Freddie Carcas at European Champs knockout sprint
Credit: Robert Lines
We are pleased to have awarded a grant to Freddie Carcas to support his attendance at the European Championships in the knockout sprint event.
Events like the European Champs and World Cups can often be an athlete's stepping stone between a successful junior orienteering career and breaking into the senior ranks. For Freddie his selection for the European Champs knock-out sprint was an exciting opportunity to test himself against the best in the world. However, this is also often a point where orienteers are finishing undergraduate studies, and balancing further study or careers with training and competing in orienteering at the highest level - which is both a significant time and financial commitment. This grant helped Freddie continuing pursuing his orienteering ambitions, and we wish him all the best in future competitions.
In recent years both the European Champs and World Champs alternate between sprint and forest disciplines - in any given year one of them will be forest and the other sprint. The European Champs in 2023 took place in early October in Italy, and focussed on the sprint disciplines, which includes individual sprint (with qualifier), individual knock-out sprint, and mixed sprint relay. Freddie was running for GBR in the knock-out sprint. See the EOC 2023 website for full results, maps and tracking. You can also find a good review of the European Champs knock-out sprint on the On The Red Line website.