'When I stood on the starting
line in WOC I knew that there was virtually no chance I would miss any
control.'
These words spoken by an athlete
with self-confidence - Bjornar Valstad - the Norwegian who won WOC gold
in supreme style. A cocksure assertion? Hardly, since he does indeed have
justification in making this statement. In over 2800 controls attempted
last year, he has missed only ten!
Bjornar Valstad has in
practice eliminated mistakes and has come as close to "zero-error" as one
can. 'No, I don't really go along with that. I hope that I can improve
for WOC in Finland...'
In the past three years he
has purposefully worked much with his orienteering technique. 'I have become
better physically but I am not so much different than I was five years
ago. The main difference lies in the fact that I am much better and in
particular much surer technically.'
The main source of inspiration
for this evolution came from Sweden. 'It was Johan Ivarsson who inspired
me. He showed that the secret of success lies in eliminating mistakes'.
This is something that is easy to say but difficult to put in practice. Bjornar Valstad has worked very hard with his technique and in parallel his progress has followed a direct upward trend. His philosophy is that 'the world becomes what you wish it to be, provided you are prepared to work sufficiently hard for it.'
So how does a world champion
train his technique? 'In 1999 I carried out an average of five technique
sessions with a map every week. Once, or more usually twice per week, I
ran a classic distance with good orienteering.'
'I estimate that every
week I attacked between 75 and 100 control points. With over 30 weeks training
before WOC that makes it somewhere between 2600 and 3000 controls. On ten
of these I made mistakes that were one minute and perhaps up to one-and-a-half
minutes in duration. The remainder I ran perfectly.'
With this knowledge he naturally
believed on the WOC start-line were that there was virtually no chance
of missing a control. 'You cannot go to the start and be anxious of making
a mistake' believes the 32 year-old Norwegian. 'But it is obvious that
if you have missed two minutes in every competition, and do likewise in
every training session before a championship, then it is not likely you
will run correctly on the day either.'
Bjornar Valstad dominated
the early season as well in 1997, but finished 25th at WOC97 in Grimstad.
'The results don't lie. I was not better than that on the day. It was so
hot that I could not take in water without vomiting. I was not sufficiently
prepared. The problem occurred again this summer in Scotland when it was
very hot at WOC99, but I had trained myself to cope with it. Now when I
drank and spewed it up again I told myself "Aha! now I've just got to soldier
on without water." '
By this Valstad means that
it is just as important to run with a hundred per cent concentration as
(it is to orienteer) correctly, and to disregard external matters. Sunshine
or rain - you never know what the day will bring. And it doesn't do to
blame it on whatever wears you down. You have to train away all mistaken
behaviour.
'In Norway many are accustomed
to thinking that technique training should be conducted at a high, intensive
pace, because it is not possible to concentrate for very long. I believe
that to be completely incorrect. A classic competition is long, tough and
challenging, and therefore it is these qualities that you must learn in
training.'
'Really it is easy', says Bjornar. 'Whatever you are working at, you must daily incorporate the different elements that will allow you to manage the occasion when you are placed under great pressure. And you must do precisely this, day after day, in order to become world number one.'
Bjornar Valstad did this in Scotland on that August day. 'On the day I ran my best race ever. I could have run 30 seconds faster, that is all.'
But then there was virtually no chance that he would be unlucky!
(Valstad's victory was the best ever WOC win as measured by % time after the total of best leg times on the day. His time was 3.3% longer.)
(translated by Aonghus O'Cleirigh)