109 competitors in two qualification heats vied this morning for 36 places in the TempO Final in the European TrailO Championships. Twelve nations have finalists, the most successful being Finland with six athletes through, whilst Norway and sweden both have five.
Winners of the heats were Geir Myhr Øien, Norway and Antti Rusanen, Finland. There are now quite a number of younger athletes competing at high level in TempO, and a number of pre-event favourites failed to make the cut. There has been some delay because Station 4 was declared void by the organiser after complaints, but was reinstated by the jury after a counter-protest.
The TempO Final is expected to start at 15.00 local time in Borský Mikuláš, Slovakia, and consists of seven stations with 5 tasks at each – all of course against the clock. The best from the qualification go last. The same event base is being used as this morning, the terrain being pine forest with sand dunes, meaning masses of small contour detail.
The competition can be followed online on www.preoresultat.se and www.etoc2018.sk.
Nations through to the Final, with number of competitors
6: Finland
5: Norway and Sweden
4: Slovakia
3: Croatia and Italy
2: Czech Republic, Latvia, Portugal and Ukraine
1: Great Britain and Poland