Yukoner shows off his talent at World Orienteering Championships

Brent Langbakk is well accomplished in the sport of orienteering.

Brent Langbakk is well accomplished in the sport of orienteering.

In the eight short years of competition he has competed in five World Orienteering Champions, which includes a sprint event Sunday in the Czech Republic.
Langbakk’s goal going into the championship was to qualify for the final, but unfortunately he fell short of that, finishing in 30th place in his heat. The top 15 in each heat make the final. 
Despite not making the final, Langbakk said this was his most successful World Orienteering Championships to date.
“I think a lot of people would look at the results and say, ‘no’ but I think this is perhaps the first time that I have finished a World Champs race and thought, ‘I did everything I was supposed to do,‘“ he said. “So, I guess that is one measure of success.“
Langbakk qualified for this year’s championships at a selection race held in Ottawa at the end of May. At the selection race, he competed in the three different distances for the individual category, being short, middle and long.
The top three Canadians in each discipline qualify for the world championship and with a third place in the sprint event, Langbakk locked down a spot on Team Canada. Langbakk also finished in the top five for the middle distance, which placed him as an alternate on the team.
The sprint is the shortest among the three races and usually has a 15 minute winning time. The sprint distance focuses on running at a really high speed and making quick decisions, while having to deal with a variety of different direction changes.
The middle distance event is more focused on technical orienteering. It normally uses a really intricate style of course. The middle distance also involves being able to interpret the map very precisely and has around a 35 minute winning time.
The long discipline usually has a 90 to 100 minute winning time and the two main challenges faced by orienteerers in this category involve the route choice as well as being able to focus through the fatigue of the longer distance.
Langbakk’s best finish at the world’s was 21st in the long distance in Japan in 2005 and he had the same result last year in the long category. The 2007 competition was held in the Ukraine.
Langbakk, who normally excels in the long distance orienteering events, competed in the sprint category for the first time. The sprint race was in a more urbanized environment for this year’s World Orienteering Championships.
He said each discipline has its own appeal.
“I think it was nice for me to do something I haven’t done as much of,“ Langbakk said.

“Everything happens so fast in sprint and there were a lot of spectators all around the course, whereas in the other disciplines you have a bit more time to think and you are in the forest out of sight for large sections of the race.“
Langbakk said he enjoyed competing in the Czech Republic and that the urban setting was a nice feature for the race.