Nopesport

There were nervous waits for athletes and supporters alike this morning, but by-and-large the results went in Team GBR's favour, with five of the ten starters qualifying for tomorrows final.

Oleg Chepelin produced his first great JWOC run to finish 4th in heat 1, just 37 seconds behind te heat winner and 4 seconds behind Long distance winner Anders Skarholt.
Further down in heat 1, Doug Tullie looked a certain qualifier when he finished in 2nd place, but late starters packed into the two minutes in front of him. Fortunately he survived and qualified in 18th, with 20 to go through.

His brother cut it even finer in Heat 2, where he finished in 20th place. With a delay in the processing the results there was a very nervous wait for confirmation that he had done enough to hang on. The biggest cheer of the day came from a relieved GB camp when he was announced as the 20th qualifier!

There was another nervous wait for the star from the long distance, Anne Edwards as she finished in 20th place as well, while Lizzie Adams also made it into the final in 18th place.

Scott Fraser did not start due to not feeling 100% still. However he reported that he is feeling a lot better and will hopefully be 100% by Saturday. Duncan Coombs is less certain, but is optimistic of being fit for first leg in the relay.

For the others mistakes took their toll and they missed qualification. Tessa Hill was the closest, finishing 23rd with a time which would have qulaified n the other heats. But she was putting a positive spin on it, saying "It's better to just miss out than to just qualify. This was I know that if I work hard before next year I can do it, but if I had qualified then next year I could get too complacent and end up missing out."

Results
Women Heat One
1. Tatyana Kozlova RUS 22:51
2. Hanny Alston AUS 23:00
3. Ane Linde DEN 23:27
---
29. Rose Hodkinson 33:44
32. Becca Roberts 34:13

Heat 2
1. Saila Kinni FIN 23:22
2. Sara Luscher SUI 23:40
3. Alicia Ewiak POL 24:04
--
20. Anne Edwards 27:15 Q
28. Ruth Holmes 29:10

Heat 2
1. Anna Perrson SWE 21:01
2. Betty-Anne Bjerkreim Nilsen NOR 22:05
3. Signe Klinting DEN 22:36
--
18. Lizzie Adams 26:22 Q
23. Tessa Hill 27:18

Mens Heat 1
1. Alexei Zotov RUS 21:15
2. Mikael Kristensson SWE 21:33
3. Anders Skarholt NOR 21:48
4. Oleg Chepelin GBR 21:52 Q
--
18. Doug Tullie 24:34 Q

Heat 2
1. Tore D Mo NOR 20:18
2. Timo Sild EST 21:18
3. Adam Kovacs HUN 21:20
--
20. James Tullie 23:39 Q
DNS Duncan Coombs

Heat 3
1. John Fredriksson SWE 20:27
2. Filip Mazurek POL 20:40
3. Sebastian Hagler SUI 20:41
--
36. Joe Mercer 26:59
DNS Scott Fraser