The second round of the Orienteering World Cup starts this Thursday August 12th at the Swedish mountain resort Idre Fjäll. The program includes a long distance competition on Thursday, a middle distance competition on Saturday and ends with relays on Sunday. 255 competitors from 29 nations have made their way to the event, which will be held in a Covid-19 “bubble” for the athletes, teams, organisers and officials.
The first round of the Orienteering World Cup, which was held in connection with the European Orienteering Championships in Neuchatel, Switzerland in May, was focused purely on sprint orienteering. This second round in Sweden means a shift to the beautiful but rugged forested mountain terrain around Idre Fjäll. The question is who will make their move in the overall standings to position themselves going into the Orienteering World Cup final which is to be held in Italy at the beginning of October.
Orienteering World Cup 2021 – Current Standings MEN
| Total | |||
| 1 |  |
Matthias Kyburz | 130 |
| 2 | |
Joey Hadorn | 120 |
| 3 |  |
Kasper Harlem Fosser | 120 |
| 4 |  |
Yannick Michiels | 100 |
| 5 |  |
Emil Svensk | 100 |
| 6 | |
Riccardo Rancan | 90 |
| 7 |  |
Vojtech Kral | 78 |
| 8 | |
Daniel Hubmann | 69 |
| 9 | |
Gustav Bergman | 60 |
| 10 | |
Florian Howald | 55 |
Among the men, the battle for the top positions is very open. Among the top 10, only Yannick Michiels (BEL) and Riccardo Rancan (SUI) will not participate in Sweden. The current standings are led by 5-time Orienteering World Cup overall winner Matthias Kyburz (SUI) who, with a European Orienteering Championships gold medal at knock-out sprint and a World Orienteering Championships gold at middle distance in the Czech Republic in July, has shown that he has the wide range of skills needed to win the World Cup.
In fact the top names are equally skilled at urban sprint orienteering as at forest orienteering so they will certainly be looking at strengthening and improving their positions going into the final. WOC long distance gold medallist Kasper Harlem Fosser (NOR) is well-positioned to challenge for the top positions, and defending overall World Cup winner from 2019 Gustav Bergman (SWE) will be looking to improve his changes at defending his title on home soil. There are also a number of forest orienteering specialists who did not participate in the initial sprint focused round who with good results can challenge for top positions, among them 8 time individual WOC gold medallist Olav Lundanes (NOR).
Orienteering World Cup 2021 – Current Standings WOMEN
| Total | |||
| 1 | |
Tove Alexandersson | 200 |
| 2 | |
Simona Aebersold | 140 |
| 3 | |
Elena Roos | 115 |
| 4 | |
Andrine Benjaminsen | 100 |
| 5 |  |
Natalia Gemperle | 87 |
| 6 | |
Lina Strand | 77 |
| 7 | |
Sara Hagstrom | 75 |
| 8 | |
Vilma von Krusenstierna | 73 |
| 9 | |
Hanna Lundberg | 70 |
| 10 | |
Tereza Janosikova | 69 |
Among the women, the question is whether anyone can challenge Tove Alexandersson (SWE) who has had a perfect season so far, winning both individual gold medals on offer at the European Orienteering Championships (Sprint and Knock-out Sprint) and sweeping the gold medals at the World Orienteering Championships in July. Tove Alexandersson is also the defending Orienteering World Cup winner from 2019 and has won the overall World Cup title 6 times in a row, from 2014 – 2019.
Among the current top 10 in the World Cup only Vilma von Krusenstierna (SWE) will be missing at Idre Fjäll. Simona Aebersold (SUI), Andrine Benjaminsen (NOR) and Natalia Gemperle (RUS) will all be looking at taking their strong performances from the World Orienteering Championships in the Czech Republic in July, and strengthening their positions in the World Cup standings. But there are many more challengers who will be looking to do well in Sweden.
Competition overview
The competitions at Idre Fjäll will all be held in a natural reserve in mountain terrain, just below the tree-line, at elevations from 650 to 900 meters above sea level. The pine and spruce covered slopes are generally very open but with some reduced visibility due to the nature of the pre-alpine forest. Running is hampered in places by the steepness of the terrain and uneven surfaces underfoot. The navigation is very challenging with a lot of detail and features along the slopes. This is true wilderness orienteering.
| Competition | Length (straight line) | Climb (along best route) | Estimated winning time |
| Long Distance – Women | 12 810 m | 400 m | 80 min |
| Long Distance – Men | 17 230 m | 570 m | 100 min |
| Middle Distance – Women | 5 370 m | 250 m | 35 min |
| Middle Distance – Men | 6 070 m | 290 m | 35 min |
| Relay – Women (3 legs) | 5,6 – 6,4 km (per leg) | 210 – 240 m (per leg) | 106 min |
| Relay – Men (3 legs) | 6,3 – 7,1 km (per leg) | 240 – 270 m (per leg) | 106 min |
The Orienteering World Cup round 2 from Idre Fjäll can be followed at the IOF Live page.
There will broadcasting from all competitions, live on Swedish TV (SVT) and Norwegian TV (NRK, Thursday and Sunday only), and via the IOF Live page Web-TV, with commentary available in either English or Russian language. A ticket for the web broadcast costs 6 EUR per competition or 12 EUR for all competitions. To purchase a ticket go to the Live page
Broadcast times are in local event time (Central European Summer Time (CEST/UTC+2))
| 12 August (Thu) | Long | 13:00 – 17:30 |
| 14 August (Sat) | Middle | 15:00 – 19:00 |
| 15 August (Sun) | Relay | 13:00 – 17:00 |
To follow the Orienteering World Cup overall standings and news visit the World Cup page