Orhan Kutlu: first Turkish athlete in a JWOC A Final

Orhan Kutlu: first Turkish athlete in a JWOC A Final

Today Orhan Kutlu ran the Middle Distance final, the first Turkish athlete to ever do so in a Junior World Orienteering Championships. After a very clear race he finished 37th, only 4:44 after the winner. Orhan is competing in his third and last JWOC, as he will become a senior next year.

How did it feel to run in the final?

It felt very good to be the first Turkish athlete to qualify for an A final. Before the start, I told myself not to take any risks and to just run a clean race. Even if I failed, it would still be an achievement to have reached the final, but I still wanted to do my very best, because of the sense of responsibility representing my country.

How have you prepared for the race?

I prepared by looking at a lot of maps and analysing technical details and the route choices of the very best. I tried to identify different legs with different technical skills. So when I looked at the map, I would think “Therry Gueorgiou would go this way, or Daniel Hubman would go that way”, and try my best to copy that in my own route choices.

I also had the opportunity to go to a training camp with Edgars Bertuks in Latvia, which helped me so much. The terrain there is very different from the terrain in Turkey, which is mostly contours, without things like stones and marshes. So, training in that terrain really helped me.

So how did it go for you out there today, what did you think about the course?

I only made one mistake, about a minute and a half, so I managed to run a very clear race. Some places were very steep, and I was tired from previous races and my toe got really swollen yesterday. But I put ice on it and just did my best.