Ojanaho and Alm: Orienteering Achievement of 2015
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WorldofO.com - Press relase December 22nd 2015: The Orienteering Achievement of 2015 Ojanaho and Alm: Orienteering Achievement of 2015 Maja Alm and Olli Ojanaho have been awarded with “The Orienteering Achievement of 2015″ titles in the women’s and men’s class, respectively! Alm won the award with a big margin ahead of her team mate in the Danish National Team Ida Bobach. Among the men, Finnish junior Ojanaho was awarded the “The Orienteering Achievement of 2015″ with Swiss Daniel Hubmann in second. The vote has been decided by the big international Last year’s winner in the readership of WorldofO.com – more than 4000 unique men’s class was 96 year votes from around 60 different countries have been delivered – making these results very representative for the old Rune Haraldsson, this worldwide orienteering community. Big thanks go to all year an 18 year old junior voters and to the event sponsors PWT Five Days Toscana, Andalucia O-Meeting, Easter 4 , O-Ringen, Swiss O-week, wins the award. Antalya Orienteering Festival, Sprint Scotland, Suunto Games and OOCup. Results In the Men’s class Olli Ojanaho won with 25.2% of the votes ahead of Daniel Hubmann with 21.8%, Lucas Basset with 19.1% and Thierry Gueorgiou with 14.2%. Last year’s winner in the men’s class was 96 year old Rune Haraldsson, this year an 18 year old junior wins the award. In the Womens’s class Maja Alm won with an impressive 39.7% of the votes ahead of Ida Bobach with 27.4%, Annika Billstam with 7.9% and Galina Vinogradova with 7.8%. The fascinating stories behind each nomination can be read at the poll page for men and women, respectively. Interview Maja Alm – Achievement of 2015 Nominated for: The Queen of the World Championships in Scotland with three Gold medals: Sprint, Sprint Relay and Relay. Alm crushed the competition at every start at WOC – and was simply on a different physical level than the others. Q: Congratulations on being awarded “The Orienteering Achievement of 2015?. What an incredible season for you and for Danish Orienteering! What were your expectations and goals ahead of the season? Thank you very much. I won 3 medals in 2014 and knew it would be tough to reach the same level in 2015. I did a technically quite poor performance on the individual sprint distance in 2014, so I was eager to show – especially for myself – that I could do better. Therefore I was really motivated to improve my performance on the individual sprint. In 2014 we won silver medals in both of the relays. We were extremely close to the gold medal In 2014 we won silver medals in both of the relays. We were extremely close to the gold medal and we learned that if we wanted to win, we had to focus more on andbecoming we learned a that team if we – wanted and to win, we had to focusso wemore did. on becom ing a team – and so we did. Q: What are your main improvements compared to the 2014 season? It looks like that you at least have taken big steps on the physical level. Did you have special focus points in the training the past winter which you think helped you take this step up? The biggest change for 2015 was our effort to stay motivated throughout the whole season. We did good training during the winter, but the strategy was to have a 110 percent focus in the last month before WOC. We were on a 3 week training camp in Scotland in June where our team took a big physical step together. It was fantastic that almost everyone improved their physical level, but of course it was a tough job as well. Q: Can you name three key persons who were important for your achievements in 2015? Lars Lindstrøm, Ida Bobach and Emma Klingenberg. Lars has been my coach for the last 9 years. He isn’t afraid to think in new ways, and of course that can be tough in a sport where there usually is a standard way to do things. But I trust his judgement and I am not afraid to try the new things he implements. Ida and Emma have been my training partners for many years now, and of course also my competitors. They make sure that there is always a high level on our training competitions, and I don’t think we would have as high a level as we have if we had to do it on an individual plane. The Danish success is obviously also a big team effort. How do you work and train as a team? Can you give an example of how some of the others in the team have helped you get better? I have mentioned how Ida and Emma have helped me getting better, but another key person is Cecilie Klysner. We were training a lot of sprint trainings together in Scotland. She is a first year senior, and it was nice to see all the positive energy she put into the team. Another key person for my success is Tue Lassen. He is very good at his sprint preparations, and I am really not. He motivates me to do it anyway, and there is a treat in the end which is a cup of coffee. Another important part is that we are very good friends in the Danish team. We know each other very well, and now when there is low season I really miss my team mates. Another key person for Q: Do you plan do to anything differently in your training for my success is Tue the upcoming season? Will you still focus on the same disciplines where you achieved such fantastic results at the Lassen. He is very good World Champs in Scotland? at his sprint I will still have focus on the same disciplines. I have tried for so preparations, and I am many years to become a World Champion – now I am – and it will be a very difficult task to try to win it back next year. I already really not. feel the pressure on my shoulders, and I am sure it won’t get better when the World Championships is getting closer. I am really impressed by Simone Niggli who has won for so many years in a row. Q: To everybody who wants to try to beat you next year: What is your PB on 3000 meters / 5000 meters? My PB on 5000m is 16.28 but unfortunately that time is from 2014. My plan was to run a 5000 meter right after WOC, but I was really done with competing at that time, so I didn’t. I think I might have been even faster this year, but we will never know. Q: Big achievements is one thing – but to get as far as you have, I guess it is important to have fun with what you are doing as well. What is the most fun you have had during orienteering the past year? The most fun was of course during the WOC week. It just went so well for the Danish team, and it was really crazy to be a part of that. The reason that it was so much fun was of course due to all the nice people that were in Scotland including our National Team, but also the Danish spectators over there. It was also very nice to feel the support from people outside of Denmark. Everyone was just so nice and it can still make me smile here half a year later. Q: What do your days look like now in the winter time? At the moment I have some exams I am trying to pass. My winter training so far has not been that good, with a lot of illness and injuries. Our focused training starts in January 2016, so I am really looking forward to have my training as a higher priority again. Q: Any final words to your fans out there? Thank you so much for all the support. It really means the world to me, and it makes it worth all the effort. I know that we in the Danish National Team will fight to be back on an even higher level next year, and I hope that we again next year will be able to fight for the top positions. Q: Congratulations again – and good luck with your season preparations! Interview Olli Ojanaho – Achievement of 2015 Nominated for: 3 gold medals at the Junior World Championships at the age of 18 – one week after winning 2 individual gold medals at EYOC. Also: Debut in Finnish senior national team at the World Cup final. Q: Congratulations on being awarded “The Orienteering Achievement of 2015?. What an incredible season for you – and especially the success at the Junior World Champs! World of O’s readers were obviously very impressed what you have achieved at your young age. What were your expectations and goals ahead of the season? Thank you very much, it feels incredible that so many people have been interested and voted for me! I didn’t have sky-high expectations before the past season as I thought my winter could have been better, and I had a bit difficult period during the spring season. However, I I managed to prepare very well for the most important races in the summer and was therefore able to get the maximal results with my shape and skills of the moment managed to prepare very well for the most important races in the summer and was therefore able to get the maximal results with my shape and skills of the moment.