The world’s top orienteers took over the Kuopio terrain
The World Orienteering Championships were held in Kuopio on 7-12 July.The race village was located in Tahko, where the middle distance qualification was held, otherwise the races were held in Neulamäki and culminated in a relay at Puijo. The Championships were the first world championship-level event in Kuopio. The Finnish team missed out on individual medals, but the men’s team did a great job in Saturday’s relay race, taking bronze.
At the same time, the World Championships included the Fin5 orienteering week, which consists of five different orienteering competitions over five days. The orienteering week was open to orienteers of all ages and levels, from fitness enthusiasts to top athletes. This year’s orienteering week offered the opportunity to experience the same terrain and atmosphere as the top athletes at the World Championships.
The World Orienteering Championships were originally scheduled to be held in Kuopio in 2023, but due to the pandemic, all the competitions were moved forward by a couple of years and the new date was set for 7-12 July 2025. The fact that the competitions coincided with the 250th anniversary of Kuopio was therefore a positive coincidence.
A total of 274 athletes from 45 countries took part in the World Championships and around three thousand orienteers from children to seniors took part in the Fin5 week. The event involved around five hundred volunteers in various capacities.
The number of visitors exceeded all expectations. Back in spring-winter, the WOC2025 team had set a target of 12 thousand spectators. However, good weather, a central location and good accessibility attracted well above expectations. The total number of spectators on site at the World Championships was around 20 thousand.
The location of the events near the city made it easy for the public to get there. In addition, Tahko, for example, was easily accessible by WOC bus. The atmosphere at the stadiums was great and on Thursday there were more than 4000 spectators in Neulamäki. The long-distance race was also attended by the Minister of Sport, Mika Poutala, who was present at the award ceremony to hand out birch saplings to the medal winners.
