British Orienteering

European Youth Championships 2023: Event Round up

27 June 2023

Over the weekend the 16 strong squad travelled to Bulgaria with the team staff to compete in the annual European Youth Orienteering Championships.

Friday’s competition saw the Individual Sprint Event, where competition was fierce in the streets and parks of Velingrad, Bulgaria. The four classes each had close to 100 competitors with representatives from 32 nations. Lyra Medlock had a great performance to finish just inside the top 10 in 9th place, and a further top 20 places were also secured by Laurence Ward, Adam Methven and James Hammond. With most of the athletes finishing in the top half of the field, it was a fantastic effort and outcome for the junior GB Team.

The Long event followed on the Saturday, with the race taking place predominantly across pine forest and terrain became rocky in parts. Despite this, both Tommy Rollins and James Hammond finished in 13th place in the U16 and U18 respectively and again there were excellent results across the board.

James Hammond
Lyra Medlock

The Forest Relays formed the final day of the competition and  Finland dominated the Women’s races with golds in both the W18 and W16. The Men’s 16 was won by Czechia and the Men’s 18, by Norway.  After consistent performances throughout the competition, the Men’s 16 team of Laurence Ward, Finn Selmer Duguid and Tommy Rollins had a great race finishing in 7th, and the Men’s 18 team, which included James Hammond, Adam Methven and Adam Barrie, finished in 13th place. The first Women’s  Relay team  (Lyra Medlock, Anna Todd and Ruth Gooch) finished in 12th place and the other relay team  (Alice Kemsley, Iris Macmillan and Daisy Rennie) in 10th place.

The team finished with an overall position of 8th place so a huge well done to all our athletes and thank you to Judy Bell, Rona Lindsay, Tamsin Moran and Pete Tryner for managing and supporting the team throughout the travel and competition!

Daisy Rennie, Iris Macmillan, Alice Kemsley, Cat Chapman
Finn Selmer Duguid, Ben Perry, Tommy Rollins, Laurence Ward

Results

Name Sprint Long Relay
U16 Men      
Laurence Ward 20th 59th 10th
Finn Selmer Duguid 27th  35th 7th
Ben Perry 32nd 81st  
Tommy Rollins 57th 13th

9th

U18 Men      
Adam Methven 17th 41st 9th
James Hammond 21st 14th 13th
Oliver Prince 41st 85th  
Adam Barrie 55th 27th 11th
U16 Women      
Lyra Medlock 9th 60th 12th
Freya Tryner 21st DNF  
Anna Todd 30th 53rd 14th
Ruth Gooch 51st 34th 12th
U18 Women      
Alice Kemsley 40th 48th 10th
Iris Macmillan 47th 56th 10th
Daisy Rennie 60th 60th 13th
Cat Chapman 88th 64th