12:40 PM: 25min running + 79min orienteering + 15min running. 22km. I took my 1st gold in the long distance! Started fast and caught mr. Muukkonen and Tervo already on 3rd control. I was very surprised and as Petteri accelerated and tried to run away, I was in trouble. The speed was high for some minutes and I hit my eye once again. Both running and map reading were impaired due to that for the rest of the race. Because of the injury I must thank the guys for the company, as it would have been a more difficult trip with out them. Still, I knew every second where we were and was able to lead us to some controls. So this was not just a fake following-up run.
*** I think I was a bit too hard on myself, when I gave the comments to the press. Actually I was helping the others (leading the pack, taking the control as first etc.) quite much as well. If you or other orienteers are going to the right direction, you can't really blame neither yourself or the others for following them or you. If there is no forking, these kind of situations develop in every single race.
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