THE INTERNATIONAL JUNIOR SEASON ENDS WITH THE 2022 JWOC in Portugal

THE INTERNATIONAL JUNIOR SEASON ENDS WITH THE 2022 JWOC in Portugal

After the cancellation of the forest races in July when the event had already begun, Portugal hosted the second part of the Junior World Championships with the completion of the medals for the 2022 competitive season.

Credits JWOC2022 Susana Luzir

From 4 to 6 November, the forest distances of the 2022 Junior World Championships took place in Aguiar da Beira (POR). For the Park World Tour Italia team, once again two athletes, Giulia Dissette and Annarita Scalzotto were reconfirmed in the national team after a splendid second part of the season in national competitions (see https://www.orienteering.it/en/park-world-tour-italia-e-campione-italiano-a-staffetta/).

Originally, the races were scheduled for July 2022 but had to be postponed to the autumn due to a Portuguese government provision that prohibited entry into the woods throughout the summer due to the danger of fires. Last weekend, therefore, only the forest distances were recovered (the sprint took place regularly this summer) with a noteworthy Portuguese organization and with good attention to the media world (live TV, GPS, live results, etc.)

Credits JWOC2022 Susana Luzir

The Middle distance kicked off the international event, with the victories of Swedish Hanna Lundberg and Hungarian Zoltan Bujdoso. For our athletes a tiring debut: Giulia Dissette is ranked 88 a (+18: 18) while Annarita is 90 a (+18: 22).

Official results: https://www.jwoc2022.pt/eventfiles/JWOCPart2/JWOCPart2_Middle_Results_Women.pdf

Gps: https://events.loggator.com/2022JWOCmiddleW20

Live TV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWmboRbJxyY&feature=emb_title

Credits JWOC2022 Susana Luzir

Saturday 5th was scheduled the Relay race, which saw once again both PWT Italia athletes at the starting line, with Annarita at the 1st leg and Giulia in second. The race crowned the Swedish relays in both women and men, while the Italian women’s relay finished 16th at +37: 53.

Official results: https://www.jwoc2022.pt/eventfiles/JWOCPart2/JWOCPart2_Relay_Results_Women.pdf

Gps: https://events.loggator.com/2022JWOCrelayWOMEN1

Live TV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zca34pC3FEQ&feature=emb_title

Credits JWOC2022

The Long Distance crowned the event and the Junior 2022 competitive season. The women’s course challenged the athletes technically and physically too, with 7.3 km and 300 meters in altitude. Compared to the Friday race, both athletes improve their position, Giulia in 67th place at +28: 04 and Annarita at 68th with +28: 19 behind the new Swedish champion Hanna Lundberg. In the men’s field, the Swedish runner Noel Braun took the victory.

Official results: https://liveresultat.orientering.se/followfull.php?lang=en&comp=23315#Women

Gps: https://events.loggator.com/2022JWOClongW20

Live TV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gp50IldKhkQ

Comments of the athletes

Giulia Dissette says: “It took me a while to regain confidence on Portuguese terrain, in the middle in particular I didn’t start very well and I made several mistakes that I could have avoided. Even though I didn’t run the best races of the season, I’m pretty happy with how I went through the week, forgetting about the mistakes made in previous races and thinking only about the present, gaining more and more confidence.

This world championship has made me aware of what aspects to improve and I am ready to do so. It was undoubtedly a path that helped me grow and gave me the right motivation to face the next few years with determination and a new mindset. “

Annarita Scalzotto says: “I am not totally satisfied with my performance at the races, the Portuguese terrains certainly require a non-trivial technical ability, and an injury three weeks after the event did not help. Despite this, I feel I have improved on several fronts during this year of preparation, and I think this is the thing that matters most. I’m ready to end the junior season and focus on next year’s Elite events. “

In conclusion, the words of the team manager Gabriele Viale: “To me, these world championships in November did not make any sense. As well as the economic distribution required for athletes to participate in the World Cup. From my point of view, it was too intense a season for junior athletes. However, for our athletes, it was a good experience of life and aggregation. Nothing else! “

For Annarita and Giulia, it was the last year in the youth team, from the next they will begin to compete officially in the Elite. A recovery period is now beginning for the athletes, but in a few weeks, we will begin to think about the 2023 season.