European Youth Championships 2023: Event Round up

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 9^th 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 13^th place in the U16 and U18 respectively and again there were excellent results across the board.

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 7^th, and the Men’s 18 team, which included James Hammond, Adam Methven and Adam Barrie, finished in 13^th place. The first Women’s  Relay team  (Lyra Medlock, Anna Todd and Ruth Gooch) finished in 12^th place and the other relay team  (Alice Kemsley, Iris Macmillan and Daisy Rennie) in 10^th place.

The team finished with an overall position of 8^th 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!

Results