Runner presentation Peter Öberg

November 27, 2009 by Anatolijs Tarasovs

„I don’t consider myself a professional, as orienteering is far from my only profession. The reason I am doing orienteering is that I love the sport and like the challenge in a way of aiming for high goals and not earning money to pay my rent and food” – Peter Öberg told Ultimate Orienteering in the interview right after the Nordic Championships in Finland, where he won 2 gold medals.

Last year in autumn he was winning practically every race he was taking part in Sweden, whether it was a regional event or the Swedish championships, if Peter Öberg was in the start list, you could already tell the winner. Then, for the first time in many years, he managed to have an injury-free winter. When the season begun he was literally flying and in combination with his excellent orienteering skills no one in Sweden could get even close to him. On 5th of April, running a local relay, he was suddenly stopped by sharp pain. It turned out to be a small rupture in his calf muscle, and he was forced to switch to alternative trainings. However, only a few weeks later he was already winning Elitserien and by the time of the Nordic championships in Finland he was back in his flying shape. There he won the middle distance and as an anchorman brought the relay gold to Sweden. Only a week after the NOC he won the World Cup middle distance in Norway. The rest of the season had its ups and downs, however in the end, the steady performance proved to be worth the bronze of the overall World Cup.

Nominated for
Being the dominating orienteer in the spring the season. Winning the Nordic Championships middle distance and relay, as well as winning as the World Cup middle distance in Norway. Also: taking bronze in the overall World Cup.

Excellent relay runner
He is probably one of the most technical orienteers in the World, and after this season one could probably say that his strong discipline is middle distance, however most of his medals from the major international events are actually from relays. He has never won the Junior World Championships, but got the relay silver from the JWOC in 2000. His European champion’s title is from the relay in Estonia 3 years ago. One of his Nordic champion titles is from the relay, as well as his only Nordic bronze. And finally, his only World Championships medal so far is, as you have already guessed, also from a relay.

Three jobs
Peter Öberg seems to be a guy who likes to think and innovate, and you would probably never find him being bored. He isn’t just training hard; he is also working as a system designer in the World’s leading high steal manufacturers SSAB; he is coaching talented students-orienteers of Linköping University and is one of the innovators of the new and so popular IceBug orienteering shoes. Here is what he says himself (an extract from the spring Q&A):

“I like to activate myself and my brain during the day. If I have some free time in the evening after my trainings are done, I rather prefer to think of a new good solution for an orienteering shoe, plan some trainings, etc. instead of just watching TV or surfing on the Internet. I think it’s very positive that I have other things to think of besides orienteering; that makes me more focused on what I really need to practice in my training sessions in order to achieve my goals, instead of simply doing my daily training.”

Better and better
He took the 30th place in the overall World Cup 3 years ago. Two years ago he was already 9th. Last year he climbed a few steps towards the top and ended up as 7th. This year he already made it into the top 3. What’s coming next?

Event sponsor: Highlands Open
Highlands Open is a popular event in Northern Italy. The terrain is know to be very varied – from detailed with rocky features to really fast with open forest, some karstic areas, and some full of trenches of the 1° World War. Highlands Open 2010 is organized from August 22nd until August 29th.

• Among the Lucky voters, 2 transferable starts for the complete Highlands Open 2010 will be drawn.
• Visit Highlands Open website for more information about the event