The fight for the Jukola relay victory seems very exciting beforehand. At least the favorites are not as outstanding as in many previous years, partly due to “levelling” factors.
But in whatever way one turns and analyzes the issue, Kalevan Rasti has the lowest payout once again. The club has a lot of skilled elite runners, and the anchor is also well-known – the most successful male orienteer of all time, Thierry Gueorgiou. Sure, levelling the competition is Fabian Hertner who runs for the Swiss OLV Baselland team accompanying many current and ex-top athletes. Still, KR comes to Louna-Jukola as a front runner after finishing “only” third in Tiomila.
The number one challenger from many years back, the Norwegian Halden SK is racing without their star Olav Lundanes who’s still recovering from slight overtraining. On the other hand, substituting Olav is e.g. the Finnish national team “cannon” Fredric Portin, who represented the Jukola host Paimion Rasti just on last season. Other interesting Norwegian contenders include IL Tyrving and Frol IL that was leading this year’s Tiomila quite long. There’s a bunch of Swedish potential top end teams, and it wouldn’t be a complete surprise if some of them took the victory west to the other side of the Gulf of Bothnia. Apart from KR, the highest Finnish expectations lie on the shoulders of Vaajakosken Terä, Turun Metsänkävijät and the significantly strengthened Koovee.
Oslo-based Tyrving was fighting for Tiomila victory up until the last leg, finally finishing sixth. In Jukola the club has been twice fifth, at best. The mix of high-class Norwegian relay runners and a couple of fast-legged Central Europeans may challenge any team on a good day. Manager Arne Tiltnes predicts high-speed orienteering on open rock hills flavored by some rougher hillside areas. The club arrives on the spot on Thursday to absorb the specific challenges of the terrain type.
– The greatest in Jukola, in addition to wonderful arena production and good maps is the course-setting favoring technically skilled teams. One challenge is the huge number of orienteers in the terrain. We strive for a “Tyrving style” performance on all legs, which has previously been good enough for a top 10 spot. Kalevan Rasti is a favorite, on the other hand IFK Lidingö and OK Linné are certainly looking for a rematch after Tiomila. A top position for Tyrving would possibly be a surprise for everyone else but ourselves, ponders Tiltnes.
Bjørn Ekeberg of Tyrving on his way towards a clear best time on the second leg in Kuopio-Jukola last year. Photo: Valtteri Vallittu / Jämsä-Jukola 2013.
South Norwegian Kristiansand OK took a double in 2009: a victory in both Tiomila and Jukola. Since then, they were second in Jämsä-Jukola two years ago. Also KOK is an international combination, with the Swiss Hubmann brothers and the Norwegian national team runner Hans Gunnar Omdal as biggest stars. The club has some local know-how on its side for Louna-Jukola, as their trainer Mats Dahlén represented the organizing Paimion Rasti for many seasons before leaving for Norway. In addition, some of the men training in relevant terrains already right after Kuopio-Jukola last year.
– Our aim is to at least better from Tiomila (24.), and our second team strives for hanging on top positions as long as possible. The greatest challenge is keeping your orienteering in control at high speed on detailed areas. The group of favorites largely equals to the upper end of Tiomila results list, and I believe Finnish teams will be stronger than in Tiomila. I regard us more as a challenger than one of the favorites, says ”Magnar” Dahlén.
Vaajakosken Terä has been after a Jukola victory for a long time, but despite a favorite position many times they still haven’t reached the goal. In its 10-year-long elite “career” so far, the club has four top 5 places in Jukola, the best being bronze place in Kytäjä 2010. The shift of the world champion to Koovee is, without a doubt, a loss for them, but several young guys are eager to replace him. According to manager Juhani Palonen, the terrain type is practically familiar to all Finnish teams and will not bring about any exceptional challenges.
– This south the dark fourth and fifth leg are important, which suits us. Kalevan Rasti will win most likely – there are no chances for a surprise team in present-day Jukola. Nice surprises would be, for example, Tampereen Pyrintö after some years and Frol IL as a new foreign team in top 10, says Palonen.
This is only the third season for Hiidenkiertäjät in its current form as an elite club, but they already have a third place in Jämsä-Jukola 2013. Its “predecessor” Delta grabbed the coveted Jukola victory in Tampere 2008. Starred by the world champion Novikov brothers, they have a chance to make it to the ultimate top in Paimio. Manager Ville Luoma sees becoming acquainted with terrain type and mapping style as an important component in preparations, even if both of them are already pretty familiar.
– The ”congestions” at many places in the forest are an additional challenge. We strive for bettering from last year (6.). I regard Kalevan Rasti as a favorite challenged by Halden and IFK Lidingö. Södertälje-Nykvarn and Tampereen Pyrintö may place surprisingly high, reflects Luoma.
The international bunch of Turun Metsänkävijät has plenty of fast legs and specialized skills for night relays. The brightest stars of the club – having reached silver place in both Jukola and Tiomila at best – twinkle the world champion Edgars Bertuks, the ”ex-pat” world champs medalist Scott Fraser and the fresh Belgian face Yannick Michiels. According to coach Juha Suntila, the main focus in preparations has been on abundant relay and night trainings as well as absorption of the terrain type.
– I doubt the race will be purely fast running on open hills, but also slower areas exist. The year-to-year growing number of teams brings about special challenges for nerve control: you have to stay keep control when passing slower runners. Our goal is at top 6. In my opinion, IFK Lidingö starts as a favorite. Koovee has good chances to be on the top as well as Södertälje and Malung. The young team of Tampereen Pyrintö will surely improve from last year, predicts Suntila.
And the promising Swedes? More about them tomorrow.
