They found their way to the FISU World University titles

Bankso 2024 FISU Championship Orienteering crowned the best student-athletes over four days of competition in town and on rougher terrain in the hills.

249 athletes from 30 countries representing four continents competed in Bansko last week. Sometimes by themselves, sometimes with the help of their teammates, these orienteering experts found their way to the finishing line with the help of a map, a compass and their ability to think clearly despite the effort and the heat.

All events were dominated by European countries, the medals travelling back to the United Kingdom, Switzerland, France, Sweden, Spain and Finland.

Four days of efforts and friendship

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The podiums

Sprint – The women’s distance saw 2.9km, with 14 controls. The men passed 15 controls over their 3.5km.

Women
1. Ana Isabel Toledo Navarro (Spain)
2. Eline Gemperle (Switzerland)
3. Cecile Calandry (France)

Men
1. Guilhem Verove (France)
2. Benjamin Naslund (Sweden)
3. Gustav Runefors (Sweden)


Sprint relay – Teams of two women (3km distance and 15 controls) and two men (3.6 km distance, 17 controls).
1. United Kingdom (Rachel Brown, Peter Molloy, Edward Narbett, Fiona Bunn)
2. Switzerland (Ines Berges, Reto Egger, Fabian Aebersold, Eline Gemperle)
3. France (Tifenn Moulet, Mathias Barros-Vallet, Quentin Andrieux, Alina Palcau)

Middle distance – Women covered 3.9km with a 210m climb and 16 controls, while the men had 20 controls over a distance of 4.8km and a 260m climb.

Women
1. Ines Berger (Switzerland)
2. Johanna Kallvik Leufven (Sweden)
3. Cecile Calandry (France)

Men
1. Axel Granqvist (Sweden)
2. Quentin Moulet (France)
3. Quentin Andrieux (France)

Relay – Teams of three have each member do a lap of their course, using the same terrain as for the middle distance events. 19 controls, a 180m climb, and 4.0km of distance was the course for each of the women’s relay participants. Men went slightly longer for each of their 3 legs at 4.9km, along with 23 controls and a 230m climb.

Women
1. Sweden 1 (Frida Vikstrom, Tilde Backlund, Johanna Kallvik Leufve)
2. Switzerland 1 (Corina Hueni, Alina Niggli, Ines Berger)
3. Finland 1 (Anniina Taipale, Tessa Salmia, Hanne Hilo)

Men
1. Switzerland 1 (Dominic Mueller, Reto Egger, Fabian Aebersold)
2. France 1 (Basile Basset, Quentin Andrieux, Quentin Moulet)
3. Sweden 1 (Gustav Runefors, Jonathan Gustafsson, Axel Granqvist)

All four days of competitions were streamed live on fisu.tv. You will find more information and pictures on the official website.

Congratulations to all participants, volunteers and members of the organising committee for this successful event.

Written by Thérèse Courvoisier, photos courtesy of the Organising Committee