Czech sprint finish at the World Champs
The World Orienteering Championships wrapped up on July 11 in Genoa, Italy, this time in the sprint disciplines. After a year, the orienteering elite is saying goodbye to twisting alleyways and full-contact knock-out sprints and everybody is heading back into the forest. The first major stop on the world orienteering calendar will be the third round of the World Cup, held in Czechia, in Vyšší Brod.
The Czech team would be among the favorites on home soil no matter what. But the World Championships showed that the Czechs are in exceptional form.
Just remember the bronze medal in the individual sprint won by Lucie Dittrichová, who ended a fourteen-year Czech wait for a World Championships medal. On top of that, Tereza Rauturier finished fourth in the same race and Jakub Glonek eighth.
The highlight of the championships came in the knock-out sprint. Tereza Rauturier turned her spot in the final into a world title. She paced herself perfectly in the highly physical race, and in a pack that stayed together all the way to the finish, she showed that nobody does the final corner and the finishing kick better than her.
The closing sprint relays brought the Czechs sixth place and a spot on the big podium. This solidified the most successful World Championships appearance in many years.
In Vyšší Brod, spectators can look forward to the full Czech team. The exact lineup isn’t known yet, but the participation of the World Championships medalists and other stars is practically a sure thing. The team will also be reinforced by several national team members who focus mainly on forest racing, giving it an extra push toward top results.
Orienteering is now heading into a “year in the forest” – a year that will culminate in the 2027 Forest World Championships in Hungary, and one during which the World Cup will visit the Czech Republic twice: in 2027, racing will take place around Česká Třebová.
Come see with your own eyes how the Czechs kick off this new chapter.
Photo: Petr Kadeřávek
