Parents and Teachers Keep Orienteering Alive in Austria

“In Sweden, there are orienteering high schools and they need teachers. In Austria, there are teachers who love this sport and who promote it.” Hannes Pacher (52) is a teacher in Austria and he grins when he says it. In two sentences, almost everything is told about the value of orienteering in the middle European country.

However, you wouldn’t call it a surprise that Annika Gassner from Vienna has won the Long Distance W2 competition for selected teams on Monday. In this group, the best athletes which Austria can offer at the moment are on stage in Primiero. And Gassner has orienteering in her bloodstream. Father Feri and mother Claudia competed in World Championships.

You wouldn’t call it a surprise either that Austria isn’t an orienteering powerhouse. Teachers and family members are the only ones who carry on the whole sport scene. The attention of the media is, well, straightforward. The attention of governmental bodies is even less. Map making is a job for cheap paid experts from former east European countries and isn’t supported by funding because nature hasn’t the status of a sports venue. “We do not have the tradition of creating maps and aren’t able to transfer these skills to the next generation, as it happens for example in Italy”, Pacher says. “And if we don’t have maps, we won’t have a crowd orienteering.

Pacher, who is one of three Austrian coaches in Primiero, has had a career best 12th place at World Championships in 1983. He founded the SU Schöckl Graz and he advertises orienteering in the school where he works.

Here in Primiero, there is some kind of home soil advantage for Austria. Their athletes train on mountainous terrains in the western part of the country, and some of them were in Primiero few years ago. “The ISF Worlds do have an importance for us”, Pacher says. “But some very strong nations – Switzerland, Norway, Russia – do not compete. And others, like Sweden, participate with very specialized athletes.”

That’s the rule of sport and life. Who’s not present, cannot win. And the strongest present will grab first place.

Austria’s orienteering athletes behave bravely in Primiero. Who knows? Maybe are these guys paving the way for a brighter future of this sport in their country?

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Team Results Long Distance, May 23rd, 2011

M1 Selected Teams
1 Sweden (Ludvig Ahlund, Elias Ohgren, Fredrik Ahnlen) 2:11:34 2 Austria (Xander Berger, Matthias Reiner, Florian Schiel) 2:13.18 3 Latvia (Rudolfs Zernis, Valters Lubinskis, Emils Dzalbs) 2:17.59

M1 School Teams
1 Eksjö Gymnasium (SWE/Ludwig Ljunquist, Anton Johansson, Daniel Nilsson) 1:46.54 2 Lycee Jean Marc Boivin (FRA/Florentin Body, Remi Villedieu, Nicolas Rio) 2:00.27 3 Escola Secundaria do Pinhal Novo (POR/Luis Silva, Joao Parreira, Filipe Augusto) 2:28.51

M2 Selected Teams
1 Austria (Stefan Falk, Mathias Peter, Stefan Kubelka) 2:04.23 2 Italy (Mattia Debertolis, Mattia Cudicio, Alessandro De Noni) 2:05.56 3 England (Hamish Rogers, Harry Butt, Joe Woodley) 2:12.57

M2 School Teams
1 Scuola Primaria/Secondaria Primiero (ITA/Riccardo Scalet, Emanuele Frison, Mirko Gobber) 1:32.10 2 Napier Boys High School (NZL/Callum Harris, Devon Beckman, Isaac Sweetapple) 1:42.08 3 Ies Zorrilla de Valladolid (SPA/Enrique Alonso, Diego Lazaro, Felipe Hermida) 1:53.42

W1 Selected Teams
1 Sweden (Frida Sandberg, Linnea Adolfsson, Alice Hugosson) 2:13.31 2 France (Lauriane Beauvisage, Delphine Poirot, Noemie Roulleaux) 2:22.43 3 Spain (Carmen Patino, Marina Garcia, Marta Guijo) 2:39.41

W1 School Teams
1 Eksic Gymnasium (SWE/Olivia Kollberg, Josefin Klinfberg, Frida Hellstadium Jonsson) 1:57.51 2 Makelanrinteen Lukio (FIN/Jannina Gustafsson, Maaret Turunen, Pihla Otsamo) 2:07.50 3 Draudziga Aicinajuma Cesu Valsts Gimnazija (LAT/Marta Jansona, Sandra Grosberga, Arta Martinsone) 2:31.37

W2 Selected Teams
1 Austria (Annika Gassner, Isabell Schaffer, Carina Polzer) 1:54.24 2 England (Katherine Hall, Katrina Hemingway, Sarah Jones) 2:01.03 3 Italy (Gaia Sebastiani, Arianna Taufer, Francesca Taufer) 2:05.11

W2 School Teams
1 Napier Girl High School (NZL/Brianna Massie, Kathrine Rybinski, Vida Fox) 2:07.54 2 Kenilworth School and Sports College (ENG/Rachel Emmerson, Julie Emmerson, Francesca Slade) 2:11.58 3 Banchory Academy (SCO/Jennifer Ricketts, Evelyn Mason, Megan Getliff) 2:18.56

More about the 2011 ISF Orienteering World School Championship: www.italiaor2011.com