We can happily announce that we already have an orienteer from worldclass level participating at Gp Melis. Ivar Lundanes (Norway) is running for SNO and he's the biggest name on the startlist up to now. Besides him, we also have athletes from Rajamaen Rykmentti, OK Tisaren and the Belgian national team among the registered athletes. We decided to do a doubleinterview with Ivar Lundanes and Conor Short (OK Tisaren and Ireland national team runner) as preview.
1) What is your biggest achievement in orienteering up to now?
Conor: Making the A-final at JWOC and finishing in 25th place in middle distance.
Ivar: Night Hawk-victory with Södertälje-Nykvarn, Norwegian junior champion, top 10 in both Norwegian and Swedish champs last year. Been running both JWOC, EYOC and JEC.
2) What do you think of the concept of the race?
Conor: It's a cool concept, it will be interesting to see how much a difference that 30 seconds head start will make in the final. One small mistake and the leaders could lose it.
Ivar: It looks interesting! It's something new and I think it will suit me well. As long as the orienteering is challenging it will be fun.
Ivar Lundanes (anchorman of sno during Night hawk) - Photo: Aapo Laiho
3) What do you expect of the Belgian terrain?
Conor: I'm not really sure what to expect. Belgium isn't exactly well known for its orienteering. I know it's going to be flat and fast though, and the maps I've seen actually look surprisingly interesting.
Ivar: Well, to be honest it seems like there is a lot of "boring" terrain in Belgium. By that I mean that there are too many paths and roads, too flat, not enough details to make it a technical challenge and it feels like it's all about running fast enough.. But I've never been in Belgium, so I really hope I'm wrong, and that there will be some tricky controls!
4) What are your goals?
Conor: A top six result would be nice, it will be tough to get though cos I'm slow as "fuck".
Also I expect all the parties to be exceptional.
Ivar: Ofcourse I want to win GP Melis! But it's not a very important competition, so I won't be very sad if I don't succeed. I'm going to Belgium to have fun and to try something new. The results are not so important. But it's always fun to do well.
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