Nopesport

Returning to the area of the Long Qualification in Bidstrup the middle qualification once again saw the top 17 qualify for the final on Tuesday.

Great Britain have once again provided five runners in the final. Jamie Stevenson has repeated yesterday's performance by winning his heat by 18 seconds from the strong Swede Emil Wingstedt. Jamie already looking strong with two first places already this week. Jon Duncan was our only other male qualifying. Jon was looking nervous as his name moved down the board however he held on and qualified by only five seconds. Jon later speaking to Nopesport jokingly told us that it was in the bag all the time. Jon was very happy to qualify after the disappointment of yesterday and was surprised by the number of fast times from the other runners. Jon in explaining his course detailed how he went for a longer easier running routes through the controls rather than risk the green. Nick Barrable was disappointed with his draw telling Nopesport that as the first runner he had to be the trailbreaker through the dense undergrowth that has been a feature of the last two days of competition. Nick was aiming for qualification from this race unfortunately finishing two minutes outside of qualification.

The other three men also missed out on qualification. Stephen Palmer in Heat A was four minutes of 17th place. Nick Morgan in Heat B missed out by three minutes and finally Dan in Heat C missed out by less than two minutes

In the girls there was once again a great performance from Heather Munro coming making it look easy as she jogged up the final run in safe in her knowledge of certain qualification. Heather finished in a time of 29.01 1 and a half minutes down from eventual winner Dana Brozkova of the Czech Republic. Once again a great performance from Clare Ward making her senior international debut in these European Championships, Clare qualified in 14th place in the same heat as Heather.
The final qualifier for Great Britain was Sarah Rollins finishing in sixth place in Heat A. Sarah was very pleased with her result telling Nopesport how she finally managed to orienteer today with a right head despite the continual toughness of the forest.

The other girls missing out were Helen Winskill 24th in Heat A and Jo Stevenson and Hannah Wootton finished 21st and 22nd respectively in Heat C

Results

Heat A Girls

1.Marianne Andereson NOR 28.37

6.Sarah Rollins GBR 29.21
24.Helen Winskill GBR 35.22

Heat B
1.Dana Brozkova CZE 27.31

5.Heather Munro GBR 29.01
14.Clare Ward GBR 31.04

Heat C
1.Simone Niggli – Luder SUI 26.44

20.Jo Stevenson GBR 33.52
21.Hannah Wootton GBR 34.27

Heat A Men
1.Misha Mamleev RUS 25.44

30.Nick Barrable GBR 29.55
36.Stephen Palmer GBR 31.39

Heat B
1.Jamie Stevenson GBR 27.09

30.Nick Morgan GBR 32.31

Heat C
1.Carsten Jøson DEN 26.03

17.Jon Duncan GBR 29.36
25.Dan Marston GBR 31.23

Nopesport reporting live from the European Orienteering Championships