The European Orienteering Championships in Belgium continued on Thursday afternoon in Geel, where the athletes raced the qualification for Friday’s Knock-Out Sprint finals.
On challenging courses in the southern end of the city, the target was to finish among the 12 fastest in their respective heat.
Athletes from 18 different nations managed to fulfill that mission. And the competition was so close that in three heats two athletes shared the 12th best time. And that means there will be 7 participants instead of 6 in three of Friday’s quarter-finals.
Elli Punto finished 12th in women’s heat 1 and qualified for Friday’s finals in her debut on Finland senior national team. Photo: Silke Van Rooy/EOC 2025
The heat winners in the women’s heats were Eef van Dongen (NED), Victoria Hæstad Bjørnstad (NOR) and Pia Young Vik (NOR), while in the men’s heats they were Tomáš Křivda (CZE), Yannick Michiels (BEL) and Jonatan Gustafsson (SWE).
Norway, who yesterday became European champions in the Sprint Relay, continued their great pace and had 11 athletes advance to the finals. Finland and Sweden succeeded with 10 athletes, while Switzerland had 8.
Andrine Benjaminsen, who was part of the successful relay team on Wednesday evening, did not qualify, neither did last year’s WOC silver medalist in the KO Sprint, Jørgen Baklid (NOR) and Joey Hadorn (SUI), who won the KO Sprint at the World Cup round in Olten last year.
Jurgen Joonas (EST) finished 12th i men’s heat 1 and qualified. Stefan Yordanov (BUL) behind him was 26th in men’s heat 2. Photo: Silke van Rooy/EOC 2025
Find results, GPS tracking and finish line cam in IOF LIVE.
Tomorrow afternoon the Knock-Out Sprint finals take place. They are also held in Geel, but the arena is moved to the central city square, Markt.
The quarter-finals can be followed from 13.20 on Eurovision Sport and IOF TV, while the semi-finals and finals will be broadcast on a wide range of public broadcasters from 15.30 – 17.30.