Saturday in AWC concluded the team competitions, and only the individual finals remain from this years edition of the world championship. This morning was simply painful. Finishing the mandatory tasks on the previous evening took longer than thought, as getting some dinner was postponed. As the result, the night was too short, and the first moments preparing for today at the Unipol arena did not feel inspiring at all. However, the large individual jumping course opened with a set of interesting teams just in the beginning – including perhaps the most anticipated run in AWC. The atmosphere electrified in a snap when, the one and only, Lisa & Hoss cracked the competition by setting a top time for many teams to come. Only five teams succeeded in topping their speed, and many came pretty close. Nevertheless, the individual competitions started with the proper world championship excitement.
The artificial grass surface assumed a far too prominent role during the day. The organizers gave quick fixes perhaps a dozen times, which delayed the schedule. Fortunately, some of the lost time was made up by the flowing medium and small individual jumping courses. For this kind of an event, a failing carpet feels inequal for the competitors, as the competitors next up had to wait for rather long periods for the surface to be mended. One can only guess what happens with the concentration.
Saturday culminated in the medium team final, where Team Slovenia first broke tha bank with Silvia Trkman’s stunning run, getting hold on the medal place. Team Poland fell to few mistakes, while Switzerland got the first place from the course but still could not get back Czechs’ head start of about 2 seconds. The key in the Czech gold medal was once more Martina Magnoli Klimesova and Kiki, who desperately needed a fast clean run for the team. The call was answered with the fastest run of the competition.
For the photography, the courses provided many possible angles, and it was interesting to see how other photographers saw the courses for their best benefit. The small individual jumping course was set to the “dark side” of the ring where I also have been lurking mostly. While the light was much less pleasant, the overall distance to most obstacles allowed to use shorter lenses that I don’t find often that convenient in major competitions. Still, the wider angle of view opened some nice backgrounds combined with a lot of action in both ends of the weave poles.
