European TrailO Championships: Hard first day in Slovakia

Antti Rusanen, Finland and Svein Jakobsen, Norway lead the Open and Paralympic classes respectively at the end of Day 1 of the 2-day PreO competition. Just 2 of the 150 competitors completed the course without error.

On a warm day in Stupava, Slovakia, 50 Paralympic and 100 Open class competitors faced a challenging 24-task course, plus 2 timed stations with 3 tasks at each. Four athletes in the Open class had a clear card on the course itself, but two of these made errors at the timed controls. The two most successful were Antti Rusanen, Finland with 24 correct plus 38.5 seconds for the 6 timed tasks, and Martin Fredholm, Sweden with 24 correct + 57 seconds. Both of these athletes are consistently high up in TrailO results lists, Rusanen being currently seeded sixth in the world and Fredholm second.

Twenty-six competitors today lost two or fewer points; as predicted, it’s turning out to be a very close and tense competition.

The best Paralympic score was 22, set by Svein Jakobsen. Jana Kostová, Czech Republic and Pamel Shmatov, Russia hold second and third places with 21 points. World champion Ola Jansson, Sweden is in fourth place.

Tomorrow’s terrain, karst with steep slopes and high crags, provides a completely different kind of challenge. It will be fascinating to see if the leaders can hold their form and fight off the many close challengers for the medals. With 28 tasks plus timed stations, there’s every chance for big changes in the results order.

Full results from today, along with maps and solutions, can be found on the event website

Leading results after PreO Day 1

Open class

  1. Antti Rusanen FIN 24 points + 38.5 seconds
  2. Martin Fredholm SWE 24 + 57
  3. Vitalii Kyrychenko UKR 24 + 98.5
  4. Krešo Keresteš SLO 24 + 161
  5. Zoltán Miháczi HUN 23 + 29
  6. Marit Wiksell SWE 23 + 40

Paralympic class

  1. Svein Jakobsen NOR 22 + 474
  2. Jana Kostová CZE 21 + 161.5
  3. Pavel Shmatov RUS 21 + 186
  4. Ola Jansson SWE 20 + 177.5
  5. Søren Saxtorph DEN 20 + 204
  6. Michael Johansson SWE 20 + 233