The 2025 World Orienteering Championships were held from 7 to 12 July in Kuopio, Finland. The championships consist of six forest competitions: middle distance, long distance and relay, for women and men, respectively. A total of 18 medals were awarded.
Schedule Date Event Comment 8 July Middle – Qualification 9 July Middle distance – Final 10 July Long distance 11 July Rest day 12 July Relay
Results The competition started with a middle qualifier on the 8 July. On 9 July, the middle final was held, where the Women's podium was a clean sweep for Sweden, with defending champion Tove Alexandersson winning the gold and Sanna Fast and Hanna Lundberg claiming the other medals. This was the first time a World Championship podium was filled by only one nation since 2011, when the Swedish women won all available medals at the sprint. In the Men's final, European champion Eirik Langedal Breivik won ahead of Kasper Fosser, with the bronze being won by Anton Johansson by only one second ahead of defending world champion Matthias Kyburz from Switzerland.
In the Long Distance on 10 July, Kasper Harlem Fosser and Simona Aebersold both successfully defended their titles from the previous world championships in 2023, with Aebersold defeating Tove Alexandersson by only nine seconds after Alexandersson made some mistakes late on the course. The women's podium was exactly the same as the podium in 2023, with Andrine Benjaminsen retaining her bronze medal. On the men's side, Matthias Kyburz received the bronze ahead of Emil Svensk by a margin of only 11 seconds, with Sprint world champion Martin Regborn attaining the silver medal.
On 12 July, the relay event was held, with Sweden dominating the women's race with strong races from the three medalists from the middle distance, Tove Alexandersson, Sanna Fast and Hanna Lundberg. Norway came second, with Switzerland coming third. On the men's race, defending champions Switzerland were defeated by Norway, with the relay being decided by Eirik Langedal Breivik and Kasper Fosser on the last two legs for Norway's first victory in the relay since 2018. Switzerland came second, and Finland came third, after Max Peter Bejmer from Sweden's team made a mistake on the last leg and missed a control. Miika Kirmula from Finland decided the relay on the last few controls, after a competitive battle with Lucas Basset of France, who took fourth place.
Women's Middle + WOC 2025 – Middle – Women Rank Competitor Nation Time Tove Alexandersson 33:17 Sanna Fast 34:19Hanna Lundberg 35:43 4 Andrine Benjaminsen 36:50 5 Simona Aebersold 36:57 6 Natalia Gemperle 37:17 7= Marika Teini 37:30 7= Evely Kaasiku 37:30 9 Ida Haapala 37:33 10 Aleksandra Hornik 37:46
Men's Middle + WOC 2025 – Middle – Men Rank Competitor Nation Time Eirik Langedal Breivik 33:42 Kasper Harlem Fosser 34:16Anton Johansson 34:49 4 Matthias Kyburz 34:50 5 Miika Kirmula 35:24 6 Gustav Bergman 35:30 7 Matthieu Perrin 35:55 8 Max Peter Bejmer 36:17 9= Lukas Liland 36:34 9= Daniel Hubmann 36:34
Women's Long + WOC 2025 – Long – Women Rank Competitor Nation Time Simona Aebersold 1:34:51 Tove Alexandersson 1:35:00Andrine Benjaminsen 1:37:16 4 Natalia Gemperle 1:38:22 5 Sanna Fast 1:39:11 6 Venla Harju 1:41:27 7 Sara Hagstrom 1:44:21 8 Ida Haapala 1:45:21 9 Hanna Lundberg 1:46:24 10 Marie Olaussen 1:48:17
Men's Long + WOC 2025 – Long – Men Rank Competitor Nation Time Kasper Harlem Fosser 1:37:50 Martin Regborn 1:40:47 Matthias Kyburz 1:41:30 4 Emil Svensk 1:41:41 5 Viktor Svensk 1:43:10 6 Miika Kirmula 1:43:33 7 Martin Hubmann 1:44:44 8 Lukas Liland 1:44:51 9 Akseli Ruohola 1:46:00 10 Jannis Bonek 1:49:48
Medal summary
Men Middle distance 33:42 34:16 34:49Long distance 1:37:50 1:40:47 1:41:30Relay Jørgen BaklidEirik Langedal BreivikKasper Harlem Fosser 1:41:38 Daniel HubmannFabian AebersoldMatthias Kyburz 1:43:28 Topi SyrjäläinenAkseli RuoholaMiika Kirmula 1:46:27
Women Middle distance 33:17 34:19 35:43Long distance 1:34:51 1:35:00 1:37:16Relay Hanna LundbergSanna FastTove Alexandersson 1:41:32 Pia Young VikMarie OlaussenAndrine Benjaminsen 1:44:00 Paula GrossNatalia GemperleSimona Aebersold 1:45:32
Medal table
References