– It was also very demanding to read the map at a scale of 1:15,000. You have to read the map all the time and be very precise into the controls, said Simona Aebersold, overall winner of W21 Elite, after the finish.

That was exactly the kind of challenge the course planners had set out to create. Anders and Rasmus Arfwedson were responsible for the elite courses, among others. Fitting long and demanding courses into the relatively narrow competition area had been one of his biggest challenges.

– We couldn't make extremely long legs because that would have forced the runners onto too many paths. There are also a lot of stone walls running across the map. So we had to adapt the length of the legs and, whenever possible, lay them diagonally, Anders Arfwedson says.

The result was a zigzag pattern across the long, narrow map. Every time the course changed direction, several controls were needed to avoid creating overly sharp angles.

– Every time you turn back, you have to place two or three controls. Otherwise, you end up with a very sharp angle, says Arfwedson.

The men's elite course covered 14 kilometres and included 32 controls, while the women's elite course had 25 controls. The men's elite runners also faced a map exchange in the forest after control 27.

The map exchange served a specific purpose in the chasing start. If a chasing runner caught the leader, they should not be able to study the next part of the course by looking at the same map.

– If someone catches the leader, the runner in front has to do the navigation. Otherwise, the runner behind can start reading the next part of the course before the map exchange. That's why we made it a clean map exchange out in the forest, says Arfwedson.

Since stages four and five partly used the same competition area, the course planners also had to avoid the previous day's route choices and control areas. The start locations were moved, and some sections of the terrain were saved exclusively for the final stage. In other places, runners recognised parts of the terrain but approached them from completely different directions.

Even before the senior elite classes started, the first reactions from the junior elite runners were positive.

– They were very happy with the courses and said the long legs were demanding. There wasn't one obvious best route choice. We've heard that different runners chose different routes, and that's exactly what we wanted, says Arfwedson.

When the senior elite chasing starts had also been completed, it was clear that the course planners had achieved their goal. The final demanded endurance, precision and constant map contact – just as Simona Aebersold summed it up after securing her second consecutive O-Ringen overall title:

– You have to read the map all the time and be very precise into the controls.

More pictures from today: https://mediebank.tt.se/p/svenskorientering/album/119787 External link.

Read also: O-ringen Gothenburg thanks you for this year!