WOC MiddleQ: nice appetizer with no big surprises

The long-awaited forest world championship in Switzerland got underway this morning with the only race where no medals will be distributed, the Middle distance qualification race. As usual in this format, each class is divided into 3 heats with a similar course configuration, in which the 15 best times advance to the final (45), which will take place next Saturday. It is also important to take into account that, up to 60 places can be increased by “inviting” runners whose nation has not managed to classify any runner, so that there is representation from all countries in the final.

The terrain chosen for this race presents moderate climbing (for what we can expect in other races later in this championship) with a great abundance of contour details, and variability in the density of the forest, with some areas where visibility is significantly reduced. The abundance of roads made navigation considerably easier on some legs. Not the most demanding course we’re going to see, but a perfect course for a qualifying race (we expect the final to be more “extreme”).

Course information

Class	Time	Length	Climb	Controls
Women	25 min	3,2-3,3 km	145-155 m	13-14
Men	25 min	4,2 km	180-200 m	16-17

WOMEN’S CLASS

In the women’s race, everything went according to the script, and the best runners qualified in a solvent manner.

In the heat-A, the young Swedish runner Hanna Lundberg won clearly her heat by almost two minutes gap over Evely Kaasiku and Cecilie Friberg Klysner. The top-15 places were closed with +7’37”.

Place	Name	Country	Time
1	Hanna Lundberg	SWE	26:27 (1)+00:00
2	Evely Kaasiku	EST	28:24 (2)+01:57
3	Cecilie Friberg Klysner	DEN	28:41 (3)+02:14
4	Aleksandra Hornik	POL	29:03 (4)+02:36
5	Isia Basset	FRA	30:34 (5)+04:07
6	Denisa Kosova	CZE	30:35 (6)+04:08
7	Kirsi Nurmi	FIN	31:21 (7)+04:54
8	Tereza Smelikova	SVK	31:27 (8)+05:00
9	Sabine Hauswirth	SUI	31:43 (9)+05:16
10	Jasmina Gassner	AUT	32:01 (10)+05:34
11	Andrine Benjaminsen	NOR	32:13 (11)+05:46
12	Dominika Mero	HUN	32:56 (12)+06:29
13	Eef van Dongen	NED	33:18 (13)+06:51
14	Elza Kuze	LAT	33:31 (14)+07:04
15	Patricia Nieke	GER	34:04 (15)+07:37

In the heat-B, the big favourite Tove Alexanderson smashed her heat with a big lead of almost 3 minutes over Natalia Gemperle (in her debut at WOC under the Swiss jersey) and Marika Teini. The top-15 places were closed with +9’11”.

Place	Name	Country	Time
1	Tove Alexandersson	SWE	24:51 (1)+00:00
2	Natalia Gemperle	SUI	27:33 (2)+02:42
3	Marika Teini	FIN	28:05 (3)+03:14
4	Ingrid Lundanes	NOR	28:08 (4)+03:17
5	Tereza Janosikova	CZE	28:13 (5)+03:22
6	Hanna Wisniewska	POL	28:25 (6)+03:34
7	Sanna Fast	SWE	28:49 (7)+03:58
8	Grace Molloy	GBR	28:58 (8)+04:07
9	Sandra Grosberga	LAT	29:53 (9)+05:02
10	Zsofia Sarkozy	HUN	30:22 (10)+05:31
11	Vanessa Round	AUS	30:24 (11)+05:33
12	Nicoline Friberg Klysner	DEN	30:54 (12)+06:03
13	Anika Gassner	AUT	32:21 (13)+07:30
14	Iliana Ilieva	BUL	32:35 (14)+07:44
15	Florence Hanauer	FRA	34:02 (15)+09:11

In the heat-C, the victory went for the local runner Simona Aebersold who showed her application for the medals at this WOC. More than 2 minutes behind, Sara Hagstrom took the second place, and the British Megan Carter Davies was third. The top-15 places were closed with +8’20”.

Place	Name	Country	Time
1	Simona Aebersold	SUI	25:27 (1)+00:00
2	Sara Hagstrom	SWE	27:47 (2)+02:20
3	Megan Carter Davies	GBR	27:54 (3)+02:27
4	Venla Harju	FIN	28:08 (4)+02:41
5	Ane Dyrkorn	NOR	29:22 (5)+03:55
6	Lizzie Ingham	NZL	30:13 (6)+04:46
7	Cecile Calandry	FRA	30:40 (7)+05:13
8	Miri Thrane Oedum	DEN	30:45 (8)+05:18
9	Vendula Horcickova	CZE	31:25 (9)+05:58
10	Marion Aebi	SUI	31:55 (10)+06:28
11	Carina Polzer	AUT	32:07 (11)+06:40
12	Hanna Mueller	GER	32:17 (12)+06:50
13	Ewa Bernaciak	POL	32:52 (13)+07:25
14	Olena Babych	UKR	33:40 (14)+08:13
15	Leonarda Baltina	LAT	33:47 (15)+08:20

Link to the official results: https://archive.o-worldcup.ch/wp-content/uploads/2023/woc2023/rl_woc2023_middle_qual_women.pdf

MEN’S CLASS

No big surprises in the men’s class, where no big favorites were knocked out for the final, and the winning times were a little bit higher than expected for the organizers (25′).

In the heat-A the Swiss Joey Hadorn was the fastest, with more than 1 minute lead over Lucas Basset and Gustav Bergman. The top-15 was closed with +5’08”.

Place	Name	Country	Time
1	Joey Hadorn	SUI	27:46 (1)+00:00
2	Lucas Basset	FRA	28:50 (2)+01:04
3	Gustav Bergman	SWE	29:42 (3)+01:56
4	Marius Thrane Oedum	DEN	30:18 (4)+02:32
5	Florian Howald	SUI	30:26 (5)+02:40
6	Topi Syrjalainen	FIN	30:39 (6)+02:53
7	Jonas Hubacek	CZE	30:51 (7)+03:05
8	Eskil Kinneberg	NOR	30:53 (8)+03:07
9	Ralph Street	GBR	31:15 (9)+03:29
10	Timo Sild	EST	31:21 (10)+03:35
11	Algirdas Bartkevicius	LTU	31:43 (11)+03:57
12	Henry Mcnulty	AUS	31:44 (12)+03:58
13	Michal Olejnik	POL	31:47 (13)+04:01
14	Alexandru Blejdea	ROU	32:27 (14)+04:41
15	Mathias Peter	AUT	32:54 (15)+05:08

In the heat-B the Swedish Albin Ridefelt won the race, with also more than 1 minute lead over the second place taken by Kasper Fosser, with Anton Johansson in the third place. The top-15 was closed with +6’14”.

Place	Name	Country	Time
1	Albin Ridefelt	SWE	27:42 (1)+00:00
2	Kasper Harlem Fosser	NOR	28:53 (2)+01:11
3	Anton Johansson	SWE	29:12 (3)+01:30
4	Jannis Bonek	AUT	29:27 (4)+01:45
5	Rudolfs Zernis	LAT	29:48 (5)+02:06
6	Olli Ojanaho	FIN	29:49 (6)+02:07
7	Tomas Krivda	CZE	30:18 (7)+02:36
8	Bartosz Pawlak	POL	30:56 (8)+03:14
9	Loic Capbern	FRA	31:13 (9)+03:31
10	Martin Hubmann	SUI	31:17 (10)+03:35
11	Bjoern Cederberg	DEN	31:44 (11)+04:02
12	Bojan Blumenstein	GER	32:01 (12)+04:19
13	Matt Ogden	NZL	32:26 (13)+04:44
14	Vegard Jarvis Westergard	CAN	33:41 (14)+05:59
15	Vilius Aleliunas	LTU	33:56 (15)+06:14

In the heat-C the Swiss Matthias Kyburz was the best, with also more than 1 minute lead over Gaute Steiwer, and Emil Svensk. The top-15 was closed with +5’02”.

Place	Name	Country	Time
1	Matthias Kyburz	SUI	28:20 (1)+00:00
2	Gaute Steiwer	NOR	29:47 (2)+01:27
3	Emil Svensk	SWE	29:55 (3)+01:35
4	Ruslan Glibov	UKR	30:00 (4)+01:40
5	Soren Thrane Odum	DEN	30:12 (5)+01:52
6	Mathieu Perrin	FRA	30:31 (6)+02:11
7	Uldis Upitis	LAT	31:42 (7)+03:22
8	Gernot Ymsen	AUT	31:43 (8)+03:23
9	Riccardo Scalet	ITA	32:39 (9)+04:19
10	Tim Robertson	NZL	32:55 (10)+04:35
11	Evert Leeuws	BEL	33:07 (11)+04:47
12	Miika Kirmula	FIN	33:12 (12)+04:52
13	Lauri Sild	EST	33:16 (13)+04:56
14	Alastair Thomas	GBR	33:20 (14)+05:00
15	Mihaly Ormay	HUN	33:22 (15)+05:02

Link to the official results: https://archive.o-worldcup.ch/wp-content/uploads/2023/woc2023/rl_woc2023_middle_qual_men.pdf

Nice first day of the WOC, and congratulations to all those who got the qualification for the final! Time to restitute, because tomorrow will come one of the main highlights of the season with the, for sure, extremely demanding both physically and technically: the WOC Long distance race. See u then!

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