Norway will host the 2027 World Ski Orienteering Championships after the IOF Council awarded the country the championships during its meetings in January.
The Junior World Ski Orienteering Championships and European Youth Ski Orienteering Championships will be held in parallel with the WSOC on the provisional dates of 9th to 12th of February 2027.
The championships are scheduled to be held in Lillehammer, which also hosted the WSOC in 1996. The last time Norway hosted the WSOC was in 2015, when the competitions took place in Hamar and Løten.
WSOC to be held every year
The IOF Council also approved a proposal from the Ski Orienteering Commission for a new WSOC programme.
This means that the WSOC will now be held every year instead of every other year with different programmes.
In even years, Sprint, Pursuit, Middle (Individual Start) and Sprint Relay are raced, while in odd years, WSOC consists of Sprint, Mass Start, Long distance (Individual Start) and Relay.
The next WSOC will take place in early March, hosted by Rutsusu/Hokkaido in Japan.
Front photo: Jørgen Baklid (NOR) during the SkiO World Cup in Sjusøen, Norway in 2025. By Terje W. Pettersen
Top photo: Daisy Kudre-Schnyder (EST) and Maria Hoskari (FIN) at the finish line at the SkiO World Cup in Beitostølen. By Erling Thisted