The highest number of medals in orienteering was achieved by Estonia, Russia, and Poland.
On 10-16 June 2017, the Finnish Defence Forces hosted the International Military Sports Council’s (CISM) 50th World Military Orienteering Championship in the town of Hamina, in the region of Luotosenjärvi (Lake Luotonen), with competitions in the Middle distance, Long distance, Relay, and Team race.
The Middle distance (5,8 km) men’s race champion was the Estonian Timo Sild, with Olli-Pekka Taivainen from the Kainuu Brigade as the silver-medalist and Miika Kirmula from the Guard Jaeger Regiment winning the bronze medal.
In the Long distance women’s race (4,5 km), Svetlana Mironova from Russia became the champion, and Ursula Kadan from Austria achieved the silver medal, and Anastasija Rudnaya won the bronze.
The Estonian Timo Sild became a double champion by winning the Long distance men’s race (13 km), with Leonid Novikov from Russia achieving the silver and Wojciech Kowalski the bronze.
The Russian Svetlana Mironova also became a double champion by winning the Long distance women’s race (7,3 km), with her fellow countrywoman Anastasia Rudnaya winning the silver and Aleksandra Hornik achieving the bronze.
As for the women’s relay, Poland won the gold, Russia the silver, and Lithuania the bronze. In the men’s relay, Russia won the gold after a tough competition with Estonia winning the silver, and Poland winning the bronze.
On the basis of the results calculated from the individual competition scores, both the men’s and women’s team races were overwhelmingly won by Russia, with Switzerland winning the men’s team race silver, Estonia winning the men’s team race bronze, Poland winning the women’s team race silver, and Lithuania winning the women’s team race bronze.
Altogether 158 men and 56 women as well as team leadership from 27 countries participated in the competitions, which brought to Finland internationally successful athletes and national team members from Armenia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, China, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Indonesia, India, Norway, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Palestine, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States.
In accordance with the CISM motto, the theme of the championships was "Friendship through Sport" with Minister of Defence Jussi Niinistö as the patron of the championships. The championships’ arrangements were organised by the Army Academy.
- The arrangements were excellently organised as explicated in the abundance of appreciation expressed both by the competing teams and the CISM representatives. The overall arrangements met suitably the set standards for the championships, and the terrain as well as the courses were well on a par with the requirements of world championships in orienteering, FDF Chief of Physical Exercise, Lieutenant Colonel Harri Koski pointed out contentedly.
Finland hosted the CISM World Military Orienteering Championship now for the sixth time, with the previous venues having been Dragsvik in 1968, Hämeenlinna in 1976, Lahti in 1984, Säkylä in 1995, and Lappeenranta in 2005. The next CISM World Military Orienteering Championship will be arranged in Equador in the autumn of 2018.
More information on the competitions and the championships’ results can be accessed on the Finnish Defence Forces’ website at puolustusvoimat.fi/en/web/sotilasliikunta, and in social media:
Facebook.com/puolustus
Twitter.com/puolustusvoimat
#50wmoc2017
Results:
Middle Distance
Long Distance
Team Competition standing Women
Team Competition standing Men
Relay
