The NZ team includes Tim and Laura Robertson of OHV. Members will also know Lizzie Ingham of WOC, and Nick Hann formerly of WOC, now PAPO. We'll plug in the news as it comes in, with the latest at the top.
Official results, maps after the races, and live coverage (paid) via the WOC website. See also the ONZ website where Malcolm Ingham is posting regular reports
Sat 8 July Malcolm Ingham, NZ's High Performance Manager called the relay "a disaster". NZ narrowly failed to escape relegation to division 3, which affects the number of individual runners we can have in the future. NZ finished 22nd women and 25th men, which is 8/10 off the bottom - but there are 8/10 above us we can hope to beat. Tim had a horrror run, and Laura though steady was overtaken by Australia's Natasha Key, nearly twice her age. Read Malcolm's report.
Fri 7 July Lizzie Ingham had another great race in the middle distance, for 22nd place in tricky terrain - contours looked like softened sand-dunes. She was 9min behind the winner. And Nick Hann didn't put a foot wrong this time for 39th, even closer at 8min. Gene Beveridge was just two places behind, and Ross Morrison in 52nd. OHV's Laura Robertson was 50th. The races were won by the favourites, Tove Alexandersson of Sweden (by over 2min) and supposedly in his last WOC, Thierry Gueorgiou of France.
Wed 5 July
Lizzie Ingham was the star of the NZ team in the long distance. Holding fastest place for quite a while when she finished with a time just under 100min, the later starters eventually pushed her to 28th place. Gene Beveridge was 37th, Imogene Scott 44th, and Nick Hann, whio seemed destined for 34th, inadvertently went into some OOB near the end. Tim Robertson was down to run but has some shin problems and is saving himself for the middle.
Mon 3 July
An OK run in the sprint relay but not NZ's best in this new formula. Imogene took us into 25th, Tim gained 3 places which Ross maintained, briefly getting ahead of Australia. Laura gained a place but in spite of making some time up on the evergreen Natasha Key, we finished 21st, half a minute behind Oz and 9:46 behind the winner Sweden. Around us was Germany (in front) and Belarus behind. There was some frantic place-changing at the front of the field, with Britain holding 1st for a while but slipping to 6th. Austria also had time in the lead but finished 8th.
Sun 2 July
Mixed fortunes in the sprint final. Laura finished 37th after dropping time early on, and Lizzie Ingham last - slowing markedly after half way. She had a recurrence of some breathing problems that have afflicted her sprinting. Tim also dropped time early - though 26th at this level would have once been regarded as a great achievement. Malcolm Ingham's assessment is that recent WOC sprints have been more running races than route choice and quick thinking.
Sat 1 July
Tim, Laura and Wgtn's Lizzie Ingham have qualified for the World Champs sprint final. Tommy Hayes (Auck) missed out by one place. OTOH Natasha Key squeaked in. The remarkable Australian is twice the age of some of the competitors (45yrs). The final is today.