Big Game Hunting
FVO continued to make its mark on the major events calendar, as we organised our fourth large event of 2025 (with four more yet to come) and there were local athletes prominent across the three race series.
Just as on the last two times the Junior European Cup has been staged in the UK, it fell to FVO to organise, and we were back on the site of the 2016 championship for a Sprint race at Stirling University. Jason Inman led a dedicated team of volunteers, whose big-event experience was evident from the start, with all eventualities covered for – except for the weather!
We didn't calculate for getting caught on the edge of the first major storm of the autumn, and high winds and heavy rain made the race less a test of speed and more one of endurance. The shining light for GB on a dull day was a stunning gold medal for ELO's Emily Atkinson in W18, where she was one second off the front on the first leg, took the lead on leg 2, and rocketed round for an eventual winning margin of 27 seconds (14.31). Scarlett Kelly was also in W18 action, but never really challenged the front, as she was 48th (18.12).
James Hammond had a chance to make it a British double on top of the podiums, as he led M20 after 15 controls. However, two late errors cost him nearly a minute in dropped time, and he ended up 13th (15.04).
The Long race was held at Loch Ard, and a battling 4th place for James was the GB highlight of the day. He was right in contention from the get-go, but a small miss at 13 where he was marginally high, cost around a minute in dropped time, and was eased out of the medals late in the day with a final finish of 79.53. Scarlett had a much better time of it in a terrain that was right up her street, and ended in 25th place from 54 starters (80.41).
The final leg was the relay, at Fairy Knowe, and a dramatic finish in the men's race saw James bring GB to within touching distance of a medal. He was handed out for his final leg run in 7th place, but with Sweden occupying the top three places, and one team per nation to count, he had to make back 70 seconds to get the Brits onto the podium.
He passed Finland's Rasmus Töyrylä before the one-third mark, and was hunting down Denmark, with France just behind. France and Finland were dropped before the final loop, but it looked as though Denmark had enough in the bag from the final control to seal the bronze easily. Not in James' book though, as he ran back 17 seconds in the arena to miss out on the bronze medal by an agonising three seconds.
Scarlett was on middle leg duty for GB 2 in the women's race, and brought the team back for the changeover in 16th place, but they were passed by GB 4 on the final leg and ended up 17th.