19Th World University Championships

o 19th NEWS N 1 World University Championships http://wuoc2014.cz August 12-16

ORIENTEERING 2014 Olomouc Czech Republic 19th World University Championship

“Vojtěch Král, one of the possible favourites of the home team” photo Petr Kadeřávek

6 1 o - AA 2 WUOC NEWS NEWS N 1 1

t s OPENING WORDS u g Au Dear Readers, c, ou Cze , Olom Please find the first issue of the magazine “WUOC News” where we would like ch Republic to inform you on a regular basis about the news of the preparations of the World University Orienteering Championships 2014 in Olomouc. We would also like to offer you interviews with interesting people, favourites tips, mapmakers’ observations, as well as some local interesting facts concerning sports, history or culture. Our goal is to give you the best preparation possible for the Championships as well as to provide regular readers of WUOC News with a certain advantage.

We wish you pleasant reading and we heartily invite you to Olomouc in August 2014.

Dušan Vystavěl, Chairman of the Organising Committee of WUOC 2014 Tomáš Dlabaja, Czech National Team Athlete and WUOC 2014 Ambassador Jan Exner, WUOC News editor

CONTENT

WUOC News Interview: Vendula Horčičková News from the Organisation Winners‘ Tips and Espionage: Dense green woods and yellow clearings Interesting Places that are worth seeing: Olomouc Today‘s Stars, Tomorrow‘s Leaders: Florian Schneider

photo: Petr Kadeřávek WUOC NEWS INTERVIEW Jan Exner VENDULA HORČIČKOVÁ: JUNIOR SUCCESS IS JUST A BEGINNING

National Teams from countries all over the World will participate in the World University Orienteering Championships 2014 in the Czech Republic. The Czech Team will not be missing. In the town of Přerov, just a few kilometres from the Championships‘ centre in Olomouc, lives one of the hopes of the home team. Vendula Horčičková is the current relay Junior World Champion. She would like to continue her success into the senior category. It‘s now been three months since you became Junior World Champion in the relay together with your teammates Kateřina Chromá and Lenka Knapová. How do you value this success now after some time has passed? It‘s still a great feeling from having completed a well-done job. The early euphoria has left and I‘ve been realising more and more that it‘s just a small step on my way to success in senior orienteering. Is it even possible to compare the Gold Medal from JWOC with your triumphs in the long distance and the relays from the European Youth Orienteering Championships? All these successes were just amazing for me at that time. They motivated me to train even harder and they moved my career one step further. On the other hand, the Gold Medal I won at JWOC 2013 is so far simply the biggest success I‘ve achieved. Are you satisfied with your performance in the individual competitions of JWOC 2013? I can‘t really be completely satisfied. My goal was to be in the top 10 in every race, which I always missed by a few seconds. Every race brought me a new bunch of experience that I would like to learn from in my future competitions. Do you have any new goal that you would like to achieve? My long-term goal is to become a runner who is able to get selected for the World Orienteering Championships. I am aware of a lot of hard work that is before me. What competitions are there still ahead of you this year? In autumn, the biggest race for me is unequivocally the Czech long distance and relay championships. I will also take part in some events of the Czech individual and relay cup. The World University Orienteering Championships will be held in the Czech Republic next year. What kind of challenge is it for you? Will you be aiming your training towards the Championships? To be honest, I don‘t really know what to expect from the senior category and what the possibility for my selection for the Championships is. I will definitely try to train as much as possible to be able to show myself in the best light possible so that the coaches of the national team can at least think about my selection. I would like to participate in the Championships not least as I could gain new experience there. If you could entice competitors with something special, what would it be? What can they look forward to in Olomouc? Olomouc itself is a very nice city and a part of the UNESCO World Heritage. The same is true about Kroměříž where the mixed relay race will be held. From an historical monuments point of view, there are definitely a lot of things that the competitors can look forward to. I believe that all the competition areas will be very interesting and that the organisers will prepare a great Championships that all the participants will remember, like the World Orienteering Championships 2008.

6 1 o - AA 2 All the races of WUOC 2014 will be held in terrain near to the town of Přerov NEWS N 1 1

t where you live. What do you think about this terrain? Would you recommend s u some special kind of preparation for the participants? ug I am afraid that there is no universal piece of advice, as all the races will , A be held in different kinds of terrain. I would just like to recommend to all uc omo participants that they should prepare themselves for blackberries. Czech Republic, Ol Vendula Horčičková was born in 1993 in Přerov where she also graduated from high school in 2012. Nowadays, she studies Psychology at the Masaryk University in Brno. She has been competing for the club of Palacký University Olomouc since there is no orienteering club in her hometown. The biggest success of her career so far is the relay gold medal from the Junior World Orienteering Championships 2013. Vendula also won the gold from the European Youth Orienteering Championships 2009 long distance race as well as the relay gold medal from EYOC 2011.

NEWS FROM THE ORGANISATION Dušan Vystavěl ORGANISING COMMITTEE ESTABLISHED

The Organising Committee of the 19th World University Orienteering Championships 2014 in Olomouc was established at the end of April after months of preparation. The Czech University Sports Association (CAUS) handed the organisation over to the Central-Moravian Orienteering Association chaired by Mr. Jindřich Smička and Mr. Dušan Vystavěl. Mr. František Dvořák, the president of CAUS, and Mr. Dušan Vystavěl, the chairman of the Organising Committee of WUOC 2014 later confirmed this cooperation by their signatures during the official ceremony at the Faculty of Physical Culture of Palacký University in Olomouc, which will be the centre of the Championships.

WUOC 2014 will be organised by approximately 150 organisers, most of them being volunteers. There will also be a training camp organised for young promising athletes, not only from the Czech Republic, who will be helping with the organisation of the Championships too. Their task will be to guard the controls at the sprint races and to accompany particular teams at the Opening Ceremony of WUOC 2014. SUCCESSFUL INSPECTION OF FISU AND IOF SUPERVISORS

On the last weekend of the summer holidays, an inspectional visit of supervisors of the International University Sports Federation (FISU) and the International Orienteering Federation (IOF) was held. Mr. Julien Buhajezuk, FISU staff, Mr. Ola Kåberg, FISU Technical Delegate for Orienteering, as well as Mr. Juraj Petrinec, IOF delegate, were happy with the state of preparations.

The visit was very helpful for the organisers too. The supervisors from the international federations were not only looking for mistakes, but they also gave the organisers valuable advice. Mr. Ola Kaberg and Mr. Juraj Petrinec checked the terrain themselves where the long distance race will be held. “The terrain is very well chosen and it fully suits to all the requirements of a long distance race. It’s altitude and runnability promise a race of the highest quality,” Mr. Ola Kåberg said. Mr. Juraj Petrinec also stated that “considering the hilly profile, the race will be very tough, but fair.” Mr. Julien Buhajezuk evaluated his part of inspection saying that “the accommodation and catering in the University Campus of Neředín in Olomouc meet all the requirements of this event.” The supervisors also acknowledged the possibility of organising a four-days training camp before the Championships. There is also the opportunity of training in relevant terrain on request at any time of the year. The new discipline of mixed relays will be part of the program of this Championships. On Sunday 10th of August 2014, there will be a test race designed as a duel between Europe and “the rest of the World” to be held before the actual Opening Ceremony of WUOC 2014.

WINNER‘S TIPS AND ESPIONAGE Tomáš Dlabaja DENSE GREEN WOODS AND YELLOW CLEARINGS

Every preparation for any important race far away should begin with espionage to create the right idea about the terrain and difficulties of the race. As an experienced Czech National Team runner I want to periodically present to you my advice and guidance. This section should help you and facilitate your “homework”. Get the right idea and adjust your technical and physical training!

Tip no. 1

The terrain of the middle distance and relay race resembles the terrain of the JWOC 2013 relay race. You will find dense green wood with indestinct vegetation boundaries and many yellow clearings inside. A runner has to understand this typical Czech map-making style very clearly, otherwise he/ she can react badly and lose valuable seconds. This kind of orienteering and hiding controls inside the green is very typical for the Czech Republic. On the other hand, the right strategy in such diffuse green/ yellow areas is very similar to the Nordic style of orienteering between unclear small hills. You have to know your position very precisely in front of the difficult area, then you have to run zigzag among important points and maintain eye contact. Or cross the whole area by accurate bearing with compass. Be aware that the Czech dense wood or Nordic hills push you out off your line. I believe it is very important to understand and experience personally the character of the Czech woods and especially “colourful” areas.

6 1 o - AA 2 NEWS N 1 1 INTERESTING PLACES THAT ARE WORTH EEING

t Jan Exner s u g Au OLOMOUC c, ou Cz Olom In the middle of August 2014, the city of Olomouc is going to become the centre of the ech Republic, 19th World University Orienteering Championships. Situated in the heart of Haná region, Olomouc is the most important metropolis in Moravia. Education is strongly connected with the city. The University Palacký is the oldest University in Moravia and after the Charles University in Prague, is the second oldest University in the Czech Republic. Other institutions that support the city of Olomouc with being an educational centre are the Research Library and the Slavonic Grammar School, which is the oldest high school in Moravia with the Czech language being taught there since 1876. Olomouc is a city of sport. The World Orienteering Championships 2008 was held here. Every June, the Olomouc Half Marathon is held here and there also was the European Baseball Championships in 2005 and the U-19 World Floorball Championships for women in 2010. SK Sigma Olomouc, a football club that every year fights for top positions in the Czech Football League, has its seat in Olomouc. The city is also known for its historical monuments. There is the historical site with many large squares in the city centre, which is surrounded by the river of Morava. You can find the town hall with an astronomical clock from the 15th century in the Upper Square. There are also many water fountains, but the most significant of all the monuments is the Holy Trinity Column built in the middle of the 18th century that became a part of the UNESCO World Heritage in 2000. HOLY TRINITY COLUMN

The Holy Trinity Column is a Baroque monument built between 1716 and 1754 in honour of God. The main purpose was a spectacular celebration of the Catholic Church and faith partly caused by a feeling of gratitude for ending a plague, which struck Moravia between 1714 and 1716. All the artists and master craftsmen working on this monument were Olomouc citizens, and almost all the depicted saints were connected with the city of Olomouc in some way. The erection of Marian plague columns is an exclusively Baroque phenomenon that began after the Council of Trent in 1545. The plague column, which was erected in 1614 in the Piazza Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome become a model for all these monuments. The Holy Trinity Column in Olomouc was built as one of the last ones, but it differs from other monuments of this kind by its art conception and decoration. The Empress of the Habsburg dominions at that time, Marie Theresa, was personally present at its consecration on 9th September 1754. The column, which is 35 metres high, part of which is a small chapel, is the highest sculptural group in the Czech Republic. This dominant feature of Olomouc was declared a national monument in 1995. Five years later, in 2000, the Holy Trinity Columns was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List as one of the most exceptional examples of the apogee of central European Baroque artistic expression.

The medal ceremony of the Games of the 5th Summer Olympiad for Children and Youth of the Czech Republic in 2011 was held in front of the Holy Trinity Column. The younger pupils from the Olomouc Region won the Gold Medal. The winning team was composed of Klára Novotná, Tereza Soldánová, Ondřej Vystavěl and Josef Kočí. TODAY‘S STARS, TOMORROW‘S LEADERS by Jan Exner FLORIAN SCHNEIDER: WORLD UNIVERSITY ORIENTEERING CHAMPIONSHIPS 2014 IS ONE OF MY GOALS FOR NEXT SEASON

Despite having health problems with his knee during his preparation, promising Swiss athlete Florian Schneider managed to win two medals at the Junior World Orienteering Championships 2013 in Hradec Králové. He won the gold medal in the Sprint Distance and finished second in the Long Distance. In 2014, he will come back to the Czech Republic. WUOC 2014 will be one of the top races of his season. It‘s now been nearly two months since you became the Junior and also the World World Champion in sprint and won the silver medal in the long Military Orienteering distance. How do you consider these wonderful results after Championships some time has passed? will be my goals for The good summer is over. I really like looking back, but I also next summer. The need to stay focused on my future. I‘ll never forget what I World Orienteering felt and how crazy that week was. I like both medals very Championships much. The gold from sprint is maybe the bigger one. On the (WOC) 2014 in other hand, the long distance silver is a special medal for me Italy next year is because it was the “classic” distance. I try not to compare them definitely too early very much. Each of them is very special. for me. I believe that I am very proud now but I will have to continue in these results it is very important from Junior World Orienteering Championships (JWOC) as I want to have a big to show myself that I can do it again. It‘s nice to know that I am competition goal (or was) the World Champion and that I had enough power to in summer so you get the medals and that‘s exactly what I would like to feel again. get huge training motivation during You‘ve had health problems concerning your knee, but you the whole year. were still able to get prepared very well. What was the key element to getting ready for JWOC, despite having such When someone says “Czech Republic”, what is the very first problems? thing that comes to your mind? The important thing was to believe in myself. I knew that JWOC 2013, of course! I remember all the good memories some other athletes could train better and have more running from JWOC, all the great results, perfect organisation and training but I managed to do a lot of good training as well. all the people I met there. What stays in my mind are the I practised in alternative ways and I was sure that I was in good sandstone rocks where it was so difficult, but also so fun to run shape. I guess there was no key element like “this was it what well in. makes it good”. A lot of things were important to get ready Do you have any ambitions or dreams for your future? for the competition. But in the end, it was just an orienteering I have got a lot of dreams, for sure! My big goal for the next race where you have to find every control without big three years is to make it to the Swiss national team for WOC mistakes - as easy as it sounds. 2016 that will be held in Sweden. I‘ll get a medal in the senior What do you think about Czech terrain? Do they suit you? class at WOC and EOC one day – or better still I am dreaming I like this kind of terrain very much. I like the stony parts and of winning this medal. In the next two years I‘ll run some World also the hard parts with a lot of uphill and downhill. I must say Cup races and I will try to improve my orienteering skills. that also the terrain with many sandstone rocks was really cool Do you have any heroes within the orienteering world? to run through. As the Czech terrain is a bit similar to Swiss, I definitely have some heroes. I am impressed with Matthias I guess it suits me very well. Kyburz. Particularly, how fast he has become one of the best Next year, the World University Orienteering Championships orienteers in the world. Another big name that comes to (WUOC) will be held in the Czech Republic. Do you consider the my mind is Daniel Hubmann. He‘s been good for more than Championships as one of your goals for next season? 10 years now. And also the young runner Florian Howald is Yes! It is one of my big goals for next year. I haven‘t spoken a little hero for me. He is the one who helped me to prepare much about this with my coach yet, but I guess that WUOC for this year‘s JWOC.

Florian Schneider lives in Stettlen near Bern and is about to start studying civil engineering this autumn. Previously, he worked as a technical drawer in an engineering office. Between 2008 and 2012 he did an apprenticeship as a technical drawer. As he likes a lot of sports, he also enjoys reading about sports, e.g. other athletes‘ trainings or various sports studies.