WOC 2025 Middle Qual: Maps, Results and Analysis

Jan Kocbach 7 hours ago Orienteering News Leave a comment

The 2025 World Orienteering Championships started off on Tuesday in Kuopio, Finland with a challenging Middle distance qualification at the Tahko ski resort Tuesday morning. All the big favorites made it safely through to Wednesday’s final, but the technical Finnish terrain served up lots of challenging orienteering.

The final will use different very terrain from the qualification. With all the favorites through and the technical qualification behind them, Wednesday’s final promises to be an exciting battle for the first medals of WOC 2025. The Swiss team looks particularly strong after their dominant qualification performance, but the Swedish, Norwegian and Finnish athletes showed they’re ready to challenge.

Tomorrow’s Middle Distance Final starts at 13:40 for men and 15:30 for women (local time).

Men’s qualification

Heat 1: World champion Matthias Kyburz (SUI) won in 25:17, with Eetu Savolainen (FIN) 11 seconds back and Timo Sild (EST) third. Savolainen said to woc2025.fi, “The top guys didn’t have to give their all today. I managed to perform as I had hoped,” and expects a faster terrain in Neulaniemi tomorrow. – The terrain will definitely not be this rocky.

Heat 2: Fabian Aebersold (SUI) won, Topi Syrjäläinen (FIN) was second and Jannis Bonek (AUT) third. Syrjäläinen called his run “okay,” noting “my pace is good” despite a small mistake to woc2025.fi. Gustav Bergman: “It was a bit sloppy into the second control, and I lost time on the long leg.”

Heat 3: Kasper Harlem Fosser (NOR) finished first, followed by Lauri Sild (EST) and New Zealand’s Zefa Faavae. Two big mistakes by Miika Kirmula, but managed to qualify with a strong finish. Max Peter Bejmer: “Maybe it was nerves—I had a parallel error to six but finished strong.”

Women’s qualification

Heat 1: Natalia Gemperle (SUI) topped the field, Evely Kaasiku (EST) was second and Tove Alexandersson (SWE) third. Tove Alexandersson: “It was quite hard for a qualifier. You really had to keep your orienteering tight.”

Heat 2: Simona Aebersold (SUI) won ahead of Marie Olaussen (NOR) and Lucie Dittrichova (CZE). Hanna Lundberg: “I was totally lost at one point—it’s rare to feel ‘I don’t know how to solve this.’”

Heat 3: Venla Harju (FIN) won ahead of Andrine Benjaminsen (NOR) and Sara Hagstrom (SWE).
- Sanna Fast: “I had a really bad start when I missed the trail through the green, but then I tried to pull it together.”

Finland’s head coach Thierry Guergiou pointed out to woc2025.fi that the final’s terrain in Neulaniemi will be quite different—faster and less rocky than today’s slopes.

Maps and GPS-tracking

See GPS-tracking and maps below:

Results

Top 15 in each heat qualified automatically for the final. In addition selected runners from countries not in the Top 15, see rules in the WOC 2025 All You Need To Know article.

Men A

1	Matthias Kyburz	SUI	25:17		6:28
2	Eetu Savolainen	FIN	25:28	+0:11	6:31
3	Timo Sild	EST	26:01	+0:44	6:40
4	Anton Johansson	SWE	26:28	+1:11	6:47
5	Daniel Hubmann	SUI	27:09	+1:52	6:57
6	Jorgen Baklid	NOR	27:22	+2:05	7:01
7	Quentin Moulet	FRA	27:45	+2:28	7:06
8	Tomas Krivda	CZE	27:46	+2:29	7:07
9	Marius Thrane Oedum	DEN	27:55	+2:38	7:09
10	Luis Nogueira	ESP	28:22	+3:05	7:16
11	Simon Harden	GBR	28:48	+3:31	7:23
12	Boyan Ivandjikov	BUL	28:58	+3:41	7:25
13	Daniel Pompura	SVK	29:16	+3:59	7:30
14	Johan Langerak	NED	30:23	+5:06	7:47
15	Mathias Peter	AUT	30:35	+5:18	7:50
16	Matiss Saulite	LAT	30:42	+5:25	7:52
17	Konstantin Kunckel	GER	30:57	+5:40	7:56
18	Fryderyk Pryjma	POL	31:24	+6:07	8:03
19	Nitsan Yasur	ISR	31:25	+6:08	8:03
20	Kylian Wymer	AUS	32:03	+6:46	8:13

Men B

1	Fabian Aebersold	SUI	25:50		6:37
2	Topi Syrjalainen	FIN	26:02	+0:12	6:40
3	Jannis Bonek	AUT	26:55	+1:05	6:54
4	Mathieu Perrin	FRA	27:23	+1:33	7:01
5	Alastair Thomas	GBR	27:31	+1:41	7:03
6	Ruslan Glibov	UKR	27:36	+1:46	7:04
7	Gustav Bergman	SWE	27:49	+1:59	7:07
8	Lukas Liland	NOR	28:16	+2:26	7:14
9	Matt Doyle	AUS	28:56	+3:06	7:25
10	Jonas Hubacek	CZE	29:01	+3:11	7:26
11	Mateusz Kula	POL	29:20	+3:30	7:31
12	Ole Hennseler	GER	29:50	+4:00	7:38
13	Francesco Mariani	ITA	29:58	+4:08	7:41
14	Hiroki Komaki	JPN	30:01	+4:11	7:41
15	Tim Robertson	NZL	30:05	+4:15	7:42
16	Peter Nagy	HUN	30:27	+4:37	7:48
17	Rasmus Moeller Jess	DEN	30:28	+4:38	7:48
18	Christian Michelsen	CAN	30:29	+4:39	7:48
19	Rudolfs Zernis	LAT	30:47	+4:57	7:53
20	Ayhan Bikir	TUR	31:06	+5:16	7:58

Men C

1	Kasper Harlem Fosser	NOR	25:39		6:34
2	Lauri Sild	EST	25:42	+0:03	6:35
3	Zefa Faavae	NZL	25:45	+0:06	6:36
4	Eirik Langedal Breivik	NOR	26:07	+0:28	6:41
5	Lucas Basset	FRA	26:08	+0:29	6:42
6	Jonas Egger	SUI	27:10	+1:31	6:57
7	Max Peter Bejmer	SWE	27:21	+1:42	7:00
8	Daniel Bolehovsky	CZE	28:16	+2:37	7:14
9	Michal Olejnik	POL	28:28	+2:49	7:17
10	Mattia Debertolis	ITA	28:40	+3:01	7:21
11	Bojan Blumenstein	GER	28:57	+3:18	7:25
12	Miika Kirmula	FIN	29:15	+3:36	7:30
13	Mathias Blaise	BEL	29:17	+3:38	7:30
14	Simon Tobler	AUT	29:22	+3:43	7:31
15	Ferenc Jonas	HUN	30:07	+4:28	7:43
16	Jacob Steinthal	DEN	30:10	+4:31	7:44
17	Ben Mitchell	GBR	30:50	+5:11	7:54
17	Jakub Chupek	SVK	30:50	+5:11	7:54
19	Henry McNulty	AUS	31:07	+5:28	7:58
20	Itsuki Ito	JPN	31:09	+5:30	7:59

Women A

1	Natalia Gemperle	SUI	24:25		7:23
2	Evely Kaasiku	EST	25:05	+0:40	7:36
3	Tove Alexandersson	SWE	25:55	+1:30	7:51
4	Marika Teini	FIN	26:09	+1:44	7:55
5	Megan Mitchell	GBR	27:24	+2:59	8:18
6	Aleksandra Hornik	POL	28:13	+3:48	8:33
7	Isia Basset	FRA	28:23	+3:58	8:36
8	Gabija Razaityte	LTU	29:02	+4:37	8:47
9	Pia Young Vik	NOR	29:25	+5:00	8:54
10	Line Cederberg	DEN	30:18	+5:53	9:10
11	Eef van Dongen	NED	30:34	+6:09	9:15
12	Rachel Baker	NZL	30:40	+6:15	9:17
13	Ana Isabel Toledo	ESP	30:56	+6:31	9:22
14	Ying Yau Chu	HKG	31:52	+7:27	9:39
15	Signe Sirma	LAT	32:03	+7:38	9:42
16	Anna Groell	AUT	32:19	+7:54	9:47
17	Denisa Kralova	CZE	34:13	+9:48	10:22
18	Dominika Mero	HUN	34:34	+10:09	10:28
19	Luboslava Weissova	SVK	34:43	+10:18	10:31
20	Ellen Klueser	GER	34:49	+10:24	10:33

Women B

1	Simona Aebersold	SUI	24:11		7:19
2	Marie Olaussen	NOR	25:19	+1:08	7:40
3	Lucie Dittrichova	CZE	26:07	+1:56	7:54
4	Ida Haapala	FIN	26:49	+2:38	8:07
5	Elza Kuze	LAT	26:55	+2:44	8:09
6	Hanna Lundberg	SWE	26:58	+2:47	8:10
7	Alina Niggli	SUI	27:10	+2:59	8:13
8	Jo Shepherd	GBR	27:14	+3:03	8:15
9	Agnes Noergaard Kracht	DEN	27:23	+3:12	8:17
10	Cecile Calandry	FRA	27:47	+3:36	8:25
11	Tereza Smelikova	SVK	28:06	+3:55	8:30
12	Birte Friedrichs	GER	28:21	+4:10	8:35
13	Hanna Wisniewska	POL	28:33	+4:22	8:39
14	Marianne Haug	EST	30:19	+6:08	9:11
15	Csilla Gardonyi	HUN	30:29	+6:18	9:14
16	Iliana Ilieva	BUL	30:53	+6:42	9:21
17	Kaia Joergensen	NZL	31:54	+7:43	9:40
18	Marta Guijo Alonso	ESP	32:15	+8:04	9:46
19	Yevheniia Veremeienko	UKR	32:30	+8:19	9:50
20	Anna Pradel	ITA	32:48	+8:37	9:56

Women C

1	Venla Harju	FIN	25:06		7:36
2	Andrine Benjaminsen	NOR	25:27	+0:21	7:42
3	Sara Hagstrom	SWE	26:02	+0:56	7:53
4	Paula Gross	SUI	27:04	+1:58	8:12
5	Sanna Fast	SWE	27:11	+2:05	8:14
6	Tereza Rauturier	CZE	27:40	+2:34	8:23
7	Jasmina Gassner	AUT	28:23	+3:17	8:36
8	Grace Molloy	GBR	28:45	+3:39	8:42
8	Sandra Grosberga	LAT	28:45	+3:39	8:42
10	Hanna Mueller	GER	30:04	+4:58	9:06
11	Ida Agervig Kristiansson	DEN	30:15	+5:09	9:10
12	Marine Sillien	BEL	30:41	+5:35	9:17
13	Caitlin Young	AUS	31:00	+5:54	9:23
14	Margret Zimmermann	EST	32:10	+7:04	9:44
15	Ewa Bernaciak	POL	32:15	+7:09	9:46
16	Florence Hanauer	FRA	32:45	+7:39	9:55
17	Zsofia Sarkozy	HUN	33:23	+8:17	10:06
18	Liliana Gotseva	BUL	34:24	+9:18	10:25
19	Katherine Babington	NZL	34:45	+9:39	10:31
20	Aoi Yamasaki	JPN	34:53	+9:47	10:34