Merja Rantanen and Simone Niggli are expected sprint champions

04 Aug 2024 - WMOC info

The first day of the finals at the World Masters Orienteering Championships offered the highly anticipated championships and thrilling moments. The courses designed for the Turku Cathedral near the centre of Turku were praised and challenged orienteers of all ages.

As expected, Simone Niggli from Switzerland navigated to the championship in the women’s over 45 category. Niggli, who has the most World Championships in history, already had five Veterans World Championship titles. Niggli was met with tough opposition by Sanna Paukkunen, who lost to Niggli by only 10 seconds.

The men’s over 50 category was won by Manu Mutka by a narrow margin of just 9 seconds ahead of Czech Radim Ondracek. In the same category, Simone Niggli’s spouse Matthias Niggli finished third. The women’s over 50 category was won by a margin of 52 seconds by Yvonne Gunell from Finland, who often challenges her juniors in the women’s main category in domestic competitions.

The women’s over 40 category was won by Merja Rantanen by almost one and a half minutes to the next. “Everything was in place today; map, track, terrain and audience. It’s really great to start the World Championship with a winn,” rejoiced Rantanen as soon as he reached the finish line. Rantanen especially praised the course that offered a suitable orienteering challenge.

Competition director Pasi Rantala smiles happily when he hears Rantanen’s praising comments. “As course setter in the final, we have a very experienced Juho Rajaniemi. We already knew in advance that he would be able to design just the right challenges for all age groups.”

“When I looked at the competition centre in the morning, I thought it would be difficult to improve from this. Everything really is in place,” says Rantala proudly.

The men’s over 85 category saw momentum as Norwegian Gunnar Østerbø and Danish Jack Skrydstrup shared the title over the 1.2 km course in 10:28. The oldest competitor in the competition, 97-year-old Sole Nieminen, navigated to the world championship as the only competitor in the over 95 category. The ever-young Nieminen had a wild final spurt as the audience gave the loudest cheers of the day.