World Orienteering Championships
Sprint event at WOC 2013 in Vuokatti, Finland
Status	active
Genre	sporting event
Date(s)	July–August
Frequency	annual
Location(s)	various
Inaugurated	1966
Previous event	2023
Next event	2024
Organised by	IOF

The World Orienteering Championships (or WOC for short) is an annual orienteering event organized by the International Orienteering Federation. The first World Championships was held in Fiskars, Finland in 1966. They were held biennially up to 2003 (with the exception of 1978 and 1979). Since 2003, competitions have been held annually. Participating nations have to be members of the International Orienteering Federation (IOF).

Originally, there were only two competitions: an individual race and a relay. In 1991, a short distance race (roughly 20–25 minutes) was added and a sprint race was added in 2001. The middle distance (roughly 30–35 minutes) replaced the short distance in 2003. In 2014, a sprint relay was added with two men and two women participating and with starting order woman-man-man-woman.

History

The IOF was founded on 21 May 1961 at a Congress held in Copenhagen, Denmark by the orienteering national federations of Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, the Federal Republic of Germany, the German Democratic Republic, Finland, Hungary, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland.^[1] Their main goal was to standardize the sport and streamline international competition rules. A group of people work with these tasks, and at the 1963 IOF Congress, the work was approved and a technical committee was created. This led to the first international orienteering competition; the 1962 European Championships in Løten, Norway. The first European Orienteering Championships (EOC) consisted of only one competition; individual. In the following EOC, in Le Brassus, Switzerland, the relay event was added to the competition program. These two EOCs are considered forerunners to the first World Orienteering Championships in 1966.

In 2019, the World Orienteering Championships was split into two events: Sprint WOC (even-numbered years) consisting of sprint events only, and Forest WOC (odd-numbered years) consisting of forest events only.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the first sprint only WOC 2020 was cancelled. Instead Sprint and Sprint Relay was added to the WOC program for 2021 following the old championship program, otherwise there would not have been sprint comptitions in the world championships for four years (2019-2022). In 2022 the first sprint only WOC was organized in Denmark, and the new competition format Knockout Sprint made its debut.

Format

The competition format has changed several times. From the beginning in 1966, the World Championships consisted of only two competitions: an individual race and a relay. In 1991, a short distance race (roughly 20–25 minutes) was added and a sprint race was added in 2001. The middle distance (roughly 30–35 minutes) replaced the short distance in 2003. On IOF's 23rd congress in Lausanne in 2012, it was decided that a sprint relay event would be added in the 2014 World Championships in Italy.^[2] The sprint relay is competed in urban areas and consists of four-orienteer mixed-gender teams with starting order woman-man-man-woman.

Event timeline

Venues

Year	Dates	Location[3]
1966	1–2 October	Fiskars, Finland[4]
1968	28–29 September	Linköping, Sweden[5]
1970	27–29 September	Friedrichroda, German Democratic Republic[6]
1972	14–16 September	Staré Splavy, Czechoslovakia[7]
1974	20–22 September	Viborg, Denmark[8]
1976	24–26 September	Aviemore, United Kingdom[9]
1978	15–17 September	Kongsberg, Norway[10]
1979	2–4 September	Tampere, Finland[11]
1981	4–6 September	Thun, Switzerland[12]
1983	1–4 September	Zalaegerszeg, Hungary[13]
1985	4–6 September	Bendigo, Australia[14]
1987	3–5 September	Gérardmer, France[15]
1989	17–20 August	Skövde, Sweden[16]
1991	21–25 August	Mariánské Lázně, Czechoslovakia[17]
1993	9–14 October	West Point, New York, United States[18]
1995	15–20 August	Detmold, Germany[19]
1997	11–16 August	Grimstad, Norway[20]
1999	1–8 August	Inverness, United Kingdom[21]
2001	29 July – 4 August	Tampere, Finland[22]
2003	3–9 August	Rapperswil/Jona, Switzerland[23]
2004	11–19 September	Västerås, Sweden[24]
2005	9–15 August	Aichi, Japan[25]
2006	1–5 August	Århus, Denmark[26]
2007	18–26 August	Kyiv, Ukraine[27]
2008	10–20 July	Olomouc, Czech Republic[28]
2009	16–23 August	Miskolc, Hungary[29]
2010	8–15 August	Trondheim, Norway[30]
2011	13–20 August	Savoie, France[31]
2012	14–22 July	Lausanne, Switzerland[32]
2013	6–14 July	Vuokatti, Finland[33]
2014	5–13 July	Trentino-Veneto, Italy[34]
2015	1–7 August	Inverness, United Kingdom[35]
2016	20–28 August	Strömstad-Tanum, Sweden[36]
2017	1–7 July	Tartu, Estonia[37]
2018	4–11 August	Riga, Latvia[38]
2019	13–17 August	Østfold, Norway[39]
2020	postponed until 2022	Triangle Region, Denmark
2021	4–9 July	Doksy, Czech Republic [40]
2022	26—30 June	Triangle Region, Denmark
2023	11—16 July	Graubünden, Switzerland[41]
2024	12-16 July	Edinburgh, United Kingdom
2025	23-29 July	Kuopio, Finland[41]
2026	TBA	Genova, Italy[42]

Multiple winners

Men

Main article: List of World Orienteering Championships medalists (men)

Boldface denotes active athletes and highest medal count among all athletes (including these who not included in these tables) per type.

Rank	Athlete	From	To	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Thierry Gueorgiou	2003	2017	14	5	4	23
2	Olav Lundanes	2010	2019	10	4	3	17
3	Daniel Hubmann	2005	2019	8	11	9	28
4	Øyvin Thon	1979	1989	7	1	0	8
5	Matthias Kyburz	2012	2022	6	5	1	12
6	Andrey Khramov	2005	2015	6	3	3	12
7	Gustav Bergman	2012	2022	5	4	4	13
8	Petter Thoresen	1989	1997	5	1	2	8
9	Valentin Novikov	2004	2013	4	5	2	11
10	Bjørnar Valstad	1991	2004	4	3	3	10
11	Tore Sagvolden	1979	1987	4	3	1	8
12	Rolf Pettersson	1972	1979	4	2	0	6
13	Jonas Leandersson	2012	2018	4	0	3	7
14	Morten Berglia	1981	1987	4	0	1	5
	Jørgen Rostrup	1999	2005	4	0	1	5
16	Thomas Bührer	1991	2003	4	0	0	4
17	Magne Dæhli	2012	2019	3	2	1	6
18	Egil Johansen	1976	1979	3	2	0	5
19	Emil Wingstedt	2003	2007	3	1	3	7
20	Bernt Frilén	1970	1974	3	1	1	5
21	Søren Bobach	2014	2016	3	1	0	4
22	Åge Hadler	1966	1972	3	0	3	6
23	Christian Aebersold	1991	1995	3	0	0	3
	Arne Johansson	1972	1976	3	0	0	3
	Karl Johansson	1966	1970	3	0	0	3
	Eskil Kinneberg	2017	2018	3	0	0	3
27	Jörgen Mårtensson	1981	1997	2	6	2	10
28	Jani Lakanen	1999	2013	2	5	1	8
29	Janne Salmi	1995	2001	2	4	1	7
30	Kasper Harlem Fosser	2019	2022	2	4	1	7
31	Carl Godager Kaas	2010	2016	2	4	0	6
32	Matthias Merz	2005	2012	2	3	4	9
33	Emil Svensk	2018	2019	2	0	0	2

Women

Main article: List of World Orienteering Championships medalists (women)

Boldface denotes active athletes and highest medal count among all athletes (including these who not included in these tables) per type.

Rank	Athlete	From	To	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Simone Niggli-Luder	2001	2013	23	2	6	31
2	Tove Alexandersson	2011	2023	19	9	3	31
3	Minna Kauppi	2004	2013	9	5	3	17
4	Maja Alm	2012	2021	7	7	3	17
5	Marita Skogum	1983	1993	6	3	1	10
6	Annichen Kringstad	1981	1985	6	0	0	6
7	Judith Wyder	2011	2018	5	3	4	12
8	Helena Bergman	2012	2018	4	6	8	18
9	Hanne Staff	1997	2004	4	4	4	12
10	Liisa Veijalainen	1972	1981	4	4	0	8
11	Karin Rabe	1978	1989	4	3	2	9
12	Arja Hannus	1981	1991	4	1	0	5
13	Anne Margrethe Hausken	2005	2016	3	5	3	11
14	Annika Billstam	2007	2015	3	3	8	14
15	Heli Jukkola	2003	2007	3	3	2	8
16	Ulla Lindkvist	1966	1972	3	3	0	6
17	Merja Rantanen	2008	2017	3	1	4	8
18	Vroni König-Salmi	1997	2008	3	1	3	7
19	Marlena Jansson	1991	1999	3	1	2	6
20	Anna Bogren	1993	1997	3	1	1	5
	Lina Strand	2016	2022	3	1	1	5
22	Karolina A. Højsgaard	2003	2009	2	5	1	8
23	Natalia Gemperle	2016	2021	2	5	5	12
24	Ida Bobach	2011	2016	2	4	0	6
25	Kristin Cullman	1974	1978	2	3	0	5
26	Gunilla Svärd	1997	2004	2	2	2	6
27	Outi Borgenström	1974	1981	2	2	1	5
	Dana Brožková	2006	2011	2	2	1	5
	Ingrid Hadler	1966	1974	2	2	1	5
29	Kirsi Boström (Tiira)	1993	1999	2	2	0	4
	Emma Klingenberg	2014	2015	2	2	0	4
32	Karolin Ohlsson	2018	2021	2	1	0	3

Mixed

Main article: List of World Orienteering Championships medalists (mixed events)

Sprint Relay

Year	Gold	Silver	Bronze
2014	Switzerland	Denmark	Russia
2015	Denmark	Norway	Russia
2016	Denmark	Switzerland	Sweden
2017	Sweden	Denmark	Switzerland
2018	Sweden	Switzerland	Denmark
2021	Sweden	Norway	Switzerland
2022	Sweden	United Kingdom	Norway

All-time medal table

(Updated after WOC 2022)

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Sweden	68	59	57	184
2	Norway	52	51	46	149
3	Switzerland	47	38	43	128
4	Finland	24	43	32	99
5	France	14	7	11	32
6	Denmark	12	10	7	29
7	Russia	11	12	15	38
8	Great Britain	4	6	5	15
9	Czech Republic	3	4	5	12
10	Hungary	3	1	2	6
11	Czechoslovakia	2	5	8	15
12	Ukraine	1	3	5	9
13	Austria	1	1	0	2
14	Latvia	1	0	2	3
15	Australia	1	0	0	1
–	Independent Athletes[43]	0	2	0	2
16	New Zealand	0	1	1	2
17	Soviet Union	0	0	2	2
18	Belarus	0	0	1	1
	Belgium	0	0	1	1
	Germany	0	0	1	1
	Italy	0	0	1	1
	Netherlands	0	0	1	1
Totals (22 entries)		244	243	246	733

See also

• List of World Orienteering Championships medalists (men)
• List of World Orienteering Championships medalists (women)
• List of World Orienteering Championships medalists (mixed events)

References

External links

• International Orienteering Federation
• World Orienteering Championships, senior statistics 1966–2005 Archived 2011-08-23 at the Wayback Machine

WOC