Now that the best individual orienteers of the year have been awarded it is time to award the best nation in the Team World Cup. And there is still some excitement left. Sweden has a lead going into the final competition but with the final Sprint Relay giving 2000 points to the winner it is far from decided. A Swiss team win and Sweden would need to finish second to keep their lead and win the title. And there are still battles further down in the results list to improve the overall position.
The Sprint Relay is being held in the mountain town of Cortina d’Ampezzo, famous skiing resort and co-host of the Winter Olympic Games in 2026. The terrain for the relay consists of the historical town centre with irregular streets, residential areas and some smaller meadows and parks. About 80% of the courses will be on asphalt surface, 20% grass and open fields. As it is a mountainous area there are some elevation differences.
The Sprint Relay consists of 4 legs with an estimated running time of 15 minutes per leg, i.e. a total competition time of 1 hour. Women will run the first and last legs which in Cortina are 4.1 km long with 60 meters climb. Men run the middle 2 legs on courses measuring 4.9 km with 70 meters climb. 50 teams from 20 nations will be on the start line. Each nation may participate with multiple teams with only the best placed team counting towards the Team World Cup.
At the only Sprint Relay held as part of the Team World Cup and European Orienteering Championships in Neuchatel, Switzerland in May, Switzerland won ahead of Sweden and Norway, with the Czech Republic, Finland and France finishing out the podium. At the Nokian Tyres World Orienteering Championships Sprint Relay in the Czech Republic in July, which is not counted in the Team World Cup, it was Sweden winning gold, with Norway and Switzerland taking silver and bronze after a very tight last leg battle. Denmark, the Czech Republic and Great Britain finished out the podium then.
The Sprint Relay can be followed Live from 13:30 – 14:55 CEST on the IOF Live page.
Current Standings – Orienteering Team World Cup
| 1 |  |
Sweden | 5804 | |
| 2 |  |
Switzerland | 5232 | |
| 3 |  |
Norway | 4115 | |
| 4 |  |
Finland | 2974 | |
| 5 |  |
Czech Republic | 2551 | |
| 6 |  |
Russian Federation | 2284 | |
| 7 |  |
Denmark | 1761 | |
| 8 |  |
Austria | 1535 | |
| 9 |  |
Estonia | 1489 | |
| 10 |  |
Poland | 1480 | |
| 11 |  |
France | 1472 | |
| 12 |  |
Latvia | 1187 | |
| 13 |  |
Germany | 1113 | |
| 14 |  |
Ukraine | 1078 | |
| 15 |  |
Belgium | 1034 | |
| 16 |  |
Italy | 864 | |
| 17 |  |
Great Britain | 791 | |
| 18 |  |
Spain | 772 | |
| 19 |  |
Lithuania | 622 | |
| 20 |  |
Hungary | 615 | |
| 21 |  |
Bulgaria | 420 | |
| 22 |  |
Portugal | 400 | |
| 23 |  |
Belarus | 230 | |
| 24 |  |
New Zealand | 36 | |
| 25 |  |
Netherlands | 1 |