Der Fuß-O Weltcup in Norwegen, welcher vom 27.04.23 bis zum 30.04.23 stattfindet, ist für unsere Orientierungsläufer*innen der erste Höhepunkt der Saison. Deswegen haben wir dem Nationaltrainer Radek Novotný einige Fragen gestellt und ihn um seine Einschätzung gebeten.

 

Nationaltrainer Radek Novotný sieht gute Chancen für die österreichischen Athlet*innen beim Weltcup in Norwegen. Foto © Alexander Nowak

Welche Challenges siehst Du bezüglich der norwegischen Landschaft?

Radek: Well, once again we are facing pure Scandinavia with its broken morphology, reduced visibility and less human traces in the woods.

Wie hast du Die Athlet*innen auf diese Challenges vorbereiten können?

Radek: Among our general development priorities for recent months we have included terrain running and running strength development. Scandinavian orienteering puts namely high demands on the upper leg and core muscles. Something that might later be very useful for WOC in Switzerland as well. Technically we could gain a lot from a very relevant training camp and selection races in Norway just next to the WC embargoed areas – now it even seems that our test races were actually more relevant than the Norwegian ones last weekend. There we definitely learnt some useful lessons about the local specifics and once again recalled, that straightforward compass-based orienteering is something we still need to master.

Glaubst Du, dass unsere österreichischen Athlet*innen diese Saison gute Chancen haben?

Radek: We have good chances – there are athletes who can match the worlds elite.

Welche anderen Teams könnten sehr stark sein?

Radek: There are about 10-15 nations which can deliver a medal candidate nowadays. The competition – especially in shorter races – gets tougher and tougher – with Switzerland and Scandinavians usually on the top.

Auf welche anderen Wettbewerbe freuen Du und die Athlet*innen sich diese Saison?

Radek: The biggest priority is naturally on the WOC in Switzerland. Then we also have an attractive sprint EOC in Garda area, as well as combined sprint+forest world cup round in the Czech sandstone labyrinths. Definitely some tempting stuff to aim for.

Welchen Fokus legst du in den diesjährigen Trainings?

Radek: As mentioned above, we have put stress on becoming more specific in the everyday preparation – run more in broken terrain, practice strength training, develope navigation routines such as direction keeping or being more structured and ahead in navigation.

Wo siehst du die Athlet*innen am Ende der Saison?

Radek: Doing intuitively the effective things – in their everyday training as well as during competitions.

Wie könnten sie sich entwickelt haben?

Radek: By fully deploying their passion and doing a huge amount of well targeted specific work. Not counting kilometers, but rather the time spent on quality stuff.

Wen siehst du auf dem Podest?

Radek: Those who can deliver technically perfect races and are fit enough to match the O-world 😉 If there is passion, quality, and hard work, it will arrive one day.

Gibt es last-minute Tipps, die Du den Athlet*innen für den Weltcup in Norwegen mit auf den Weg geben kannst?

Radek: Controlled offensivity is for sure one of the topics. Also a general route-choice strategy and mistake-solving approach. These are rather simple issues we could improve over night just if we get better aware of it… And most important – we need to be hungry to read the map and feel motivated to cross the rough terrain with our heads up!