The inman family took home three medals from the OO Cup in France

FVO athletes were to the fore in two major multi-day events in France and Scotland, as the holiday orienteering season got into full flow.

The OO Cup returned to its spiritual home in South East France, after several years in Italy and the Balkans, and there were four from FVO in podium positions at the end of the week. Despite a sore back from a recent bike accident, and not feeling her best early in the competition, Janine Inman saved her top performance for last, with 2nd in W45 and the result moved her onto the class podium at the end.

Jason Inman and Marcus Pinker worked hard in M50, and trailed only former World Masters champion Beat Okle, as they finished with silver and bronze medals respectively, while Hannah Inman was once again prominent in her W12 class, with the silver medal after the five days of competition.

James Hammond was the only local athlete to win a stage, and also had a 3rd and a 5th, but a DNF in his first race removed him from overall contention, while Peter Owen was 4th in one stage, but left the competition early.

Closer to home, Coasts and Islands returned to Argyllshire for a second year, but was curtailed to three days due to its proximity to the World Championships in Edinburgh. Martin Dean enjoyed a pair of wins and a 2nd on the Short course, and headed the classification. Graham Gristwood won the first two Long course races, but didn't compete in the final stage, while Chris Smithard also won a stage on day 2.

Heather Fellbaum was the leading lady on the Short course, and Hannah Buchanan-Smith got onto the podium in the novice class with the silver medal in her first “away” event, while Hazel Dean was 2nd woman on the Medium course, keeping clubmate Alison Cunningham in 3rd place.