WOC2025 successfully concluded – a huge thank you for all spectators and volunteers

The World Championships are successfully concluded. The World Championships held in Kuopio were the fifth World Championships in orienteering held in Finland. At the same time, the WOC Tour (Fin5) Orienteering Week was also held, where any orienteering enthusiast could test orienteering on the same terrain as the world’s top athletes.

Kuopion Suunnistajat was granted the right to organize the WOC in 2019, and since then, they have been working hard. Competition functions were already tested during the 2023 WRE competitions in Vehmersalmi and at the World Cup final in Lastukoski in September 2024. These competitions served as excellent practice and a route map for the World Championships week, as the events refined various functions and, based on the feedback received, it was possible to make the necessary changes on the way to the World Championships.

A magnificent group of skilled volunteers from local orienteering clubs and Finnish orienteering enthusiasts have also been involved in the preparations, without whom the competitions would not have been possible.

-I am incredibly proud of what our volunteer team did during the competition week, says Jaana Turunen, the chair of Kuopion Suunnistajat. Many worked really long hours to ensure everything was ready at the right time. In addition, some have been carrying major responsibilities for the arrangements for years, Turunen continues.

In addition, the role of partners has been significant from planning to implementation. New forms of cooperation have been developed in a way that benefits both parties.

-As part of the cooperation, we will also prepare an impact assessment for the city of Kuopio as well as a responsibility and compliance report for all partners together with the Finnish Orienteering Association. This is a natural part of the activities of a responsible organizer towards society and partners, says event director Jari Kymäläinen.

Bringing the competitions close to the city center created the conditions for public success. At the same time, it brought greater awareness of the sport among the people of Kuopio.

-Nordic orienteering is familiar to almost all Finns from school, but outside of the sport circles, top orienteering is less well known,” says Turunen. The performances of the world’s best orienteers in our local forests highlight how tough athletes the top orienteers are and also how great orienteering possibilities we have within walking and cycling distance in the city of Kuopio. Now that the embargoes in these areas are over, Kuopio will hopefully also be an even more interesting place to study for talented young orienteers, Turunen reflects.

WOC2025 in numbers:

almost 20 000 spectators in the arenas during the four competition days
almost 300 athletes, from 45 different countries
500 volunteers
almost twenty partners involved in different ways
TV broadcast to eight countries: Finland, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Estonia, Austria, Czech Republic and France, in addition to which the competitions could be followed on the International Orienteering Federation’s (IOF) IOF-TV
the World Championships reached a total of 742 000 viewers on The Finnish broadcaster YLE channels (Wednesday-Saturday)
domestic and foreign media on site (reporters and photographers) over 70 people in total

The World Championships in Kuopio have come to an end. A warm thank you to all of you being a part of the atmosphere of the World Championships and made this event one that is still great to remember years later. Now it’s time to focus on the next year – the World Orienteering Championships will be held in Genoa, Italy, in July 2026, with the sprint competitions.