Henry McNulty at World Orienteering Championships

Congratulations to WA’s Henry McNulty, who was the best performing Australian athlete at the World Orienteering Championships (Sprint) held in Edinburgh, Scotland from 12 – 16 July.

WOC is an annual competition and since 2022 has alternated between Sprint and Forest formats. This year there were 333 athletes from 45 countries. For those who don't know Henry, he is Anthea Feaver's son and a former member of LOST, and has won many state titles.

Henry placed 9th in the Sprint final after qualifying equal 4th in his heat. The Qualification race was held in the historic port area of Leith, while the Final was held in the intricate Old Town. The final course was very technical, and it was difficult to find the best route choice.

The second event was the 4-person Mixed Relay held at Heriott-Watt University. The terrain was flat with a mix of paved and unpaved paths around the buildings, and the leg lengths were 3.8 and 4.3km with 20 – 23 controls. To add to the challenge, there was a maze at the end of each leg. Henry’s team finished 15th out of the 35, and Henry was 15th on his leg (of 136 runners) - an excellent result. The final event was the Knockout Sprint, which started with a qualification round with three heats for men and women, where the top 12 progressed to the quarter finals. Henry placed 4th, only 10 seconds down, to qualify for the quarter-finals.

The quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals in the Knock Out Sprint are run as mass-start races with six competitors and at this event there was no forking. The racing was fast and furious, with tactics playing an important part. Unfortunately, Henry didn’t move through to the next round, but it was still an awesome effort over the days of competition.

Full report re the Australian team at WOC can be found at:
https://orienteering.asn.au/woc-2024-recap-and-results/
A very interesting link with setters’ leg analysis of each event is at
http://news.worldofo.com
Full Results
https://orienteering.sport/event/world-orienteering-championships-2024/welcome/

Again, well done and congratulations to Henry!

Photos: Henry at WOC. Credit - IOF / Kristina Lindgren