q: The first question is always the simplest: we are interviewing you for what reason? Let me explain ... Are you a player of football national team and at the same time a Chess Grand Master? No, that was Simen Agdestein! Did you win an edition of “Skal Vi Danse?” and you had some Grammy Award? No, those were Madcon! But give me another chance... maybe are you an orienteering champion? If so, tell us something about your career, results... and about your life of course!

A: Yes, that's correct!. My name is Martin Jullum, I am 23 years old and I am currently a master student at the University of Oslo, studying mathematical statistics. I compete in trailo for Halden SK, which is the club I have competed for my whole orienteering career.

Q: Yes, I know that you are member of Halden Sk; when I has been speaker at Andalusian O-Meeting 2011 I said that Halden SK is like Real Madrid in football. Before you start thinking about who can be FC Barcelona, tell us how it is to be teammates of Olav Lundanes, Anne Margrethe Hausken, Emil Wingstedt, Galina Vinogradova (and my friend Elena Roos too...)., and what they say when they think being teammates of Martin Jullum!

A: I have never though of my club as the orienteering equivalent of Real Madrid, but of course it is a "famous" club (If you may call an orienteering club famous) with a great history and lots of great runners. They are all great teammates, and their achievements makes me want to improve even more, in my sport. They also makes it more fun and interesting to watch 10-mila, Jukola and the World champs when your friends and teammates is in the top. I guess the runners are happy when they hear about my performance as well. I always feel welcome and appreciated when I come home to "Høiås", the club hut of Halden SK. Here there are trainings and socialization every Thursday all the year round. Being part of this big orienteering family, gathering the youngest children up to the absolute orienteering elite along with the orienteering veterans of the club is really special and gives me the extra boost I sometimes need.
By the way, I do think that Kalevan Rasti might be FC Barcelona... (or maybe Selkien Sisu?)

Q: At the last WTOC, you won the Temp-O competition, but maybe you were much more focused on Pre-O World Championship. Could you tell us something about your experience at last WTOC?

A: I was of course much more focused on the actual World Champs. I had prepared much for that competition. The way it turned out with my individual result, especially the first day, I was probably thinking too much. I did 3 mistakes, which I have divided into three categories, one bad decision (Z on n. 2, day 1), one bingo control (D on n. 10, day 1) and one too quick decision (A on n. 5, day 2). I am not happy with this result at all, but I think my level as of August 2011 was just one more point, (and probably quite a bit faster) - then I would have been on the podium where I was the two previous years. With this I mean that the current level of international trail-o is so high that in my case, one bad decision is the difference between a successful result and a disappointing result.

But even if my individual result was not the best, the team competition went very well. We got the silver medal which was way more than what we had ever hoped for. All the team members (Lars Jakob Waaler, Arne Ask and me) did very good performance on the second day, so it really was a team victory. And I must say that beating Sweden made the feeling even better... :)

Q: Obviously, let us know something also about the Temp-O competition and your astonishing victory with a fantastic overall time (I did the same competition... my result has been something more than one thousand seconds! Please don't comment my result...)

A: Because I maybe did think too much the two previous days, my tactics for the temp-o was to go back to the basics - to not over-think, but make it simple. I also knew I had to speed up a lot from the timed controls the previous days, when I used over a minute both days. I had decided just to go for it this day. I have learned that you can't win anything if you don't go for it, especially when it comes to tempo. I was also much more relaxed before this event than the world champs. Of course it was not optimal to be sitting in a 2 hour queue before the start, but this was the same for everybody.

I had such a great feeling through the whole course, I was answering fast when I had made up my mind and managed to slow down and to use the extra seconds when I was not sure at once. I just did my thing and it went very well. After the finish I had a feeling that this was a good competition with no idea that it actually was as good as a winning race. Firstly, when the results got up, I was in 3rd place, which I was really satisfied with, but as I checked my score I could only find two mistakes, not three which would give me the score on the result list. I told the organizers and was of course very happy when they told me that they made a punching mistake and I was the winner.

Q: I have to say you that I asked to the trainer Mr. Vinogradov to became a member of Halden SK... he replied that I have to slim down a bit first ... This means that all members of Halden SK are very strong, including the pre-o athletes as your example shows? He is the trainer of Halden SK: do you have a specific trainer in Halden SK for Pre-O? Do you collaborate together to increase your general level? If so, what about the ability in Pre-O of Lundanes, Hausken and so on...?

A: I do not have my own pre-o-trainer in Halden. Since I live in Oslo and I am not in Halden more than once or twice every second month or so, so I don't train much together with my teammates. Of course specific trainings arranged by someone in Halden would be great for me, but as of know I think the knowledge of the skills necessary to perform in pre-o is not good enough for me to gain anything from such a simple training. Maybe we could work something out in the future, for me to take the extra level up to the
individual medals.
Of course some of the best elite orienteers also have good abilities in pre-o. Emil Wingstedt won the first competition in pre-o he entered. It was at O-ringen in Sälen 2008, when I was more of a beginner. (I did however beat him later in the week...); Olav Lundanes tried pre-o for his first time at Norwegian Spring this spring, and also he did win, with all the best Norwegians and Swedes at place. Now I just have to talk Olav into trying pre-o again, so that he can be beaten.

Q: How do you train yourself to obtain those results in Temp-O? Do you have a check list in your mind when you listen “Time starts... now!”? Can you share with us your secrets?

A: I don't have any kind of list I go through for each control, because I guess such a tactic would be too slow. I generally try to read some of terrain before I get the map by looking at the terrain as I enter the chair. I also check the direction of north before I get into the chair, but I guess that tactic is quite common. I have tried a few other techniques on time controls/ tempo, but none of them with great success. I think the most important is to psychologically find the "the flow".

Q: And, of course, how do you train in general for Pre-O competitions? Do you also compete in Orienteering (intended as traditional orienteering)?

A: My training consists mainly of competitions in Norway and Sweden almost every weekend from April to October, with a little less in the summer time. In total I compete in about 40 competitions a year. I also plan a 2-day competition (Norwegian Spring) which is held early in the spring. Planning this competition makes me prepared for the season with lots of contact with the forest and maps, even though arranging such a
competition requires a great effort and much of the work cannot be "cashed out" in improved skills.
I used to do traditional orienteering, but I was forced to retire five years ago, because of stomach problems making me unable to train as I wanted to. I then discovered trailo three and a halfs year ago, and have thus been stuck with this.

Q: Marco Giovannini, inventor of this website, is a strong supporter of Temp-O; he believes that in the immediate or close future, by number of participants or guarantee of spectacle, Temp-O could or must take place of traditional Pre-O. What is your opinion?

A: I personally like the traditional pre-o the most. Temp-O is great fun and very demanding as well, but as the format and course setting is not perfect for the discipline yet, I still prefer the traditional one. The traditional pre-o-course is like the long distance of regular orienteering, and hence the most challenging and respected discipline, in my point of view.

I personally have a suggestion to make the format of temp-o better: The suggestion is that the answer “Z” in temp-o needs to be on different features, and I do not just want this to be in some official guide line of temp-O, I want this to be a rule of the tempo-competition that must be followed in IOF-competitions. I think such a rule can prevent the course setters of the coming world champs in temp-o from making marginal zeros. (say e.g. 60 degrees wrong by the side of a boulder.) zeros on the same feature as the correct control will in most cases turn the competition more into a guessing game than speed orienteering competition.

Q: I don’t know if you read on www.trailo.it the interview made by myself with Mr. Kucherenko, new World Champion in Paralympic Class. Do you agree with the opinion of the Russian team about the need of an Open Class or not?

A: I don not agree with Russians. If there where no open class then there will be none (or at least very few) that would want to make courses and competitions. In Scandinavia there are very few paralympic class competitors, at least according to the new rules. If the competitors not certified for the paralympic class had no World champs to go to I am quite sure the whole sport would just die out because of the lack of competitors. I honestly cannot see one good argument for not allowing open competitors to compete in
the World champs etc.

Q: At La Feclaz, I saw you talking with Marit Wiksell, the younger competitor from Sweden. I think you and Marit are among the youngest competitors. What should be introduced in Pre-O, or what has to become, to attract more young people?

A: Yes, Marit is actually my girlfriend, and I guess we are some of the younger ones. Our Finnish friends Lauri and Antti is a bit younger than the rest. To attract the young generation, I think temp-o is the best way. Don't change anything, just get better, more precise maps and organize tempo-competitions in the same arena as a regular orienteering competition, and the younger generation will come.
Actually, the 17 years old Norwegian Martin Waaler has taken part in most competition along with his father Lars Jakob Waaler the last few years. I think he is one of the youngest active competitors, and he might very well qualify for the european champs next year in Sweden. Maybe we should ask him why he keeps coming back all the time?

Q: Last question: in 2011 we had in Cavalese an edition of National Championship with the swedish team. Do you think that sooner or later you too will participate in a competition in Italy? And what do you expect from this?

A: I really want to compete more on the continent. I wanted to go to Italy this spring, but we also had a competition in Norway this weekend, so I choose that instead. The next year I will also study only 66% of full time at the university, so I will have more time to compete in other countries. If you have at least 2 competitions on a weekend with no other competition in Norway or Sweden I will definitively consider going there already next year.
From Italian trail-o I would expect good maps where sighting lines are the clue for solving quite a few of the controls.
 

======================================================================================

INTERVISTA A MARTIN JULLUM (di Stegal)

D: La prima domanda è sempre la più semplice: per quale ragione ti stiamo intervistando? Mi spiego meglio... Sei forse un giocatore della squadra di calcio nazionale ed anche un Grande Maestro di scacchi? Certo che no, quello era Simen Agdestein! Hai vinto una edizione di "Skal Vi Danse?" o hai avuto qualche Grammy Award? No, quelli erano Madcon! Dammi un’altra possibilità ... sei forse un campione di orienteering? Se è così, dicci qualcosa della tua carriera, i tuoi risultati ... e qualcosa sulla tua vita, naturalmente!

R: Sì, è corretto! Il mio nome è Martin Jullum, ho 23 anni e sono attualmente studente di master presso l'Università di Oslo, dipartimento di matematica statistiche. Gareggio nella disciplina del trail-O per l’Halden SK, che è il club per il quale ho gareggiato durante tutta la mia carriera orientistica.

D: Sapevo infatti che sei membro dell’Halden Sk; quando sono stato speaker all’Andalusian Orienteering Meeting 2011 ho definito l’Halden SK come il Real Madrid nel gioco del calcio. Prima che tu inizi a pensare a quale squadra potrebbe essere definita il Barcellona FC, raccontaci come ci si trova ad essere compagni di squadra di Olav Lundanes, Anne Margrethe Hausken, Emil Wingstedt, Galina Vinogradova (ed anche la mia amica Elena Roos), e quello che dicono loro quando pensano al fatto di essere compagni di squadra di Martin Jullum!

R: Non ho mai pensato al mio club come all'equivalente orientistico del Real Madrid, ma naturalmente si tratta di un club "famoso" (se si può chiamare un club orientistico “famoso”) con una grande storia e un sacco di grandi corridori. Sono tutti grandi compagni di squadra, e le loro imprese mi fanno venire voglia di migliorare ancora di più. Questo rende anche più divertente e interessante guardare la 10-mila, la Jukola ed i Campionati del Mondo, perchè i tuoi amici e compagni di squadra sono tra i favoriti.

Credo che i miei compagni di squadra siano felici quando sentono parlare dei miei risultati. Io mi sento sempre il benvenuto e mi sento apprezzato quando torno a casa a "Høiås", la club-house dell’Halden. Qui ci sono corsi di formazione e di socializzazione ogni giovedì per tutto l'anno. Essere parte di questa grande famiglia orientistica che comprende i bambini, gli Elite ed i veterani del club è davvero speciale e mi dà la spinta in più che a volte mi serve.

In ogni caso credo che il Kalevan Rasti potrebbe essere il Barcellona FC... (O forse il Selkien Sisu?)

D: All’ultimo World Trail Orienteering Championship hai vinto la gara dimostrativa di Temp-O, ma forse tu eri molto più concentrato sul Campionato del Mondo di trail-O. Puoi dirci qualcosa sulla tua esperienza all’ultimo WTOC?

R: Sono stato ovviamente molto più focalizzato sul mondiale. Avevo preparato questa gara molto più approfonditamente; il modo in cui è venuto fuori il mio risultato, soprattutto il primo giorno, significa che stavo pensando probabilmente troppo. Ho fatto 3 errori, che ho diviso in tre categorie: una decisione sbagliata (Z al punto n. 2, giorno 1), un punto-bingo (D al punto n. 10, giorno 1) ed una decisione troppo rapida (A sul punto n. 5, giorno 2). Io non sono stato contento di questo risultato, per il mio livello avrei potuto fare un errore in meno ed essere probabilmente un po’ più veloce; ed allora sarei stato sul podio, come nei due anni precedenti. Con questo voglio anche dire che l'attuale livello internazionale nel Trail-o è così alto che nel mio caso una sola decisione sbagliata fa la differenza tra un risultato positivo e un risultato deludente.

Ma anche se il mio risultato individuale non è stato il migliore, la gara a squadre è andata molto bene. Abbiamo ottenuto la medaglia d'argento, che è molto più di quanto avevamo mai sperato. Tutti i membri del team (Lars Jakob Waaler, Arne Ask e me) hanno gareggiato molto bene il secondo giorno, quindi è stata davvero una vittoria di squadra. E devo dire che la sensazione di battere la Svezia è ancora migliore ... :-)

D: dicci sapere qualcosa anche nella gara di Temp-O, sulla tua sorprendente vittoria con un tempo complessivo fantastico (ho fatto la stessa gara con un risultato personale superiore ai mille secondi! Quindi, per favore, non commentare il mio risultato ...).

R: forse perchè ho pensato troppo nei due giorni precedenti, la mia tattica per la gara di Temp-o è stata quella di tornare alle basi - di non pensare troppo, ma di rendere tutto molto semplice. Sapevo anche che avrei dovuto accelerare molto, visti i risultati nei punti di controllo a tempo nei giorni precedenti, quando ho usato più di un minuto in entrambe le tappe. Avevo deciso solo di raggiungere questo obiettivo, avendo imparato che non si può vincere nulla senza di esso. Ero anche molto più rilassato prima di questa gara rispetto al Campionato del Mondo. Naturalmente non è stato bellissimo stare seduto in coda per due ore prima della partenza, ma questo è valso per tutti.

Per tutta la gara ho avuto ottime sensazioni, le risposte erano veloci quando avevo un buon contatto con la carta, e quando una volta non sono stato sicuro ho rallentato e ho usato qualche secondo in più. Ho usato la mia tattica ed è andato tutto molto bene. Dopo l'arrivo ho avuto la sensazione che questa era stata una buona gara, e forse avrebbe potuto essere anche vincente.

Poi quando sono usciti i risultati ho visto che ero in terza posizione, il che mi rendeva davvero soddisfatto, ma appena ho controllato il mio punteggio ho potuto verificare che avevo fatto solo due errori, e non i tre che comparivano sulla lista dei risultati. L’ho detto all’organizzazione e sono stato ovviamente molto felice quando mi hanno avvisato che avevano commesso loro un errore e che io ero il vincitore.

D: Voglio dirti che ho chiesto a Mr. Vinogradov l'allenatore dell’Halden SK, se potevo diventare un membro della squadra dell’Halden SK... ma mi ha risposto che prima devo devo dimagrire un po’! Questo significa che tutti i membri dell’Halden SK sono molto forti, tra cui anche quelli del Trail-O come mostra il tuo esempio? Lui è l'allenatore dell’Halden SK: avete un allenatore specifico anche per il Trail-O? Collaborate tra voi per migliorare il vostro livello? Se è così, cosa ci puoi dire in merito alle capacità di Lundanes, Hausken e così via nel Trail-O?

R: Non ho un allenatore di Trail-O nell’Halden SK. Poiché vivo a Oslo, e sono ad Halden non più di una o due volte ogni due mesi o giù di lì, non mi alleno molto insieme ai miei compagni di squadra. Naturalmente sarebbe fantastico se ci fossero specifici corsi di formazione organizzati da qualcuno dell’Halden SK, ma penso che il mio livello di conoscenza del trail-O non mi renda facile ottenere dei miglioramenti personali da una semplice formazione di base. Forse potremmo lavorare insieme in futuro, per ottenere quei miglioramenti supplementare che consentono di arrivare a vincere medaglie individuali.

Naturalmente alcuni dei migliori Elite hanno anche buone capacità nel Trail-O. Emil Wingstedt ha vinto la prima gara di Trail-O cui ha partecipato, all’O-Ringen a Sälen 2008, quando io ero poco più di un principiante (ma ho fatto in tempo a batterlo nel corso della settimana...). Olav Lundanes ha gareggiato per la prima volta nel Trail-O questa primavera, e anche lui ha vinto, ed in gara c’erano tutti i migliori atleti norvegesi e svedesi. Quindi ora devo solo parlare a Olav per cercare di averlo ad un’altra gara di Trail-O, in modo da cercare di batterlo.

D: Come ti alleni per ottenere questi risultati nel Temp-O? Hai una check list in mente che si attiva quando ascolti "Il tempo parte ... ora! "? Puoi condividere con noi i tuoi segreti?

R: Non ho alcun tipo di check list valida per ogni punto di controllo, perché credo che una tale strategia potrebbe rivelarsi troppo lenta. In genere cerco di leggere parte del terreno prima del momento in cui mi viene data la mappa. Controllo anche la direzione del nord prima di sedermi, ma credo che sia una tattica abbastanza comune. Ho provato alcune tecniche per i punti di controllo a tempo, ma nessuno con grande successo. Penso che la cosa più importante sia quella di entrare psicologicamente nel cosiddetto “flusso" (“flow”).

D: Come ti alleni per le classiche gare di Trail-O? Gareggi anche nella C.O.?

R: Il mio allenamento consiste principalmente nella partecipazione alle gare in Norvegia ed in Svezia, quasi ogni fine settimana da aprile a ottobre, un po’ meno nel periodo estivo. In totale faccio circa 40 gare all'anno. Ho anche tracciato una 2 giorni di gare in primavera, e la preparazione di questa competizione mi ha preparato alla stagione agonistica attraverso un continuo contatto con i boschi e le mappe, anche se organizzare una gara richiede un grande sforzo e gran parte del lavoro non finisce per costituire un vero e proprio miglioramento delle mie conoscenze.

Ho praticato la corsa d’orientamento, ma sono stato costretto a ritirarmi cinque anni fa, a causa di problemi di stomaco che mi impedivano di allenarmi come avrei voluto. Poi ho scoperto il trail-o tre anni e mezzo fa e ne sono rimasto subito coinvolto.

D: Marco Giovannini, l'inventore di questo sito web, è un forte sostenitore del Temp-O e crede che nel futuro immediato esso, per numero di partecipanti e per la garanzia di spettacolo, potrebbe soppiantare il Trail-O tradizionale. Qual è la tua opinione?

R: Personalmente, ritengo che il tradizionale Trail-O sia molto divertente e molto coinvolgente, anche se il formato attuale non è perfetto. Il tradizionale Trail-O è come la gara sulla lunga distanza nella c.o., è la disciplina più sfidante e più rispettata dal mio punto di vista.

Ho un suggerimento per rendere migliore il formato del Temp-O: la risposta “Z” dovrebbe rappresentare un punto di controllo posto su un oggetto diverso, e questo dovrebbe essere scritto in qualche linea guida ufficiale del temp-o, dovrebbe diventare una regola delle gare IOF. Penso che una tale regola potrebbe impedire al tracciatore di inserire nelle gare ai prossimi campionati del mondo delle “Z” non chiare. Risposte “Z” sullo stesso oggetto rendono la competizione del Temp-O più un gioco ad indovinelli che una gara di velocità orientistica

D: Non so se hai letto sul sito www.trailo.it l'intervista fatta da me a Dmitry Kucherenko, nuovo Campione del Mondo nella classe Paralimpici. Sei d'accordo con il parere della squadra russa circa la non necessità di una categoria Open?

R: Non sono d'accordo con i russi. Se non ci fosse nessuna categoria Open, allora potrebbe non esserci nessuno (o almeno essercene molto pochi) a partecipare alle gare. In Scandinavia ci sono pochissimi concorrenti della classe paralimpici, almeno secondo le nuove regole. Se i concorrenti che non appartengono alla categoria Paralimpica non avessero un Campionato del Mondo, sono abbastanza sicuro che in breve tempo l'intera disciplina andrebbe ad estinguersi a causa della mancanza di concorrenti. Sinceramente non credo che quello dei russi sia un buon argomento

D: A La Feclaz ti ho visto parlare con Marit Wiksell, la più giovane concorrente della squadra svedese. Penso che tu e Marit siate proprio tra i concorrenti più giovani in assoluto. Cosa dovrebbe essere introdotto nel Trail-O per indurre più giovani a partecipare alle gare?

R: Sì, Marit è in realtà la mia fidanzata, e credo che siamo entrambi tra i concorrenti più giovani. I nostri amici finlandesi Lauri e Antti sono un po’ più giovani rispetto agli altri. Credo che per attirare le giovani generazioni il formato migliore sia quello del Temp-O; senza cambiare nulla, solo farlo meglio, con mappe più precise ed organizzando garedi Temp-O nella stessa arena di gara di una competizione orientistica. I giovani arriveranno.

In realtà, a 17 anni, il norvegese Martin Waaler ha preso parte a tante gare insieme al padre Lars Jakob Waaler. Io credo che sia lui uno dei concorrenti più giovani in circolazione, e lui potrebbe benissimo

qualificarsi l'anno prossimo ai Campionati Europei in Svezia. Forse dovremmo chiedere a lui il motivo per il quale continua a tornare a gareggiare tutte le volte?

D: una ultima domanda: nel 2011 abbiamo avuto a Cavalese una edizione del Campionato Italiano con la partecipazione della nazionale svedese. Pensi che prima o poi parteciperai anche tu ad una gara in Italia? E cosa ti aspetteresti da questa gara?

R: Ho molta voglia di gareggiare di più sul continente. Avrei voluto venire in Italia questa primavera, ma abbiamo avuto una gara in Norvegia nello stesso fine settimana ed ho scelto di rimanere a casa. L'anno prossimo penso di poter diminuire il tempo che ora dedico allo studio, così avrò più tempo per gareggiare in altri paesi. Se fosse possibile avere almeno due gare nello stesso fine settimana, senza gare contemporanee in Norvegia o Svezia, potrei decisamente considerare la possibilità già dall’anno prossimo.

Dal Trail-O italiano mi aspetterei di poter gareggiare su buone mappe, nelle quali le linee di avvistamento sono la costituiscono la chiave per risolvere la maggior parte dei punti di controllo.

Stegal has found Galletti at home and he asked him something about last manifestation...

If I had to remember one frame to describe the competition held Saturday morning in Fascia di Gorreto, I would say that is when I saw Daniel Danieli (my favorite for the first place) to speak at the end with Guido Michelotti; for me that was the picture symbol of competition: the winner and the coursesetter. I was not more than 10 yards away, I approached and said to Guido: "Bravo Guido! Today I have been really punished. "

"Punished," in rugby, is the player who has spent the entire game facing a stronger opponent: it can not give up but know he has very few chances in every action, every moment. I think the same thing happens to Europeans player who are in front of Martin Castrogiovanni ... And me, after the competition, I felt just like that: punished, a big headache for the effort to stay focused for almost all of the 100-minute competition, and the widespread feeling of not having many chances to have a good position in the final standings; a fair competition and no doubt well prepared but too difficult for my chances.

I wrote in the past something about hazardous between chess and trail-O. Now I want to make a comparison even more strange: competing in Trail-O is like holding a series of cards to play; there is the card "remapping", the card "evaluation of distance", the card "management and Azimuth "... there is the "height" and "knowledge of the rules." Sometimes you play only a card, sometimes are played in combination. Everything, at every turn, defines a kind of "confidence" in the answer given, in a confidence that can never be 100% because this would be possible with not a map, which is a representation of reality, but a photograph ...

Last saturday I often had to play all the cards in my hand, all the classic ones and even many of those "special cards" that are sold in trade between collectors. I played the card "figures out where the reentrant ends even if you do not see it", the card "I think you want me to thinking ..." (1st level of complication) and the card "I know that you know I think you want me to thinking ... "(2nd level of complication). And then my favorite card I use to evaluate the short distances: "how many cars can I park in this space?".

Crazy? Maybe. But the skill of Guido Michelotti was precisely this: the competition has been fair and honest for all, but very difficult; so that after the competition, despite at every point I have had the opportunity to develop a strategy, the number of control points where my confidence level was high or medium-high was very minimal.
Everything leaves me in my head a question: my victory with the 100% of correct answers  was true glory or I have only benefited from a circumstance of events? Of course it’s a special for someone like me who had said earlier in the season “I would be far from Trail-O during 2011”. My comeback should be debited to Marco Giovannini and Piero Labanti: they convinced me to participate in the competition held in Nichelino in mid-season ... that day, when I was ranked at the bottom of the standings, I realized that I had to find new several "cards" to gain a better ranking and to give a better sense of participation in Trail-O events.
Participation which continues for me not to have the primary purpose of winning, but an intellectual challenge to face a coursesetter who is trying, with equal intellectual honesty, to draw for me a tough competition.

Flab by flag my competition last Sunday:

1 - from the point of view I could see the two flags and the three at point 2. I measured the height of the tree in the area and of ​​the pylon, and I checked the contours of the depressions to verify that the flag was at least in the correct reentrant. Degree of confidence: high.

2 - two flags on the hills, three trees before between me and the center of the circle, and another after the circle; they act for me as a good "viewfinder". Degree of confidence: high.

3 - I spent several minutes on this point, without understanding almost nothing. I first tried to remap the area, but without decisive information, then I tried to estimate the distance from the street of flags, then the distance from flags and various objects that I thought I could identify on the map. My constant thought was "what a hard start!"... Just before leaving the area with an answer almost random, I thought that perhaps deliberately not all objects were mapped: I understood where were the tree and bushes and then the two flags were visible a few feet from the center of the circle. Degree of Confidence: medium

4 - because the forest, the line of "spur" was invisible; I moved to the left to find out whether should be the end of the reentrant that was visible from the road. Unfortunately it was not. With some imagination, I tried to understand the end of reentrant, only based on the length, and from that point, I tried to understand which flag (between the two closest to the road) should be correct. One of the two "approaches" and the other is "away" in the direction that seemed most likely, so I gave my answer “C”: I did not have any element to see if it could be a "Z". Only after speaking with Marco, he noticed that I completely neglected the right side of the area ... the one with the fence that went from the grass to the forest: I never looked that way, so I do not know if I would be helped or not by that analysis. Degree of confidence: low.

5 - down the road, of course I noticed the two flags in the reentrant. That was not my point of view, but I tried to see if the flag at the bottom could be in the right place. I evaluated "yes" ... and I was wrong! That position, however, helped me to understand that I hardly saw the flag from the correct point of view, much farther. When from the point of view I saw the flag “E” far in the forest, I understood that this was a well conceived trap: the point was not visible, and that flag was still too close. Degree of Confidence: medium

6 - from the point of view could be difficult to assess, but it was easy from the roadside to define ditches, the waterway and the spur. When I saw that a flag was right on the spur, I was not thinking it was the right height or not or if it was moved just half a meter or a meter from the exact point: I thought the question was not in the purposes of Guido Michelotti, but it was only required to identify the exact object. Degree of Confidence: High

7 - I almost missed the easiest one! I was the first competitor in the starting list, and there were people who went into the woods near the flags and seemed bothered by my presence on the way: I was looking at the flags, but they evidently felt I was watching them and early they started to talk to me in a bad way. Two flags: to identify the top was fairly easy. More hard not to get "carried away", as it was happening, by doubts such as "but the three knolls are aligned or not?". Degree of Confidence: High

8 - a really nice one! Very easy. A beautiful "A"... obviously wrong! Luckily there was the fence, I had evaluated it at a distance of 12 meters from the flag (if this was the right place) and instead it was very close. I remapped the three trees and the two trails and at the end I was convinced that the point where the flag was, it was hidden on the map from the intersection of fence lines, paths  and blue line of north! Degree of Confidence: medium

9 - Again, I remapped the area, using as a basis and considering the tree into the reentrant then his height. I counted reentrants and spurs and I saw, hidden, where the right spur should have been. Degree of Confidence: medium

10 - after all this thinking, I just verified if the flag was in the right direction compared to the tree. Degree of Confidence: High

3 time controls in a Temp-o mode: I took my time to re-map the area and, after some misgivings, I realized that not all of the bushes were present in the map ... and some also had their beautiful flag! At this point I have identified the "C" also with the help of the position around the object. I thought I could just fail to answer the second "E", but at that moment I was lucky for one single moment (I still can rewind the tape and review the scene): it passed ahead me the scene of Gallio 2010, with a flag in an area where the grass went from short to high. I did the wrong answer because I did not understand that there weren’t boundaries between the two types of grass. The second point in time had two flags on opposite edges of this different turf, I took a few seconds to reflect and I finally decided on an "F". This point gave me the victory, cause it was wrong (and only this) by Susy De Pieri and Remo Madella, but in the case of my mistake they had spent less time than me (but I won the same with an error in a control point different than the time control). The third point was the easiest, a clear "A" and I used a couple of seconds just to put the answer "alpha" on the tongue after that my mind had developed it

11 - the most difficult point where I missed the first 10 minutes without understanding anything. The first difficulty is relates to the fact that the observation point was at the edge of the area of ​​the time controls: since I’m big and tall and dressed in red, firstly I did not want to disturb the competitors who were at the time controls, but I was disturbed by their responses and the time used. I tried to remap the area to assess the distance, object by object to control everything from the point where I was or from the farthest point. I went away thinking about another "Z" but I didn’t punch; I wanted to see the point of view of 12 and 13. I thought "Z" because, as at fifth, I could not identify the flag just after a contour level. And then the trees were almost all in the right place, but all "almost" and no one in the exact spot. So I thought that some bushes or trees were not mapped and that the flags were on a position just suggesting that they were in the correct place. I moved to the point of view 12-13 and, going back and forth (I even "photographed" in my mind the shape of the bushes to see if moving to the next point of view I still see the same objects: there was the bush "cube", the "cone" one , the "umbrella " one...) I saw an almost invisible flag behind the visible 11. So I started thinking that perhaps the 11 had no flag ("Z" answer) and at 12 Guido made visible as the only choice the flag that would be at point 11 (even "Z"). The 13 was slightly easier, because along the way we could see the tree on the contour level close the top of the hill, with a little tree in the northeast.
Degree of confidence: 11 = medium-low, 12 = average, 13 = medium-high

14 - the flag was identified quite easily from the top of the road, but you had to be ready enough to go to see that point before the triplet 8/9/10. I had read the news about the competition and I knew it was expressly said that after the time control you could not comeback, so it was better to study once there. Relying only to view from below, the sequence of hills and knolls was not easy to investigate ...
Degree of Confidence: medium

15 - canceled before the competition for last minute changes occurred around the mapped area

16 – an easy flag, but when Piero after the competition said something about a different answer, I thought he was right. You could see well the two tiny reentrants, one really straight to the flag "B". Also this time I have not paid much attention to the possibility that the flag could be moved even slightly by the end of the gully: I had no elements to think that this could be a "Z by Guido Michelotti".
Degree of Confidence: High

17 - last flag and, after 16, I had enough time to play my cards. First I could not identify the stone in the dark and dense forest. Then I looked at the contour lines and I saw that the stone would be 25 meters above the street where I was. 25 meters is a palace! But the flag seemed closer. Then the flag was hindered by a competitor, Fulvio Pacor, who is two meters tall (like me) and I started thinking about "how many Fulvio Pacor were between me and the flag?" and I calculated up to 6 or 7 persons two meters tall (that means I played the card "Fulvio Pacor”?). Move left, I looked at the southern tip of the rock, which was at half-height between the road and the center of the circle, and I saw that the flag was on the same contour or so. And then he still did not see the stone! At that point I left behind my unit of measure (always Fulvio Pacor) to reflect alone, and I punched "Z". I hope that Fulvio, if he will read my notes, will not be angry ...
Degree of Confidence: High

Se dovessi infatti indicare un solo fotogramma per descrivere la gara disputata sabato mattina a Fascia di Gorreto, direi che è quello nel quale ho visto Daniele Danieli (il mio favorito) parlare a fine tenzone con Guido Michelotti (tracciatore); per me quella era la foto simbolo della competizione: il vincitore ed il tracciatore. Ero a non più di 10 metri da loro, mi sono avvicinato ed ho detto a Guido: “Bravo Guido! Oggi mi hai veramente punito!”.
“Punito”, nel rugby, rappresenta il giocatore che ha passato tutta la partita alle prese con un avversario più forte: non può mollare ma sa di avere ben poche chances ad ogni azione, in ogni momento. Penso succeda la stessa cosa ai piloni europei che si trovano di fronte Martin Castrogiovanni... Ed io a fine gara mi sono sentito proprio così: punito; un gran mal di testa per lo sforzo di rimanere concentrato per quasi tutti i 100 minuti di gara, e la sensazione diffusa di non avere molte chances di centrare una buona posizione in classifica; una gara equa e senza dubbio ben tracciata ma troppo difficile per le mie possibilità. 
Ho già fatto in passato confronti azzardati tra gli scacchi ed il trail-O. Ora voglio fare un paragone ancora più azzardato: risolvere un punto nel trail-O è come avere in mano una serie di carte da giocare; c’è la carta “remapping”, la carta “valutazione della distanza”, la carta “direzione e azimut”... c’è quella “altezza” e quella “conoscenza del regolamento”. Talvolta capita di giocare una carta sola, talvolta vanno giocate in combinazione. Il tutto, ad ogni punto, definisce una sorta di “confidenza” nella risposta che viene data, confidenza che secondo me non può mai essere al 100% perchè questo sarebbe possibile solo disponendo non della mappa, che è una rappresentazione della realtà, ma di una fotografia...
Ecco: io durante la gara di Fascia ho dovuto spesso giocare tutte le carte che avevo in mano, tutte quelle classiche che si trovano nelle bustine comprate in cartoleria ed anche parecchie di quelle “special cards” che si acquistano nei mercatini, su E-Bay, negli scambi tra collezionisti. Ho giocato la carta “immagina dove termina l’avvallamento anche se non lo vedi”, la carta “io penso che tu mi vuoi far pensare...” (1° livello di complicazione) e la carta “io so che tu sai che io penso che tu mi vuoi far pensare...” (2° livello di complicazione). E poi la mia carta preferita con la quale sempre più spesso cerco di far quadrare i conti e valutare le brevi distanze: “quante macchine puoi parcheggiare in questo spazio?”.
Pazzo? Forse. Ma la bravura di Guido Michelotti a Fascia è stata proprio questa: ha tracciato una gara equa ed onesta per tutti ma veramente difficile; con il risultato che a fine gara, nonostante su ogni punto io abbia avuto la possibilità di elaborare una strategia, il numero di punti di controllo sui quali il mio grado di confidenza era alto o medio-alto era veramente minimo. 
Tutto questo non fa che lasciarmi in testa la domanda con cui ho cominciato: è stata vera gloria o sono stato solo avvantaggiato da una circostanza di eventi? Certo che sono veramente tanti dubbi per uno come me che aveva dichiarato ad inizio stagione che sarebbe stato ben lontano dalle lanterne del trail-O. Di questo mio “ritorno” dovreste chiedere conto a Rusky e PLab che mi avevano convinto a partecipare alla gara di Nichelino a metà stagione... quel giorno, quando mi sono piazzato verso il fondo classifica, ho capito che avrei dovuto dotarmi di parecchie “carte” in più per poter ambire ad una posizione migliore e per dare un senso più completo alla partecipazione alle gare di trail-O. 
Partecipazione che continua per me a non avere lo scopo principale di vincere, ma di affrontare una sfida intellettuale con un tracciatore che sta cercando, con onestà altrettanto intellettuale, di rendermi dura la competizione.

Flag by flag la mia gara di domenica scorsa:

1 – dal punto di vista vedevo sia le due lanterne del punto 1 che le tre del punto 2. Ho valutato l’altezza dell’unico albero in zona e del pilone della linea elettrica, e ho controllato le curve di livello degli avvallamenti per verificare che la lanterna fosse almeno nell’avvallamento giusto. Grado di confidenza: alto.

2 – due lanterne sulla collina, tra alberi prima dei teli ed uno dopo i teli per fare da “mirino”. Grado di confidenza: alto.

3 – ho passato parecchi minuti su questo punto, senza capire quasi nulla. Ho cercato dapprima di rimappare la zona ma senza avere informazioni decisive; poi ho cercato di valutare la distanza delle lanterne dalla strada, e poi la distanza delle lanterne dai vari oggetti che pensavo di poter identificare sulla mappa. Il mio pensiero costante è stato “andiamo bene!”... poco prima di abbandonare la zona con una risposta data quasi a caso ho pensato che forse volutamente non tutti gli oggetti erano stati cartografati: subito dopo ho capito quale fossero l’albero ed il cespuglio e che quindi le due lanterne visibili stavano a qualche metro dal centro del cerchietto. Grado di confidenza: medio-alto

4 – poiché in quel bosco la forma del “naso” non si vedeva affatto bene, mi sono spostato a sinistra per cercare di capire se almeno l’avvallamento che partiva dalla strada fosse ben visibile. Purtroppo non lo era. Con un po’ di immaginazione, ho cercato di capire dove fosse la fine dell’avvallamento basandomi solo sulla sua lunghezza e, da quel punto, di capire quale lanterna tra le due più vicine alla strada si “allontanava” rispetto alla strada. Una delle due si “avvicinava” e l’altra si “allontanava” nella direzione che pareva più probabile, così ho dato la mia risposta: non avevo alcun tipo di elemento per capire se potesse essere una “Z”. Solo dopo, parlando con Marco, mi sono accorto di aver completamente trascurato il lato destro della zona... quello con il recinto che dal prato entrava dal bosco: non ho mai guardato da quella parte quindi non saprei dire se sarei stato aiutato o no da quella analisi. Grado di confidenza: basso.

5 – scendendo lungo la strada, ho ovviamente notato le due lanterne nell’avvallamento. Quello non era il mio punto di vista, ma ho cercato di capire se la lanterna in fondo potesse essere nel posto giusto. Ho valutato per il “si”... sbagliando! (non era facile per me capire dove passava il ruscello in una zona piatta). Quella valutazione però mi ha aiutato a capire che ben difficilmente avrei visto quella stessa lanterna dal punto di osservazione, che era ben più lontano. Quando dal punto di osservazione ho visto le 5 lanterne con la “E” infilata lontano nel bosco ho capito che quella era una trappola ben congegnata: il punto non sarebbe stato visibile, e quella lanterna lontana era comunque troppo vicina. Grado di confidenza: medio-alto

6 – dal punto di osservazione poteva essere difficile valutare, ma da bordo strada si contavano benissimo la canaletta, il corso d’acqua ed il naso. Quando ho visto che una lanterna stava sul naso giusto non sono rimasto a pensare se era all’altezza giusta o no o se era spostata anche solo di mezzo metro o un metro dal punto esatto: ho pensato che il quesito posto da Guido Michelotti non era di quel tipo ma che venisse richiesto solo di individuare l’oggetto esatto. Grado di confidenza: alto

7 – ho rischiato di sbagliare una delle lanterne più facili. Quando sono passato dal punto, ero il primo concorrente in gara, c’erano delle persone che passavano nel bosco vicino alle lanterne e che sembravano infastidite dalla mia presenza ferma sulla strada: io guardavo i punti, ma a loro evidentemente sembrava che li stessi osservando e all’inizio si sono rivolti a me in malo modo. Due lanterne: identificare il cocuzzolo giusto è stato abbastanza facile. Più difficile non farsi “travolgere”, come stava per succedermi, dai dubbi del tipo “ma le tre collinette saranno allineate o no?”. Grado di confidenza: alto

8 – un punto veramente bello. Tutto molto facile. Una bella “A” chiara e netta... e sbagliata ovviamente. Per fortuna che c’era il recinto, che avevo valutato ad una distanza di 12 metri dal telo (se questo fosse stato nel posto giusto) ed era invece molto vicino. Ho rimappato i tre alberelli e le due tracce di sentiero ed alla fine mi sono convinto che il punto dove stava il telo era nascosto, sulla mappa, dall’incrocio diabolico delle linee del recinto, del sentiero e del nord! Grado di confidenza: medio-alto

9 – Anche in questo caso ho rimappato la zona, usando come base l’alberello nell’avvallamento e valutando poi l’altezza e la distanza rispetto a quel chiaro indicatore. Ho contato avvallamenti e sporgenze del terreno ed ho intravisto, nascosto, il naso sul quale avrebbe dovuto trovarsi il telo. Grado di confidenza: medio-alto

10 – dopo tutto questo pensare, sul punto 10 ho solo badato a vedere se il telo stava nella direzione giusta rispetto all’albero. Grado di confidenza: alto

Punti a tempo: 3 quesiti in modalità temp-O. Mi sono preso il mio tempo per rimappare la zona e, dopo qualche perplessità, ho capito che non tutti i cespugli dell’area erano presenti in carta... ed alcuni avevano anche la loro bella lanterna! A questo punto ho identificato la “C” aiutandomi anche con la direzione del punto rispetto all’oggetto. Pensavo di poter subito dare a colpo sicuro anche la seconda risposta “E”, ma in quel momento sono stato fortunato: per un solo singolo istante (posso ancora riavvolgere il nastro e rivedere la scena) mi è passata davanti agli occhi la scena di Gallio 2010, con un punto in una zona dove l’erba passava da “grezza” ed alta a ben rasata; quel punto l’avevo sbagliato: sulla mappa non era indicato alcun confine tra i due tipi di vegetazione. Anche il secondo punto a tempo aveva due lanterne sui bordi opposti di questo differente tappeto erboso;  mi sono preso ancora qualche secondo per riflettere e alla fine ho deciso per una “F”. E’ il punto che mi ha dato la vittoria, visto che è stato sbagliato (e solo questo) sia da Susy De Pieri che da Remo Madella, ma in caso di mio errore loro avevano impiegato parecchio tempo meno di me (invece avrei vinto lo stesso con un errore nei punti non a tempo). Il terzo punto era il più facile, al bordo sinistro: una evidente “A” nella quale ho consumato un paio di secondi solo per mettere sulla lingua la risposta “alfa” dopo che la mia mente l’aveva elaborata.

11 – il punto più difficile, sul quale ho perso i primi 10 minuti senza capire nulla. La prima difficoltà è legata al fatto che il punto di osservazione era al bordo della zona dei punti a tempo: poiché sono alto e grosso e vestito di rosso, da un lato non volevo disturbare i concorrenti che si avvicendavano nel punto a tempo e dall’altra ero disturbato sentendo le loro risposte ed i secondi impiegati. Ho cercato di rimappare la zona, di valutare la distanza, di controllare tutto oggetto per oggetto partendo dal punto in cui ero o dal punto più lontano. Sono andato via pensando ad una ennesima “Z” ma non ho punzonato subito: volevo vedere i quesiti 12 e 13. Ho pensato “Z” perchè, come al punto 5, non riuscivo ad identificare il dosso oltre il quale si trovava il punto e che in qualche modo avrebbe dovuto impedirmene la visuale. E poi gli alberelli erano tutti quasi al punto giusto, ma tutti “quasi” e nessuno al punto esatto. Così ho pensato che alcuni cespugli o alberi non fossero stati cartografati e che Guido avesse messo le lanterne accanto a cespugli la cui posizione reciproca poteva far pensare a quelli che erano invece cartografati; mi sono spostato verso il punto di vista 12-13 e ad un certo punto, andando continuamente avanti e indietro (ho persino “fotografato” nella mia mente la forma dei cespugli per capire se spostandomi al punto di vista successivo continuavo a vedere gli stessi oggetti: c’era il cespuglio “cubo”, il “cono”, l’”ombrello”...) ho intravisto una evanescente lanterna alle spalle di quella visibile al punto 11. Così mi sono messo a pensare che forse il punto 11 fosse senza lanterna (“Z”) e che al punto 12 in realtà Guido mi stava proponendo come unica scelta la lanterna che avrebbe dovuto essere al punto 11 (ancora “Z”). La 13 era leggermente più facile, perchè lungo la strada ad un certo momento si intravedeva l’albero sulla curva ausiliaria della collina, con a nord-est un alberello; inoltre si poteva comunque valutarne l’altezza rispetto alla cima di collina. Grado di confidenza: 11 = medio-basso, 12 = medio, 13 = medio-alto

14 – la lanterna si identificava con una certa facilità dalla parte alta della strada, ma bisognava essere abbastanza lucidi per andare a vedere quel punto prima della terzina 8-9-10. Avevo letto bene il comunicato gara e avevo capito, dato che si diceva espressamente che dopo i punti a tempo non si poteva tornare indietro, che era meglio studiare subito quel punto. Affidandosi solo alla visuale dal basso, la sequenza di dossi e collinette non rendevano la vita così facile... Grado di confidenza: medio-alto

15 – annullata prima della gara per modifiche occorse all’ultimo momento per mano dell’uomo all’area mappata

16 – una lanterna facile ma, quando PLab mi ha detto di aver messo una risposta diversa dalla mia, ho creduto che avesse ragione lui. Si vedevano bene i due minuscoli avvallamenti, uno dei quali portava dritto alla lanterna “B”. Anche questa volta non ho badato molto alla possibilità che la lanterna potesse essere spostata anche solo di poco dal termine della canaletta richiesto: non avevo elementi per pensare che quella potesse essere una”Z alla Guido Michelotti”. Grado di confidenza: alto

17 – ultima lanterna e, dopo la 16, avevo abbastanza tempo per giocare le mie carte. All’inizio non riuscivo ad identificare il masso nel bosco scuro e fitto. Poi ho guardato le curve di livello e ho visto che il masso avrebbe dovuto essere 25 metri più in alto della strada dove mi trovavo. 25 metri sono un palazzo bello alto! E invece la lanterna sembrava più vicina. Ad un certo punto tra me e la lanterna si è frapposto un concorrente, Fulvio Pacor, che è alto quasi due metri (come me) ed ho cominciato a pensare a “quanti Fulvi Pacor c’erano tra me e la lanterna” e ne ho calcolati visivamente 6 o 7 al massimo (vale giocare la carta “Fulvio Pacor”?”). Spostandomi a sinistra, ho guardato la punta sud della parete rocciosa, che era a mezza altezza tra la strada ed il centro del cerchio, e ho visto che la lanterna era sulla stessa curva di livello o quasi. E poi il sasso continuava a non vedersi! A quel punto ho lasciato lì la mia unità di misura (sempre Fulvio Pacor) a riflettere da solo e ho punzonato “Z”. Spero che Fulvio, se mai verrà a leggere questa cosa, non si arrabbi... Grado di confidenza: alto

After the last round of Italy cup, we have two guys who have won two different trailo tables: Danieli won Italy cup and Galletti became number one of italian ranking.
But, our foreign friends ask: who are they?  now, I will ask to Stegal to investigate about them and if he will be able to collect news about these two new names.

After two days of stages, Finland wins ahead Sweden and Norway. Here, you can watch results, maps and other.

Stay tuned, because we have an interesting interview.....

At the end, Danieli manages to win but his performarce was terrible! Only 12th, today, with five mistakes. The daily winner is Galletti who in the last matches seemed in very good shape; behind him, three competitors of Cus Parma: De Pieri, Madella and Grilli. Only fifth and seventh the opposings for the final victory, Cereser and Bettin. The match has been very interesting and challenging: the planner, Guido Michelotti, was at his first experience but he invented some controls very particular. ...

This weekend, in Denmark, there will be the Nordic Match; unfortunately, some italian athletes can't take part in this competition because Italy cup is the same date.
Here, you can follow this important manifestation.

This saturday, in Liguria, there will be the sixth (last one) round of Italy cup.
The final result of Italy cup will be composed with best four rounds; actually, the best is Danieli and he's favorite because he can add another result to reach the full score.
You can see the overall standing here

Next week, we will have a surprise..... from Stegal!

Here, you can find the results, maps and other from the original website. In trailO, you can find results and the new situation of Italy's Cup

The final result of EMG - Trailo isn't surprising: the couple of Czech Republic, Libor and Lenka have taken the 1st and 3rd place; good second place for Galletti one of favorite for the victory.
But the curiosity was about the TempO and Sunday's trailO because at the start there were some important names.
The best, in both races, was Ivo Tisljar: in TempO formula, Ivo won ahead Libor and Guido Michelotti; 24 were the controls shared in 6 places.
Sunday, Ivo won ahead Danieli, Michelotti jr. and Galletti: all of them have obtained the maximum score. The match has been very close because you can find other 4 athletes with one mistake and 11 people with 2 mistakes.
Now, Danieli has, in Italy's Cup, two wins and one second place in only three games.... Is he ready for the National team? The numbers say yes but I think the coach will continue to search someboby else.

In next days you'll find, here, map and photos.

Not surprise in the first day of EMG; Forst leads ahead Forstova and Michelotti senior; fifth, the Italian bronze medal 2011, Galletti. The controls were 21 and the top 4 athletes have scored all of them. The second stage is TempO format; the third stage is Classic TrailO and it counts like 5th round of Italy's Cup. Results

This week, in Lignano (Udine), will take place the EMG (European master games); Trailo is present! three matches are scheduled: Friday 16th, Saturday 17th and Sunday 18th; two games are "original" trailO, one day is "TempO". You can follow them here. 

If somebody didn't know it, here you can found an interview of Anne Straube, World's Champion 2008.
The interview was published in O-ZINE, number 1 / 2011.

Now, as promised, the second stage...
I want to greet the Russian readers and I hope they' ll be interested in this website.

 

Description	Map	Photo
Control 1
Control 2 - 3
Control 4
Control 5
Control 6
Control 7 - 8 - 9
Control 10 - 11
Control 12
Control 13
Control 14
Control 15
Time control Teams
Time control Paralympic
Time control Open

I begin to publish some pictures of stage 1.
Unfortunately, when I took the photos, I hadn't map and solutions; so, some pictures aren't good to understand the controls but the goal of this article is to show the terrain to whom weren't in France.

Description	Map	Photo
Control 1 and 2
Control 3
Control 4
Control 5
Control 7 and 8
Control 9
Control 10
Control 11
Control 14
Control 15
Control 16
Control 17
Time Control Open Class
Time Control Paralympic Class

Next Sunday, in Varazdin (Croatia) it will be the 10th stage of Croatia - Italia - Slovenia trailo Cup; some important names will be on the ground to battle for the victory.
Here you can find the website.

During the 2011 World Trail-Orienteering Championships hold in La Feclaz (France) I had the great opportunity to interview the new world champion in the Paralympics class, the Russian Dmitry Kucherenko.
It has been for me a great honour to speak with him during an interview that also involved then the team manager of the Russian national team and then also other components of the national team: I tried to describe here the interview done with these very strong athletes: if there are things that I did not well understood, this error must be imputed to me only.
I am grateful for their patience and their willingness the World Champion Dmitry Kucherenko (DK), team manager and coach Alexander Kobzarev (AK) and athlete Dmitry Dokuchaev (DD) who translated my questions and then arranged and translated responses.

Q: Do you expect this result? With what expectations you arrived at the World Championship and what do you think were the teams to beat?

Dmitry Kucherenko (DK): first, about the result I must thank our coach, Alexander Kobzarev. He is the most important person involved in russian Trail-orienteering: success depends on him and his work. I am convinced, because we have always talked about it with the coach, that success comes step by step, continually striving to improve the results. From this World Championship I would have expected a silver medal, perhaps more likely a bronze medal. After the first day of competition I was in first position, but the ranking was very short with many athletes close, I knew that each checkpoint of day 2 would have been decisive for the ranking, but I must admit that I was a bit surprised by the gold medal.
Kobzarev Alexander (AK): starting from the 2006 World Championships, our results as a team and individual results of Dmitry improved constantly. Unfortunately, our strongest athlete died some years ago, and we needed two or three years to return to the same level. But the team is made up of athletes still young: Dmitry is 28 years old but after the first experience in the open race open in Kiev (WTOC 2008) has already participated in the 2009 World Championships in Open and in Paralympics at WTOC 2010, Pavel Shmatov is 31 years old, some athletes here are 22, 23 or 25 years old, so we still have a chance to improve, and for the next editions of the World Championship we are going to put into the team one or two junior athletes!

Q: I'm quite surprised ... Dmitry has competed in both classes, Open and Paralympics, in two different WTOC?

AK: our idea, as a team and as a federation, is that our athletes competing in the Open category have a disability. Indeed, the World Championships in trail-orienteering should be played only by athletes with various disabilities, as if it were a discipline of the Paralympics Games: we think that sport, not just the trail-orienteering, but also other sports, is a component very important to the lives of people who have a disability. Of course in Russia in trail-orienteering competitions are involved also people without any kind of disability, but till now there is no intention to introduce them into the national team participating at WTOC.
I mean that we are even contrary to the fact that there is a WTOC Open class, open to everyone: athletes with disabilities and without disabilities do not start with the same opportunities. Just think of the possibility of an athlete without disability to move faster, or to see the control points from a superior height. But everything at the end gives us another input: we want demonstrate that a disabled athlete can have better results in trail-orienteering than an athlete without disability.
And the gold medal gained by Dmitry will help us even more clearly than our results, to bring other people to trail-orienteering.

Q: How is your training style, and how much you trained to obtain this result?

AK: The main problem is that in Russia trail-orienteering is not considered a Paralympic sport, is not recognized as such by our government of sports, so we don’t have many funds. We must then look at our own money from sponsors, and perhaps from this point of view we didn’t achieved success comparable to the gold medal by Dmitry ...
DK: the keyword used by the coach is "Enthusiasm". I started to practice trail-orienteering when I was young, and now I spend all my free time trying to improve my skills: planning trail-o courses or organizing races, and this helps a lot. Then I study maps and I try to visualize possible scenarios. We knew that in France the terrain would have been different from those we are used in central Russia, and we knew that we could find similar land in Sochi on the Black Sea (home of the Winter Olympics 2014), in the Urals and central Siberia. So in March we went to Sochi and we trained constantly for two weeks, then we stayed for about a month in the central Urals, and then we also went to Sweden, where there aren’t so many rocky terrains as we expected at the WTOC but it is always a very interesting terrain: the Scandinavian lands have always been a good school and are a very important experience.
AK: training periods in Sochi and the O-Ringen gave us the confidence shown throughout the World Championship.
DK: another feature of the training is that we always try to find the collaboration of our colleagues from Ukraine, Latvia and Lithuania. Competing together is important to increase the general level: more competition, more experience! Then of course there is the comparison with the national teams of  Scandinavia: Sweden, Norway and Finland have a very strong team, and the comparison with each competitor is very important. Finally, I want to say another thing that our coach taught us: the Russian team is not divided into strong and weak athletes, athletes who can win and athletes settled for a mid-ranking positions. The coach always tells us that everyone of us is potentially the winner of each race, including the World Championship, and the leader of the team.

Q: We talked about training, but how much talent there is in the gold medal by Dmitry Kucherenko?

DK: The coach always said that in trail-orienteering is very important to have a natural potential, but even when you have this potential, you always need to increase your skills. And to improve your level of athlete, you must love this sport. Love does not mean “I like”. It means “to love”! If you don’t want to commit yourself, don’t want to strive every day to increase your level of athlete, then you cannot reach the gold medal even if you have a huge potential: you have to work hard!
AK: Dmitry is not an athlete who wants to take into account only his natural potential during training. He really loves orienteering, he is practicing the sport he loves.

Q: The athlete who invented this website, Marco Giovannini, bronze medal at the 2010 Italian championships, particularly appreciate the format Temp-O. Do you think the temp-O represents the future of this sport? Does it could replace the classic trail-orienteering or you prefer the original format?

AK: It’s difficult to answer this question, because it causes every time threads, there are different opinions about Temp-O and every athlete has a personal opinion. In any case we were not surprised by the competition of Temp-O with the answer "Z" which was held today: This race format was introduced in the Russian league three years ago, so we are also ready to race so
DK: I like the classic format of the trail-orienteering. The way we compete in trail-O has to remain completely within the WTOC. Then we can argue about whether the O-Temp should enter or not in the WTOC, probably, but should not replace the classic format.
Evaldas Butrimas (Lithuania, 2005 world champion in paralympic category): I agree with the opinion of Dmitry also if Temp-O is a discipline that is evolving and becoming more and more interesting year after year.
Dmitry Dokuchaev (DD): our coach has some very interesting ideas about the Temp-O. He thinks  that could eventually be divided into two or three different sports: control points with a small number of flags or very high, or we could have the short, medium and long distance depending on the distance of the control points from the observation point . Who knows what future developments could have in this discipline?

Q: Speaking of possible developments, what are your ideas on this?

AK: The first thing to do to increase the popularity and visibility of this sport is to have more international competitions: a World Cup, a European Cup, a greater number of matches involving national teams. The second thing is to bring new forces in the Trail-O: if we don’t create competitions for athletes younger than 20, the Trail-O will eventually disappear, which is the reason why, as we have already said, we will soon introduce into the national team one or two junior athletes .
DK: more competition and the entry of young athletes will increase the interest in this discipline, and in addition will also help to eliminate stereotypes... and there are many around trail-orienteering
AK: trail-orienteering today is seen as a sport in which there is no physical effort, opposed to the c.o., ski-o and mtb-o. This means that there are people who don’t consider very well trail- orienteering. But we strive to engage in trail-orienteering athletes who have already experienced, and when this happens, very often the feedback was positive, "Hey, it's really interesting". Despite this, people consider trail-orienteering as a sport without effort or even a sport, but when only athletes with physical disabilities will compete in international competitions Trail-O will have a full characterization, then the disciplines will be permanently separated; I think at that point it will be easier to find organizers who want to draw a map or arrange for a race both for c.o. and trail-o.
DD: well, everything revolves around the question of money. In a country like Russia, the distances are always important: for example, for a team of trail-O from Vladivostok is much easier to go to compete in Japan that come to the west. For this reason at the national championships there are not less but not more than 50 competitors each year. But the gold medal by Dmitry Kucherenko is not only important to him as an athlete but also for us as a team: it will be important for the visibility that we have and to open us more doors (sponsorships).

Q: I would like to finish this interview with a question that is close to my heart, but perhaps it will seem strange: do you think that there are many similarities between the "schakmaty" (chess) and Trail-O? Both have some difficulties to declare thereselves as sports, both involve a great mental effort...

DD: Ah! I don’t even need to translate the question here because all have understood the word "Schakmaty" ... Of course I could say that chess and trail-orienteering are a constantly debated topic, and we always talk about it. Every day someone finds another way to compare these two disciplines, to find new forms of similarity: there are certainly many aspects in common, and certainly is not difficult for us to think of ourselves as the chess players of orienteering!


When the interview is complete, once again I would like to thank the entire team of Russian trail-orienteering for their hospitality, patience and warmth with which they showed to me their world, their goals and wishes. It's been a source of pride for me to meet these athletes representing the best that could offer trail-orienteering in the international scene.

Stefano Galletti
Milan, August 24th 2011

Durante i Campionati del Mondo 2011 di trail-orienteering ho avuto la possibilità di intervistare il nuovo campione del mondo nella categoria paralimpici, il russo Dmitry Kucherenko.

E’ stato un grande onore per me poter parlare con questo campione durante una intervista che ha poi coinvolto anche il team manager della squadra nazionale russa e poi anche altri componenti della nazionale che hanno partecipato alla serata: ho cercato di descrivere secondo lo schema di una vera e propria intervista la chiacchierata fatta con questi fortissimi atleti. Se ci sono delle cose che non ho bene compreso, questo errore va imputato solo a me.
Ringrazio per la loro pazienza e la loro disponibilità il Campione del Mondo Dmitry Kucherenko (DK), il team manager e coach Alexander Kobzarev (AK) e l’atleta Dmitry Dokuchaev (DD) che ha tradotto le mie domande ed ha poi organizzato e tradotto le risposte.

D: vi aspettavate questo risultato? Con quali aspettative siete arrivati ai Campionati del Mondo e quali erano secondo voi le squadre da battere?
Dmitry Kucherenko (DK): innanzitutto per il risultato bisogna ringraziare il nostro coach, Alexander Kobzarev. E’ lui la persona più importante del movimento di Trail-orienteering in Russia: il successo dipende da lui e dal suo lavoro. Sono convinto, perchè di questo abbiamo sempre parlato con il coach, che il successo arrivi passo dopo passo, impegnandosi costantemente per migliorare i risultati. Da questo Campionato del Mondo mi sarei aspettato al massimo una medaglia d’argento, forse più probabile una medaglia di bronzo. Dopo la prima giornata di gare ero in prima posizione, ma la classifica era molto corta con tanti atleti vicinissimi; sapevo che ogni punto di controllo sarebbe stato decisivo per la classifica, ma alla fine devo ammettere che sono rimasto un po’ sorpreso dalla medaglia d’oro.
Alexander Kobzarev (AK): partendo dai Campionati Mondiali del 2006, i nostri risultati come squadra ed i risultati individuali di Dmitry sono migliorati costantemente. Purtroppo il nostro atleta più forte è deceduto alcuni anni fa, ed abbiamo avuto bisogno di due o tre anni di tempo per ritornare allo stesso livello. Ma la squadra è composta da atleti ancora giovani: Dmitry ha 28 anni ma dopo la prima esperienza nella gara aperta a tutti a Kiev (Mondiali 2008) ha già partecipato ai Campionati Mondiali 2009 in Open ed ai 2010 nella categoria Paralimpici, Pavel Shmatov ha 31 anni, altri atleti qui hanno 22, 23 o 25 anni, quindi abbiamo ancora la possibilità di migliorare; e per le prossime edizioni dei Campionati del Mondo abbiamo l’intenzione di inserire nella squadra anche uno o due atleti juniores!

D: Sono abbastanza sorpreso... Dmitry ha gareggiato sia nella categoria Open che in quella Paralimpica ai Mondiali?
AK: la nostra idea, come squadra e come federazione, è che anche i nostri atleti che gareggiano nella categoria Open abbiano una forma di disabilità. Anzi, i Campionati del Mondo di trail-orienteering dovrebbero essere disputati solo da atleti con varie forme di disabilità, come se fosse una disciplina delle Paraolimpiadi: noi pensiamo che lo sport, non solo il trail-orienteering ma anche altri sport, sia una componente molto importante per la vita delle persone che hanno una disabilità. Ovviamente in Russia alle gare di trail-orienteering partecipano anche persone senza alcun tipo di disabilità, ma per il momento non c’è l’intenzione di introdurle nella squadra nazionale che partecipa ai WTOC.
Voglio dire che siamo addirittura contrari al fatto che ai WTOC ci sia una categoria Open aperta a tutti: gli atleti con disabilità e senza disabilità non partono con le stesse possibilità. Pensa solo alla possibilità di un atleta normodotato di muoversi con maggiore rapidità, o di vedere i punti di controllo da una altezza superiore. Ma tutto questo alla fine diventa una motivazione in più: noi vogliamo far vedere un atleta disabile può ottenere nel trail-orienteering risultati migliori di un atleta normodotato.
E la medaglia d’oro di Dmitry ci aiuterà a mettere ancora di più in evidenza i nostri risultati, ad avvicinare altre persone al trail-orienteering.

D: Quanto e come si allena il Campione del Mondo per arrivare ad ottenere questo risultato?
AK: il principale problema è che in Russia il trail-o non è considerato uno sport paraolimpico, non è riconosciuto come tale dal nostro governo sportivo e quindi non abbiamo a disposizione molti fondi. Dobbiamo quindi cercare soldi da soli presso i nostri sponsors, e forse da questo punto di vista non abbiamo ancora ottenuto successi paragonabili alla medaglia d’oro di Dmitry...
DK: la parola d’ordine trasmessa dal coach è “Entusiasmo”. Io ho cominciato a praticare il trail-orienteering quando ero giovane, e adesso passo tutto il suo tempo libero nel tentativo di migliorare le mie abilità: pianificare percorsi di trail-o, organizzo gare, e questo aiuta tantissimo. Poi studio carte di gara e possibili scenari. Sapevamo che in Francia i terreni sarebbero stati diversi da quelli della Russia centrale cui siamo abituati, e sapevamo che avremo potuto trovare terreni simili a Sochi sul Mar Nero (sede delle Olimpiadi invernali 2014), negli Urali e nella Siberia centrale. Così a marzo siamo andati a Sochi e ci siamo allenati costantemente per due settimane, poi siamo stati per circa un mese negli Urali centrali; e poi siamo andati anche in Svezia, che non ha terreni con csì tante zone rocciose come ci aspettavamo al Mondiale, ma è un terreno sempre molto interessante: i terreni scandinavi sono sempre una ottima scuola e costituiscono una esperienza molto importante.
AK: si, sono stati proprio i periodi di allenamento a Sochi e all’O-Ringen quelli che hanno dato al nostro campione la confidenza che ha mostrato durante il Campionato del Mondo.
DK: un’altra caratteristica degli allenamenti è che noi cerchiamo sempre di trovare la collaborazione dei nostri colleghi dall’Ucraina, dalla Lettonia e dalla Lituania. Gareggiare insieme è importante per aumentare il livello generale: più gare, più esperienza! Poi ovviamente c’è il confronto con le nazionali scandinave: Svezia, Norvegia e Finlandia hanno una squadra fortissima, ed il confronto con ogni singolo concorrente è molto importante. Infine voglio dire un’altra cosa che ci ha insegnato il nostro coach: la squadra russa non si divide in atleti forti ed atleti deboli, atleti che possono vincere o atleti che si devono accontentare delle posizioni a metà classifica. Il coach ci dice sempre che ognuno di noi è potenzialmente il vincitore di ogni gara, anche del Campionato del Mondo, ed il leader della squadra.

D: Abbiamo parlato dell’allenamento, ma quanta parte c’è di talento nella medaglia d’oro di Dmitry Kucherenko?
DK: il coach dice sempre che nel trail-orienteering è molto importante avere anche un potenziale naturale; ma anche quando tu hai questo potenziale, hai sempre bisogno di aumentare la tua abilità. E per migliorare il tuo livello di atleta, tu devi amare questo sport. Amare non vuol dire piacere. Vuol dire amare! Se tu non vuoi impegnarti al massimo, non vuoi sforzarti per aumentare ogni giorno il tuo livello di atleta, allora non puoi raggiungere la medaglia d’oro nemmeno se hai un enorme potenziale: devi lavorare duro!
AK: Dmitry non è un atleta vuole tenere conto solo del suo potenziale naturale durante gli allenamenti. Lui ama davvero l’orienteering, lui sta praticando lo sport che ama.

D: L’atleta che ha inventato questo sito web, Marco Giovannini, medaglia di bronzo ai campionati italiani 2010, apprezza in modo particolare il formato Temp-O. Pensate che il temp-O rappresenti il futuro di questo sport? Sostituirà il trail-orienteering classico o voi preferite il formato originale
AK: è difficile rispondere a questa domanda, perchè provoca ogni volta discussioni; ci sono differenti opinioni sul Temp-O e il trail-O ed ogni atleta ha una sua opinione personale. In ogni caso non siamo rimasti sorpresi dalla gara dimostrativa di Temp-O con la risposta “Z” che si è disputata oggi: questo formato di gara è stato introdotto nelle gare di campionato russo già tre anni fa, quindi noi siamo pronti a gareggiare anche in questo modo
DK: a me piace il formato classico del trail-orienteering. Il modo in cui gareggiamo ora deve assolutamente rimanere sempre all’interno dei WTOC. Poi possiamo discutere sul fatto se il Temp-O deve entrare o no nei WTOC, probabilmente si, ma non deve sostituire il formato classico.
Evaldas Butrimas (dalla Lituania, campione del mondo 2005 nella categoria paralimpici): sono d’accordo con l’opinione di Dmitry. Il Temp-O è una disciplina che sta evolvendo e sta diventando sempre più interessante anno dopo anno.
Dmitry Dokuchaev (DD): il nostro coach ha delle idee molto interessanti circa il Temp-O. Pensa che in futuro potrebbe essere suddiviso in due o tre diverse specialità sportive: punti di controllo con un numero di lanterne piccolo o molto alto, oppure potremo avere la corta, media e lunga distanza a seconda della distanza dei punti di controllo dal punto di osservazione. Chi sa quali sviluppi potrebbe avere nel futuro questa disciplina?

D: Parlando di possibili sviluppi, quali sono le vostre idee in proposito?
AK: la prima cosa da fare per aumentare la popolarità e la visibilità di questo sport è avere più competizioni internazionali: una Coppa del Mondo, una Coppa Europa, un maggior numero di gare che coinvolgono le squadre nazionali. La seconda cosa è portare forze fresche nel trail-O: se non creiamo competizioni per gli atleti under 20, il trail-O finirà per scomparire; per questo motivo, come abbiamo già detto, porteremo presto persino nella squadra nazionale uno o due atleti juniores.
DK: un maggior numero di gare e l’ingresso di atleti giovani aumenterà l’interesse per questa disciplina, ed inoltre contribuirà anche ad eliminare parecchi stereotipi che ci sono attorno al trail-orienteering
AK: oggi il trail-orienteering viene visto come uno sport nel quale non c’è fatica fisica, al contrario della c.o, della mtb-o e dello sci-o. Questo fa sì che ci siano persone che non vedono bene il trail-orienteering. Noi però ci sforziamo di coinvolgere nel trail-orienteering atleti che hanno già esperienza nell’orienteering e, quando questo succede, molto spesso il commento è positivo “Ehi, è davvero interessante”. Nonostante questo, le persone pensano al trail-orienteering come uno sport senza fatica, o nemmeno uno sport; ma il giorno in cui nelle competizioni internazionali potranno gareggiare solo atleti con disabilità fisica ed il trail-O avrà quindi una sua piena caratterizzazione, allora le due discipline sportive saranno definitivamente separate; penso che a quel punto sarà più facile trovare organizzatori che vorranno realizzare una mappa, o organizzare una gara, che possa essere utilizzata sia per la c.o. che per il trail-o.
DD: tutto ruota anche attorno alla questione dei soldi. In una nazione come la Russia, le distanze sono sempre importanti: ad esempio per una squadra di trail-O di Vladivostok è molto più facile andare a gareggiare in Giappone che venire verso ovest. Per questo motivo ai campionati nazionali non ci sono più, anche se neanche meno, di 50 concorrenti ogni anno. Ma la medaglia d’oro di Dmitry Kucherenko non è importante solo per lui come atleta singolo o per noi come squadra: sarà importante anche per la visibilità che avremo e per le porte che ci si apriranno.

D: Vorrei chiudere con una domanda che mi sta molto a cuore, ma che forse vi sembrerà strana: pensate mai al fatto che ci sono molte similitudini tra gli “schakmaty” (scacchi) ed il trail-O? Entrambe sono discipline sportive che fanno un po’ fatica a dichiararsi tali visto che “non si suda”, entrambe comportano un grande sforzo mentale, in entrambe il terreno di gara è davanti al concorrente senza trappole o zone nascoste...
DD: ah! Non ho nemmeno bisogno di tradurre la domanda perchè tutti qui hanno capito la parola “Schakmaty”... certo che lo pensiamo! Scacchi e trail-orienteering rappresentano un argomento continuamente discusso, di cui parliamo sempre. Ogni giorno qualcuno trova un altro modo di paragonare queste due discipline, di trovare nuove forme di similitudine: ci sono sicuramente tanti aspetti in comune, e sicuramente non facciamo fatica a pensare a noi stessi come ai giocatori di scacchi dell’orienteering!

Ad intervista terminata, ancora una volta vorrei ringraziare l’intera squadra russa di trail-orienteering per l’ospitalità, la pazienza ed il calore con il quale mi hanno fatto conoscere il loro mondo, i loro obiettivi ed i loro desideri. E’ stato per me motivo di orgoglio poter incontrare questi atleti che rappresentano quanto di meglio può offrire il trail-orienteering nel panorama internazionale.

Stefano Galletti
Milano, 24 agosto 2011

After the ufficial WTOC, today, IOF has organised a new test about TempO with answer Zero.
35 controls distribuited in 7 decision's places; the location was a large meadow near the meeting place. Part of map had been used the day before and so has made it easier some controls.
TempO isn't a lottery and, at the end, the best trailorienteers have written their names at the top of ranking.
Today it was the day of Norway: Martin Jullum has won (317 second), second Antti Rusanen (337), third L.J. Waaler (349); Marit Wiksell (4th in 434) has preceded the first Italian competitor (Guido Michelotti) who is slow in control time but in tempO becomes faster.
Remo was 21th (670), Elvio 43th (856); in afternoon, the tempO was opened to everybody and I tried to win but I'm not professional trailorienteer and my final time was 770 second.  
 

Locations of view

Photo 1	Photo 2	Description
		Control 1: left (11-12-15) right (13 - 14)
		Control 2 : left (21-22-25) right (23 - 24)
		Control 3
		Control 4
		Control 5
		Control 6
		Control 7
		Podium Solutions Results

Do you remember the result of yesterday? Ok, erase everything because today is another day! Another sunny day in La Feclaz; before the start of WOC long distance final, the athletes of WTOC played
to win the title. The map is a long path bordered by meadows with small stones and depressions; 22 controls (2 time controls) like yesterday most of wich in yellow area of the map.
On this terrain the favourite team (Sweden) has fallen, unexpectedly, and team Finland has take advantage: Lauri (one of favourites) has won the title confirming to be in the top 3, of ipotetical world ranking;
Antti has the same number of right controls (43) but the time controls have given him the second place. Ivo "the Croatian's precisionman" has taken the bronze medal because his time was highest of  the other two Finnish.
One point behind the podium, we find some names are not famous like Lestinsky, Kimura, Biro, Hollinger. Not good WTOC for Jullum, Gerdtman, Wiksell, Kerestes, and other big names of world's precision orienteering.
And the Italian team? I think it's been a good WTOC: Remo (9) and Guido (13) have confirmed to be arrived in the best 20 of the world; after the O-ringen I waited for this result. Elvio have had a good "normal "controls but  with 3 mistakes in the time controls is unthinkable to hope to be on the top.
In the paralimpyc class, the Russian Kucherenko has held on the first place; at the second place, the Danish Saxtorph has recovered 9 position and the bronze medal is for Inga Gunnarsson: it's the only smile for Sweden.
Here's the map; in the future I'll post some photo of controls....

On a sunny day, over 100 athletes have battled to win the title of world champion; 22 controls (2 time controls) have decided the first stage result.
9 athletes have the same number of right controls (no mistake) and the quickers in time controls are the leaders.

On the top, we find the champion 07 (Kreso Kerestes) ahead Martin Fredholm and, little surprise, the British John Kewley.
The champion, Stig Gerdtman, has two mistakes and his position is, only, 23rd; italian orienteers are 13th (Madella), 14th (Michelotti), 44th (Cereser).
Remo and Guido have found good feeling and they were wrong the control 10; this control, not clear, has decided the results of many competitors.
Elvio had problems in same controls due the crowd around decision point of view.
In paralimpic class, Rolf Karlsson is ahead Arne Ask and Ola Jansson.
I write this news but i don't know if somebody has complained. If you push on images it could open wider.....

We post the photo of control 10 and the map.

The program of WTOC 2011:
- Wednesday  16 August     -  1^ stage
- Thursday 17 August           -  2^ stage


Keepan eye on:

During the Italian Trail-Orienteering Championships played in Cavalese (Trentino) last week, at the presence of some of the strongest competitors in the international scenario, coursesetters Giuliano Michelotti and Roberta Falda (both well experienced) introduced an element of evaluation that could be considered (even if only in memory and experience of the writer) a novelty for Italian competitions: the choice between answers A and Z, however in the presence of a scenario with more than one checkpoints. Since I consider that one of the qualities of the trail-orienteers, also the orienteers in general, is to have a good power of visualization, I will try to describe it based on the checkpoint number 4 of the second stage. At that point, the competitors are in front of three points of view essentially in the same place: Checkpoint n. 3 = a spur between two water courses, with two flags A and B on the left of the competitors Checkpoint n. 4 = a little wood on the right, with 5 new flags from A to E, not considering the A and B of the checkpoint above Checkpoint n. 6 = a spur away, where flags should be considered the same five of checkpoint n.4 Checkpoint number 5 is a large bush in the area between the two watercourses. There is one flag that seems to be next to the bush, giving the chance of an “A” answer, and there is another one on a spur far (but not so far) from the bush. The description of the checkpoint reported into the map claims for a single answer: A or Z. This is despite the flag near to the bush is clearly the "B answer" already examined for the answer to checkpoint 3; the scenario near the checkpoint n. 5 presents two flags: one of them on the left clearly not good for the answer given by an experienced orienteer, and the other one on the right to be considered as a good chance for an answer different from “Z”. At the end, the correct answer will be “A”... an “A” which is the same flag “B” of the checkpoint n. 3. A similar question was also proposed in the first stage: at points from 18 to 22 there was the simultaneous presence of flags on the ground requiring a single response “A or Z” mixed with others checkpoint with the possibility of multiple answers from A to E. And also for the checkpoints with possible answers from A to E, the competitor must discriminate which were the five flags to be considered for the evaluation of the correct sequence of flags. This is an unusual situation (I repeat: in an italian competition and in memory of the writer), although of course provided by regulation, which has created many difficulties for competitors short of time or under technical pressure: it added a further element of assessment to consider before the confirmation of the answer with the punching. Stefano Galletti Now, after this new, you can plan trailO without letters and stripes because for every flag you describe it A or Z, also if it is among a lot of flags! This is not good for controls time…....

The second edition of the Italian Trail-orienteering Championship will be remembered both for the name of the new Italian champion and the level of the participants arrived to compete for the trophy in Cavalese (Val di Fiemme) into the beautiful scenario of Dolomites. The Gronlait Orienteering Team, event organizer, can be proud for the level of the competitors in this two-days competition, with some of the most important athletes of the international scene. Starting with the swedish Stig Gerdtman, World Champion 2011, then Martin Fredholm and Ola Jansson, both from Sweden and winners of medals at WTOC, and Ivo Tisljar from Croatia (another medal at WTOC). And we could continue with the european medals of Hannu Niemi (Finland, big boss of the super weekend in Tampere), Marit Wiksell and Anna Raberg. For team Sweden is also an important race because is valid as a selection for three places allocated to the next World Championships which will be played in France from 15 to 22 August. Italian competitors are chasing the title held by Remo Madella (CUS Parma), which won last year in front of Guido Michelotti (Arco di Carta Genova) and Marco Giovannini (Unione Lombarda Milano but now at Erebus Vicenza) The competition starts at the Alpe Cernis Area. The course is managed by the coursesetter Giuliano Michelotti, and competitors are expected by two control points and 31 checkpoints on the ground, for a total of 140 minutes time limit. 31 control points represent a wide variety of situations proposed by the coursesetter, with many groups of competitors focused first and then a little bit confused by the “pack” at the points 11-13 points and 18-23, before a fast final around points from 26 to 31. When the early evening shadows fall, the ranking sees the world champion Stig Gerdtman at the first place, with an impressive (really, really impressive) 33 of 33, or 100% of the points that leaves opponents speechless. With a gap of 3 points, Erik Stalnacke (Team Sweden) and always with 30 points, the first of the Italians competitors for the national title: but he is not one of the favourites for the title, in fact also the official website of the Italian Federation launches on the homepage a newsflash about this little surprising position. The two favourites for the title are the fourth and the sixth competitors in the standings, Guido Michelotti and Elvio Cereser. After a night of golden dreams or nightmares, begins on Sunday the second stage at the foot of the “Cascade slope”, in the area made famous by Marcialonga of Fiemme and Fassa (we are, in fact, in an area well known to the Swedes, who remember with affection the gold medals of Gunde Svan and Torgny Mogren at the World Championships Cross Country Skiing in Val di Fiemme, played around twenty years ago). We start by reversing the ranking of the day before, with the first ranking to take off around noon under the sun. The course by Roberta Falda, Paralympic World Champion in Kiev, provides "only" 26 points of control, but all are aware of the fact that the final 4 time controls (leading to 30 points of the final bill of this stage) may still define the ranking. And it is a final ranking that seems to overturn the result on Saturday! To find the name of Stig Gerdtman (59 points in the overall ranking) we must look at the place number 24. Martn Fredholm (57) comes from nowhere to gain the second place and Jens Andersson, Marik Wiksell, Erik Stalnacke and Owe Fredholm are ranked in this order, all with 56 points. The ranking which assigns the Italian title suffered some vibration, but nothing can take away the first Italian title from the hands of Guido Michelotti, eighth in the overall ranking (56), two points ahead of the leader of Italian Cup Elvio Cereser (Corivorivo); both of them will represent Italy at the next World Championship. Fourth place in the national ranking for Tiziano Vargiolu (Orienteering Padova) In the ranking which awards the Val di Fiemme Trophy, four Swedish teams in the top four places. In fifth place the first Italian team, Unione Lombarda Milano which in the second stage finds the winning move made from Piero Labanti, then Epilon Esa Finland (Niemi, Kaukonen), Swallows Noale (Bettin, Casarin), CUS Parma (Madella, Grilli, De Pieri) and Arco di Carta Genova (Guido Michelotti, Marcello Michelotti). Stefano Galletti Stegal67@hotmail.com...

The second day is a copy of the first; the results changed but the map and the controls are the same type. I don't believe that this is the real dimention of trailO: poor tecnichal controls, problems to see the flags and give them the right letter, large use of meadows and open land… I remember the woods and the stones in Scandinavian and I believe is better come back there! However, the final result gives the crown to Stig (59), Martin Fredholm (57), Jens Andersson (56), Marit Wiksell (56), Erik Stalnacke (56), Owe Fredholm (56) and Guido Michelotti (56) new Italian champion. The italian podium is completed with Elvio Cereser and Stefano Galletti. In next days, Stefano alias Stegal will tell a report of his performance and other anectodes....

Today, in Cavalese, 54 athletes have played with 33 controls; only the world champion 2011 has signed the perfect match; behind him, three points, are Stalnacke and, the first italian, Stefano Galletti. Four points behind are Owe Fredholm and Guido Michelotti; one big group is five points behind. The map is a mix of fields, wood and other details; some controls weren't difficult and other not completely clear. The athletes, who used too much precision have been penalized (like Remo Madella only 34th). Tomorrow, the second leg will decide the new italian champion....

Next week end, in Cavalese, will take place the second Italian championship; the best result will be composed of the sum of 2 matches. We remember you that defending champion is Remo Madella. This season many athletes can win this tittle because Remo doesn't seem in the best condition. Among participants are some of the best competitors of Sweden, Finland, Rep. Cech, Russian, Croatian; about 50 athletes will looking for win this competition....

Stegal, our jounalist, tells us this day and other news. Remo Madella, Guido Michelotti and Elvio Cereser for the single stage. Madella, Michelotti and Alessio Tenani in the overall standings. This is the showdown of the Italian Cup 2010 after the last stage held Saturday, November 20 at Park Forlanini of Milan, managed by Unione Lombarda with Marco Giovannini as course setter. Yes... a city park... but it has been a long and very difficult competition, starting from the first two time controls, with the last two starts at the end of the race, where the competitors have been literally massacred. Two hours the maximum time provided for the Elite competition, and while everyone managed to stay within the limit, on the other side there have been few arrivals "sprint mode" really close the one hundred and twentieth minute. The race has been another head to head between the two athletes who have taken the lead from the rest of the group in the season final: Remo Madella (CUS Parma) has completed a nearly perfect season at the national level, and after the win at Italian Championships of Trieste-Monte Prat, he won also final stage and the overall ranking. Guido Michelotti (Arco di Carta) is always the athlete closest to the leader: their duel promises to raise even further the general level of competition and will definitely be a great boost for the international competitions 2011, where these two guys will compete with the national team. Third place for Elvio Cereser (Corivorivo), another confirmation in this season where Cereser reached the top of the national list with some good international results. Alessio Tenani (GS Forestale), after the win at the International Meeting of Venice in Men Elite, confirmed his level as athlete and cartographer too (like even Madella and Michelotti), and is certainly not far away the time at which the athlete from Emilia could split himself in two, to gain an international medal in CO and Trail-O. Some comments collected just after the competition. Remo Madella: "I'm obviously very happy. The overall ranking before the final allowed me to win with a fifth place, so I was very doubtful about tactics to be applied, whether conservative or risky at the end; now I also won the stage, so this is source of great joy! A very satisfying season final. I had read in the official pre-match comments on the site www.trailo.it that the course setter Marco Giovannini expected a victory with 20 points on 22. I realized that the competition was really difficult. The first two time controls were a departure "with a bang": the tracker has hit hardly, and in mid-race I really had a headache caused from the effort to control the whole scenario and everything around me. I must also say that just before the half, on a couple of tough spots, I did not have all the elements to establish the correct answer. Here was introduced, but only here, a bit of randomness (or chance) that we must try to eliminate at high-level races. Too bad, because for the rest of the way the course setter has been able to offer a demanding course without recourse to a little good fortune. But I had a bit of luck again. I finished the race with 21 on 22 ... so basically it's like if I had even beaten the course setter! " Guido Michelotti: "It 's been a fair race, which push all competitors to express their full potential. I still prefer the races through the woods, because I think that these scenarios are able to raise our level of competition up to the nations leader, but Unione Lombarda had this map, and the course setter did the best. I will remember this race especially for the time controls: they were the most difficult and interesting I've ever done in an Italian competition. All four. On every occasion my first answer, what I would say in the first seconds, would be a complete mistake! I have always been engaged and make the most part of the minute to define the correst solution. And during the race I had the clear perception that the top ranking was based much on the results of the time controls." Alessio Tenani: "After the victory on Sunday in Venice, this week I had a physical trouble, but I absolutely wanted to be there to play my chances. I has been in trouble at first two time controls, and when I said the answer of the second one, and within one second I realized I was wrong ... well, this mistake has influenced my whole first part of the race until the eighth control; in fact, I had ever that mistake at the T2 in my head and I went very slowly”. After the prize cerimony, the Federal Councillor Fulvio Lenarduzzi presented the 2011 calendar that will have the introduction of three Temp-O conpetitions. But there will be time enough to talk about it ... Stefano Galletti Stegal67@hotmail.com...

Despite the weather, 21 not easy controls, Madella and Michelotti continue their personal challenge; Remo wins the match but Guido don't miss the game. Behind them, there is a group of athletes which rappresent the best of trailo's movement; Cereser, Tenani and Bettin are very close to the two italian champs but still missing a step. Madella, after the italian championship, win the Italy's cup too. Finally, the season is over but everybody are waiting to 2011 because they want the leadership....

Everything is ready; tomorrow the best italian trailorienteers can challenge for rematch of Italy championship. The bronze medal (planner) at italian champs will be replaced by Alessio Tenani; even Cereser, Falda and Lenarduzzi (which have organizated the champs) can try to beat the leader Remo Madella. The weather will be cloudy and, perhaps, rainy; the forecast of organizers is the match will be hard and the winner can win with 20 points. Will be really? We waiting for the answer…....

Madella, the first italian champion, tells his thoughts and advices to new trailO' Country: the Portugal. You can translate to your language with google....

Saturday 20th november, it'll be "the last day" of Italy cup. After 8 rounds no one is sure to be the winner; Madella starts like the favorite but at least five people can beat him. Stegal has managed the possible results (only italian language)....

Here's the link to see all the eight rounds of this Trophy; this competition was organized over three Countries....

Monday 1st november, Cus Parma organizes an original competition to attract the orienteering's runner to trailO. After a CO race, will be a trailO race with special rules. You can try it…....

Guido Michelotti has send us (in italian language) his impressions and minds about the second leg of Italian championship; we have update the teams italian championship too....

As the website of Italian federation already announced during the afternoon of Sunday, Remo Madella (CUS Parma and national team at the last European and World Championships) won the first edition of the Italian Championship in Trail-Orienteering, Elite class. So Remo insert his name into the italian hall of fame of a sport that in Itaky is increasing the technical level, ever closer to international standards . Foreign participation, with athletes from Slovenia, Croatia and Czech Republic (the race was also valid for the general classification of the competition that combines the associations of Croatia and Slovenia and the Friuli Venezia Giulia Committee) raised even more the quality of the results, with some medalists at the World Championships including the World Champion 2007 Kreso Kerestes in Kiev and Czech Libor Forst, who at the last WTOC has been able to reach the first position after the first stage. The two-day competitions of the first "ITOC" Italian Trail Orienteering Championship has led the athletes first in Trieste, in the urban area of Parco San Giovanni, for a first stage managed by ASD Gaja Orienteering and Cesare Tarabocchia as course setter. A short stage but insidious (11 control points for a total of 45 minutes) for the five different points time-control that would give the first face of the ranking and influence tactics and strategies for the long second leg final. After the first day the ranking says the challenge between Italy and Slovenia: Emil Kacin (OK Azimut) with Remo Madella as runner-up, then Timi and Niko Cizek (OK Trzin), Elvio Cereser (Corivorivo), Fulvio Lenarduzzi (Or. School Friuli) and the Czech Bohuslav Hulka (SKV Praha). All of these with 13 points. The fact that Cereser and Lenarduzzi were engaged as course setters of the second stage automatically cut off these names from the challenge for the title; the strongest rival for Madella for the Italian title was, therefore, Marco Giovannini (Unione Lombarda) with Paolo Padoan (Pol Bissuola), Roberto Manea (Misquilenses) and Marina Beltramo (GiSport) with 12 points. The other favourite Guido Michelotti (Arco di Carta) was only at 11 points but he promised a special second stage to reach the podium. In the team ranking, not official for any title and a score based on the two best results achieved by three competitors, OK Trzin leads on OK Vihor. Third place for Unione Lombarda Milan (Giovannini, Borroni, Labanti) with just some seconds of gap on Cus Parma (Madella, DePiero, Grilli). Monte Prat writes the overall and definitive ranking. And here everything changes almost dramatically compared to the afternoon of Saturday. The land becomes completely wooded, with 3 points time-control only as a easy start, then a hard challenge: 140 minutes maximum time for 20 points, and some competitiors will be in big time-trouble, forced to give the last answers very quickly to avoid penalties. Guido Michelotti is called to a difficult comeback, but he has the technique and the class also displayed in international competitions: the second stage is almost perfect, with two errors at the turning point caused by time-trouble. His comeback give him the silver medal, because Remo Madella does a race of rare effectiveness, with a single mistake! Madella at the third place behind the Croatian Zdenko Horjan and the Czech Pavel Dudik but in the general ranking, taking into classification all the foreign athletes, he is a clear gold medal in the individual standings for the title. The bronze medal goes to Marco Giovannini, another very positive stage for him: the gap on Michelotti is just 8 seconds after 8 points in time (the same points for them). Behind them Renato Bettin (Swallows Noale) which in Monte Prat confirms experience and consistency that led him to be more than once into the national team; the surprise came from fifth place, also a big comeback of Emilia Arcaleni (Pol Castello Rome) not much credited before the competition. In the sixth place a new confirmation that Robert Manea, consistently dedicated to the organisation of this discipline, is a true challenge for every winner when he assume the role of the competitor: he never failed to obtain significant results. The team competition saw the collapse in the second stage OK Trzin: first place for OK Vihor (Croatia) and second for MFP Prague (Czech Republic), third for Cus Parma. Fourth and fifth for Unione Lombarda Milano and Arco di Carta Genova (Guido and Giuliano Michelotti): just one point between the two teams but curiously the same time 554 seconds after (5+3)x2=16 time controls. The last race of the season Nov. 20 at Park Forlanini of Milan, Italian Cup final with Marco Giovannini as course setter, will give the overall award 2010. Perhaps another duel head-to-head between Remo Madella and Guido Michelotti....

In the past week end, Friuli (Italy's region) hosted the first italian championship; the really name could be "South-est Europe championship" because the best trailorienters of Czech, Slovenia and Croatia were at the start. The first part of competition was at Trieste: the competition was not very good and challenging; only time controls (one of those was deleted) were difficult while some others controls didn't seem suitable for a national appointment. Sunday, finnaly, we had a really trailo's match! only three time controls, but twenty controls among meadows, wood, rocks; in Italy, rarely, there was a similar condition in the past. Everybody, at the end of manifestation, are satisfield because the result reflected the value of athletes. You can find news, photos at the link, and in the coming days our jounalist will make a full story.......

Our journalist (Mr. Stegal) has interviewed the world's champion 2007: he's not a Scandinavian athlete but a member of Slovenian Federation ! He has told us his trailO and how much important is the training to become number one....

Next week-end there will be the first italian championship; despite in Italy the trailorienteering began his story some years ago, 2010 will be the start for the most important title. Our bet is on three athletes: Madella, Guido M., Tenani. Remo is leading the Italy's cup, has many experience and he has a great motivation because he feels the best italian trailorienteer; his problem could be a wrong day or bad feeling with maps. Guido is the new talent; he began trailo only two years ago, but everybody has understood he's a natural winner in trailo;his problem could be the thrill of being a favorite. Tenani is a CO orienteer and he is a member of national team; when he played trailo the results were very good. If he has trained for this appointment he can win a medal. Behind these three favorites, there are a lot of athletes that could be a surprise: Grilli, Beltramo, Bettin, Corona, Galletti, Danieli are people that have experience, skills, motivations to try to win this important title.The final risult will be composed after two race: the first, in urban contest, in Trieste, the second, in the wood and open area, in Monte Prat....

Today, in a sunny morning, there were about 100 people who challenged to find right answer at the controls planned by Roberto Manea. In the class elite, sixty athletes were classified; the best was Madella who answered right at 15 controls; behind him, the only two people who took 14 controls (Corona and Grilli). Absent the leader of Italy cup Guido Michelotti while a good sixth place for Alessio Tenani. The terrain wasn't the ideal for trailo: a long path throught the meadows without challenging forms or details of the soil that enhance this discipline. For this reason some controls weren't clear and the answer of control 4th was changed after the match. It was a shame because highland of Asiago offers better maps to use for trailO. Next step will be the first Italian championship in a mounth near Trieste. Now, avaible on line all documents about 8th round....

Penultimate round of Italy cup the next saturday in Gallio; probably there will be a record of partecipants because this round was placed inside the Highlands Open (five days orienteering manifestation). The class elite ranking is leading by Michelotti Guido with 65 points in 5 rounds. The final ranking will have the six best scores among all the rounds; it seems that at least 10 people can hope to win the trophy but the last two rounds can change all the forecastes. In paralympic class and team class there's not interest because Falda and Cus Parma have just won easily....

Hidden among many competitions planned at WTOC, it was held the "World TempO Trophy"; we think that this type of trailO, it'll become increasingly important and in few years we'll find it among the world's title of trailO's disciplines. This event featured the best trailorienters and other new names (Niggli or Jordan) and Countries like Switzerland and France. The winner, in open class, was finnish Lauri Kontkanen which has proven to be at par with new world's champion Stig Gerdtman (6th). At the second and fourth place a couple from Norway and with the same name (Waaler), at third place Martin Fredholm. Good race for Swiss and French athletes in this competition; great fifth place for Guido Michelotti (Italy), which has proved to be the best Italian athlete in 2010. It surprising because he's not fast at normal time controls, while in this competition he's been very good. At 21th place, Marina has beat Remo (30th) who come home with more disappointment than joy. In paralympic class, one time again won the "magnificent Swedish couple" (Ola Jansson and Lennart Wahlgren) third the Czech Hulka ahead an other Swedish M. Johansson; Roberta Falda was 18th in middle of the classification....

Stig Gerdtman and Ola Jansson are new world's champions of TrailO and Sweden is the best country! These are the verdicts after the last part of match. In Open class, in the second day, Stig took 22 points like Laury Kontkanen and the Croatian Tisljar was 1 point behind (the same for Ucrainian Chernysh); these three athletes are the podium in the final standing. In paralympic class, behind Ola, there is Wahlgren and Croatian Horjan; in the final podium gold and silver are tooken by Swedish athletes and the bronze medal is for Danish Saxtorph. Teams class was won by Sweden ahead Finland and Croatia. Italian athletes wasn't in good shape: only Guido Michelotti took a good 10th place in the second day while Remo was 30th and Marina 43th; Roberta took the 22th place in the paralympic class. In the final classification, Guido was 18th, Remo 31th, Marina 47th; Roberta 33th in paralympic class. We had hoped for something better especially seeing the result of Croatia; only Sweden and Finland were better than it. Now, in Italy, we'll find in Asiago at the end of august where it'll take place the 8th round of Italy cup....

News from Norway where it began WTOC; after the first part, in Open class, lead, surprisingly, the Czech Libor Forst and, one of the best word trailorienteers, Stig Gerdtman. Third, other little surprise, the Croatian Ivo Tisljar ahead the Ukrainian Opanasenko; only these four athletes have 22 points. The classification shows many different Countries in the top ten but nobody from Italy. Remo Madella is at 27th place, Guido Michelotti 38th place and Marina Beltramo 47th place. In paralympic class leads the Danish Søren Saxtorph ahead Gieseler (Germany) and Seppa (Finland); fourth, the Hungarian Biro, who scores the same number of controls of the leader. Only 36th, Roberta Falda is away from her standart....

The second day decided who, among the finnish athletes, was the best; Hannu took all the control right and was the only one who scored 44 points. Behind him Marit W. was the best among three athletes, who scored 43 point, ahead Clive Allen and the leader, after the first day, Lauri Kontkanen. In the second day, good recovery of Japan's team and other big names of trailO. Italian athletes were not so bad: Guido Michelotti, at his first international important event, was the best at 19th place; Remo Madella was not able to reach his dream and stopped him at 31th place; Marina Beltramo (56th place) closed the race in middle of group. In paralympic class, won a couple of swedish athletes (Ola Jansson and M. Johansson), third Pekka Seppa; the Croatian team was disappointed because took the 4th and 5th place! Roberta Falda was 12th, good position, but she's been world champion in this class. Now, it isn't time to enjoy because next week will be the WTOC in Norway and everybody will try to win. Thanks to site www.preo.no for early news....

After the first day, in Bollnas, the Scandinavian boys lead the race; three athetes of Finland are in the best four. Our blog's friend Lauri leads ahead Hannu Niemi and, other our friend, Marit Wiksell. Good surprise about the fifth place took by Gieseler from Germany. Many problems at time controls where many athetes lost important points. The best Italian place is for Michelotti (30th) while Remo is 39th and Marina 71th. In paralympic class leads Ola Jansson ahead Gieseler and M. Johansson; Roberta Falda is at 15th place....

Today, O-Ringen is finished: more than 50 athletes competed in class Elite. Jens Andersson won after five days; behind him Anna Raberg and Erik Lundkvist. Three italian orienteers were present at the event and the best was Renato Bettin at the 15h place....

A little time before the ETOC and WTOC, have played some matches in Europe; the Italian national team (Remo Madella, Guido Michelotti, Marina Beltramo) and their substitutes (Alberto Grilli, Renato Bettin) played in Salen (SWE) (www.3plus3.se/) where have found some of the best opponents in Europe. Some italian athletes played in Krajna Vas (SLO) in the 4th round of Cro-Fvg-Slo trailo cup 2010 (www.oktrzin-klub.si/vsebina/tekmovanja/stran1.htm); other manifestation ( Trail - Opocno) was held in Hradec Kralove (R. Czech) (www.dobruska.cz/kob/trail2010/index.php). Please, contact us if you want show here your manifestation....

The last 12th and 13th june was held in Trodheim (NOR) a race preparation for the upcoming world championship. Athletes have come from Finland and Britain as well as Norway. More news on the reference site (click on more)...

We have maps, solutions and comments about sixth and seventh round of Italian cup. At the end of june, an eye on Salen (Sweden) where it will be an important international meeting; the national team of Italy will be present....

Seventh round of the Italian Cup in Serrada; national coach prepared the meeting in view of European and World Championships that will take place in the coming months in Scandinavia. Within this meeting the national squad competed in the match and in the organization. At the event lacked the leader of the Italian Cup (Michelotti) and one of the favorites to win (Tenani). The race format was 15 controls and 3 time controls, maximum time 60 '. Some controls were rechecked on complaint of the participants and the jury cleared the point number 10 to a bad description. The final results showed a victory for Giovannini ahead of his teammate Labanti and third place for Beltramo; the ranking of Italy's Cup, when there are still two races (remember that hold the top six scores), sees the leader Michelotti ahead of Beltramo and Bettin, but are still eight athletes who can still win the championship because, now, someone has reached the maximum number of round that add up the points. Next meeting in late August after the international competitions of national Italian team....

This weekend, was held in Tampere "the 2nd Finnish Spring Trail Orienteering Super Weekend”; this event could become an important event as the Jukkola for orienteering. The competitors are engaged in four races, three classical and one TempO; in total, there were 85 controls of which 30 were controls time. The first stage began at 11 am with a mass start; the weather was variable and the cold temperature. After 22 controls, the first place was J. Kapanen, the only one to miss a single point; 5 competitors were behind with two errors, while Madella and Giovannini, the only italians here, were 16 and 19 with four errors. After a quick lunch, all participants were engaged in fun and unusual tempO; the competition formula was to give three answers to every single control: the controls were 8, for a total of 24 answers. The scoring was as follows: the sum of time taken to give all the answers, plus 45 seconds for each wrong answer, this total was divided by 60 seconds and the quotient is the number of penalty points. The strategy was not clear because who was wrong little responses didn't win against those who wrong more but took little time; in this second leg was very good Martin Fredholm which has nothing wrong and took little time to answer; behind, three competitors away two points, while P. Hartman and O. Jansson (5th and 6th) have only one answer wrong, but their speed was too low. Italians elite have reached the 23th (Marco) and 36th (Remo) place in the middle of the standing. Before the dinner, at 19, the third day fatigue, a middle distance with 17 points (2 of time); the weather kept changing between the sun and the rain making the race more difficult; in this third leg won again J. Kapanen, but three other competitors have arrived with the same score; A. Rusanen could make a clean path but fell on the second point in time. Only 29th and 30th the two italians who were beginning to feel the fatigue because three races in a few hours is an unusual experience. Sunday morning, under a hot sun, the ultimate challenge: 20 points plus two in time, to decide who will be the best competitor of this multirace: the fourth leg was won by Remo Madella with only one error as L. Kontkanen and M. Fredholm, and one point behind M. Inkinen, A. Rusanen, E. Stalnacke. The key point was the second in time where Martin lost his final victory. The second Italian were only 45th and this ruined his final position down to 25th place, while Remo went until the eleventh final place. Despite the weather was not good, the event was fun and very challenging for all participants, over 70. The States represented were Finland, Sweden, Russia, Czech Republic and Italy. More information can be found on the event website http://www.nic.fi/~kkv/TrailO2010.htm and it is our intention to interview the organizers and the winner Lauri Kontkanen author of the blog http://fintrailo.blogspot.com/...

Dopo aver raggiunto il primo obiettivo (realizzazione sito e aggiornamento dati), cominciamo a lavorare in modo più ampio cercando di coinvolgere più persone possibile. Oggi, pubblichiamo un'intervista ad una ragazza svedese che si è messa in luce nella patria del trailO diventando una delle migliori atlete mondiali. L'intervista è in inglese, ma contiamo di mettere una versione in italiano al più presto....

After some problems, we have the results, map and comment about the sixth round of Italy's cup in Tonezza....

E' stata aggiunta una funzionalità per tradurre automaticamente le pagine del sito per gli ospiti stranieri....

Remo Madella, uno dei migliori trailorientisti italiani, ha partecipato ad una delle più importanti manifestazioni svedesi. Sul suo blog troverete i suoi commenti e sensazioni relativi alla trasferta…...

Grazie alla società Arco di Carta ed in particolare all'infaticabile tracciatore Giuliano Michelotti (alla sua terza gara stagionale), si è svolto, a Loco di Rovegno, il campionato regionale ligure. L'eco, giunto in redazione, è stato quello di una gara equilibrata ma anche controversa per alcune "estreme" del tracciatore....

Pubblicata la lista base: a differenza di quanto avviene sul sito FISO, l'anno di riferimento è quello in cui si viene a formare la lista base. Questo significa che la lista base del 2010 è quella che si stà formando ora e che sarà utilizzata per calcolare i risultati della lista base 2011. Le caselle, con sfondo colorato, rappresentano i punteggi che hanno concorso al risultato finale (vale anche per le tabelle di coppa Italia). Da notare che la classifica della lista base 2009 è differente da quella ufficiale in quanto è stato applicato, alle gare 2009, il calcolo attualmente in uso, anziché quello previsto l'anno scorso che prevedeva una penalizzazione fissa (0,85 / 5,61) per ciascuna manifestazione....

Sono state aggiunte ad ogni fotografia delle gare, una didascalia che descrive nel dettaglio la foto. E' stato pensato ciò per rendere più intuitiva la visualizzazione da parte dei navigatori. Inoltre per ogni gara, dove è disponibile, è stata pubblicata la classifica dettagliata della singola gara, reperibile al link "Allegato". In attesa della pubblicazione della classifica lista base, si sta lavorando per popolare la sezione link e pertanto si invitano i visitatori di segnalare via email (redazione@trailo.it) eventuali siti di federazioni, società, blog e quant'altro legato al mondo del Trail Orienteering....

E' stata pubblicata la classifica di coppa Italia, sia individuale che a squadre. Verrà anche resa disponibile la classifica aggiornata in tempo reale della lista base....

Inserito il materiale a disposizione. Sono graditi i vostri commenti sulla gara....

In attesa di aprire un'apposita pagina, segnaliamo un sito dove potrete trovare il calendario finlandese nel caso vogliate fare qualche trasferta in quello Stato...

Da oggi, finalmente, sarà possibile aggiungere dei commenti alle gare che, comunque, saranno validate dall'ammisistratore del sito prima della loro pubblicazione....