World of O News
Fast orienteering in flat city centers – probably with many artificial barriers – await the runners when the European Orienteering Championship (EOC) starts in Belgium on Wednesday with the Sprint Relay, and continues with Knock-Out Sprint and Individual Sprint the rest of the week. The championship is organized in the Flemish cities of Hasselt, Geel and Lier, with nearly 300 athletes from 32 countries battling for European titles in the Sprint Relay, .
This marks the first time Belgium has hosted a European Orienteering Championships, bringing world-class orienteering to the heart of Flanders. The championship also counts as Round 2 of 3 of this year’s Orienteering World Cup – with the World Cup continuing in Switzerland in September.
EOC 2025 is centered around three distinctive Belgian cities, each offering unique urban orienteering challenges. The Sprint Relay on Wednesday evening takes place in Hasselt, a typical Flemish city center with clear street patterns and numerous schools and campuses. Thursday and Friday’s Knock-Out Sprint (qualification and finals) utilize Geel’s diverse terrain featuring big school playgrounds, small parks, and varied urban landscapes. Sunday’s Sprint qualification and final wrap up the championships in historic Lier, with its old city center of narrow cobblestone alleyways, market squares, and the unique ‘Vesten’ – defensive fortifications surrounding the city.
All competition areas are characterized by flat terrain with excellent runnability, though each city presents distinct navigational challenges. The mix of urban streets, park areas, school complexes and historic quarters should provide technically demanding and spectator-friendly racing. Based on what we saw in the EOC selection races earlier this summer, we expect that the organizers will “change” the terrain by making new openings and artificial barriers.
New European champions will be crowned as the defending individual champions from EOC 2023 in Italy are absent. Matthias Kyburz (SUI), who won both the Sprint and Knock-Out Sprint titles is focusing on Marathon this autumn, while Tove Alexandersson (SWE), the reigning Knock-Out Sprint champion, is focusing on Skimo in the upcoming Winter Olympics.Sara Hagström (SWE), the defending Sprint champion, is also not on the start list. Notably absent in the Top 15 World Sprint Ranking are Emil Svensk (2nd), Miika Kirmula (13th), Tove Alexandersson (shared 1st), Sara Hagström (6th), Megan Mitchell (7th), and Venla Harju (8th).
Check out Ivarnational Orienteering Podcast for a preview of EOC and all race favourites – always worth a listen ahead of the big races!
Program
The full EOC 2025 program is as follows (all times CEST, TV-times are IOF TV times):
- Wednesday, August 27 – Sprint Relay (TV 18:50 – 20:20)
19:00 Start
- Thursday, August 28 – Knock-Out Sprint Qualification (no TV broadcast)
14:00 First start Men
15:00 First start Women
16:30 Heat Selection
- Friday, August 29 – Knock-Out Sprint Finals (TV 15:30 – 17:30)
13:25 Quarter-finals first start (only on IOF TV)
15:40 Semi-finals first start
17:00 Finals start
- Sunday, August 31 – Sprint (TV 15:30 – 18:00)
09:30 Qualification first start Men
10:35 Qualification first start Women
15:15 Final first start Men
16:30 Final first start Women
Links & how to follow live
Use these links to follow the championships:
- Orienteering.sports live page – here you can also buy a LIVE pass for EUR 9 per competition or EUR 25 for all competitions to follow the competitions live on WebTV with English or German commentary. The TV-production is also broadcast in several countries.
- EOC webpage & EOC Eventor page
- EOC Bulletin 4 – detailed information
- WoO results archive which includes both EOC and WOC (via WorldofO.com results archive)
- Ivarnational Orienteering Podcast‘s EOC 2025 preview
Favorites
Favourites Men
According to the analysis on the Ivarnational Orienteering Podcast, the main favorites in the men’s field come from Sweden, Norway, Finland and Belgium. While the Swiss team has historically dominated the Knock-Out sprint, the podcast pointed to a powerful Swedish contingent including Jonatan Gustafsson, Martin Regborn, and Isac von Krusenstierna as major threats. For the Individual Sprint, the podcast identified a select group of four athletes who seem to be “a step ahead of the others”: reigning world champion Martin Regborn (SWE), former world champion Kasper Harlem Fosser (NOR), Finland’s Tuomas Heikkilä, and home-ground favorite Yannick Michiels (BEL).
Favourites Women
With all the reigning champions absent, the Ivarnational Orienteering Podcast repeatedly identified Switzerland’s Simona Aebersold as the athlete to beat, stepping into the role of pre-race favourite. However, they also noted that the Knock-Out final could come down to a tactical sprint finish where she might be vulnerable. The podcast named Norway’s Andrine Benjaminsen and Denmark’s Malin Agervig Kristiansen as two of the biggest challengers for the top spots. Sweden’s Hanna Lundberg was also singled out as a major contender, with the podcast pointing out that her strategic decision to skip the Knock-Out sprint could give her an energy advantage for the final day’s Individual Sprint.
Maps and terrain
The three areas (Hasselt, Geel and Lier) are seen in the overview map below (Google Maps link here).
Sprint Relay (Hasselt)
The terrain is a typical Flemish city center with a clear city plan and streets in a regular pattern. The terrain is flat and has almost 100% hard surface to run on. See below for two old maps of the terrain.
Knock-Out Sprint (Geel)
The terrain in Geel is very diverse. There is the city center with some big squares and a shopping street. In the area are numerous schools that take up a lot of space in the city. The schools have big playgrounds and are surrounded by fences. The city of Geel has many small parks. All courses in the qualification consists of 50% grassy areas and 50% paved areas. Quarter Final, Semi Final and Final have around 80% paved areas and 20% grassy surfaces.
Individual sprint (Lier)
The area has never been mapped before (except by the largest national teams who have surely each made their very own version ahead of the championships). The terrain is described as an old city center with a mix of “narrow, winding alleyways” and wider “cobblestone streets and market squares.” Adding another layer of complexity, the city is surrounded by old defensive fortifications, which could create unique navigational puzzles.
Race details
Sprint Relay
Knock-Out Sprint
Qualification:
Finals:
Individual Sprint
Qualification:
Final:
Reigning Champions
Current World Cup standings
Starting athletes
The runners registered for EOC 2025 who are Top 40 in the World Ranking are listed below. Notably absent in the Top 15 World Sprint Ranking are Emil Svensk (2nd), Miika Kirmula (13th), Tove Alexandersson (shared 1st), Sara Hagström (6th), Megan Mitchell (7th), and Venla Harju (8th).
Men
| WRE pos sprint |
WRE pos | Name | Country | WRE ID |
| 1 | 5 | Martin Regborn |  SWE |
15387 |
| 3 | 76 | Jonatan Gustafsson | SWE |
40367 |
| 4 | 53 | Tuomas Heikkila |  FIN |
23025 |
| 5 | 1 | Kasper Harlem Fosser |  NOR |
23855 |
| 6 | 143 | Yannick Michiels |  BEL |
13592 |
| 7 | 19 | Tomas Krivda |  CZE |
28597 |
| 8 | 38 | Riccardo Rancan |  SUI |
18900 |
| 9 | 1199 | Ralph Street |  GBR |
16782 |
| 10 | 24 | Joey Hadorn | SUI |
23033 |
| 11 | 37 | Tim Robertson |  NZL |
15525 |
| 12 | 39 | Tino Polsini | SUI |
28365 |
| 14 | 73 | Timo Suter | SUI |
23936 |
| 15 | 12 | Daniel Hubmann | SUI |
10849 |
| 16 | 115 | Alvaro Casado |  ESP |
28538 |
| 16 | 32 | Teemu Oksanen | FIN |
28425 |
| 16 | 52 | Francesco Mariani |  ITA |
37592 |
| 16 | 524 | Mathias Barros Vallet |  FRA |
37269 |
| 20 | 71 | Loic Capbern | FRA |
8188 |
| 24 | 10 | Fabian Aebersold | SUI |
32449 |
| 25 | 18 | Akseli Ruohola | FIN |
24217 |
| 26 | 30 | Jorgen Baklid | NOR |
23859 |
| 27 | 387 | Nathan Lawson | GBR |
12543 |
| 27 | 70 | Isac von Krusenstierna | SWE |
25180 |
| 31 | 183 | Henry McNulty |  AUS |
13483 |
| 32 | 168 | Florian Attinger | SUI |
32057 |
| 34 | 952 | Guilhem Verove | FRA |
37270 |
| 35 | 221 | Jakub Glonek | CZE |
24672 |
| 36 | 109 | Joseph Lynch | NZL |
25867 |
| 37 | 155 | August Mollen | SWE |
40563 |
| 38 | 955 | Adrien Delenne | FRA |
19918 |
| 39 | 6 | Eirik Langedal Breivik | NOR |
32770 |
| 40 | 64 | Jonas Hubacek | CZE |
20162 |
Women
| WRE pos sprint |
WRE pos | Name | Country | WRE ID |
| 1 | 2 | Simona Aebersold | SUI |
23032 |
| 3 | 4 | Natalia Gemperle | SUI |
6259 |
| 4 | 13 | Aleksandra Hornik |  POL |
19685 |
| 5 | 6 | Hanna Lundberg | SWE |
37614 |
| 8 | 26 | Victoria Haestad Bjornstad | NOR |
23852 |
| 10 | 43 | Eef van Dongen |  NED |
40634 |
| 11 | 12 | Cecile Calandry | FRA |
33897 |
| 12 | 14 | Tereza Rauturier | CZE |
28127 |
| 13 | 41 | Sandra Grosberga |  LAT |
1865 |
| 14 | 9 | Evely Kaasiku |  EST |
2672 |
| 15 | 3 | Andrine Benjaminsen | NOR |
396 |
| 16 | 57 | Rita Maramarosi |  HUN |
42228 |
| 17 | 63 | Ida Agervig Kristiansson |  DEN |
40702 |
| 18 | 30 | Maija Sianoja | FIN |
5370 |
| 19 | 32 | Alva Sonesson | SWE |
33965 |
| 20 | 611 | Eline Gemperle | SUI |
33988 |
| 20 | 78 | Ana Isabel Toledo | ESP |
33644 |
| 22 | 46 | Inka Nurminen | FIN |
24183 |
| 23 | 22 | Pia Young Vik | NOR |
40246 |
| 25 | 25 | Grace Molloy | GBR |
27559 |
| 27 | 18 | Malin Agervig Kristiansson | DEN |
36181 |
| 28 | 24 | Ane Dyrkorn | NOR |
26755 |
| 30 | 491 | Emma Bjessmo | SWE |
22886 |
| 31 | 81 | Hedvig Valbjorn Gydesen | DEN |
32310 |
| 34 | 20 | Paula Gross | SUI |
18906 |
| 35 | 512 | Maelle Beauvir | FRA |
20207 |
| 36 | 1455 | Josefine Lind | DEN |
3454 |
| 37 | 298 | Maria Prieto | ESP |
22997 |
| 38 | 560 | Nerea Gonzalez | ESP |
33642 |
| 39 | 747 | Deborah Stadler | SUI |
25987 |
