Thank you very much to the John Taylor Foundation for supporting my expenses at the World University Orienteering Championships in Bulgaria. Alongside the costs of the competition, the grant also helped towards a preparation camp in the local area in the days before the competition. This was to get familiar with the local competition terrain in Bulgaria – it was important to understand the challenges the mapping and terrain may provide. The format for the competition week included an individual sprint and mixed sprint relay, around the streets of the local towns, and a middle-distance and a relay in the local steep and rocky forests.
I finished 18th place in the individual sprint, a small 15s mistake costing me a chance at a top 10 finish. A solid effort, but I was outperformed by 2 teammates meaning I was in the GBR second team for the mixed sprint relay the following day. I ran the 11th quickest time of the day, another solid if not spectacular run, however, I was outshone by the GBR first team who managed to win the competition, despite being big underdogs, which was great to watch!
In the forest races, I was slightly further down the results finishing 36th in the middle distance and coming back 16th on the 1st leg of the forest relay.
These races were a great opportunity to test myself against some of the best orienteers in the world, and I hope to build on this experience to finish higher in the World Cup races next year! Thank you very much for the support that allowed me to prepare well and compete at a high level in these competitions.