On Wednesday, the qualification races for the World Cup at Idre Fjäll will take place. They will be followed by three exciting competition days on Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday.

In total, more than 300 athletes from over 30 countries have registered forthe competitions, which will be held in one of Sweden’s most unique orienteering terrains.

“This is a place that stands out in terms of both terrain and experience.We’re looking forward to the competitions and aim to deliver both excitementand strong Swedish results,” says Swedish national team manager Håkan Carlsson.

The races will take place in technically demanding terrain in a new area. Itwill be orienteering that requires both physical strength and technical skill.

Two participants who have fond memories of the 2021 World Cup at Idre Fjällare the Swiss duo Simona Aebersold and Joey Hadorn.

Simona, are you hoping to repeat your 2021 long-distance victory this year?

‍“Yeah, that would be the dream. But I struggled quite a lot with my form over the winter, so I’ll be really happy if I make it to the podium. But yeah,things are going a lot better now,” says Simona.

What do you remember from the 2021 races?
“I remember it felt like pure nature for us Swiss. It’s really nice to be there– just no paths at all in the forest.”

Joey Hadorn was something of a surprise winner in the middle distance backin 2021.

“It was really surprising for me to win a middle-distance race like that. Iguess a lot of the favourites made mistakes, especially towards the end. Butyeah, of course, I now have a really good connection with Idre and hope toachieve a strong result there again this year,” says Joey.

You can follow the World Cup races at Idre in several ways. IOF TV will bebroadcast in three languages: English, Finnish, and German. National broadcastswill also be available in Sweden, Norway, France, and Estonia (relay only).

Live results and tracking will be available on the IOF Live pages:
https://orienteering.sport/event/orienteering-world-cup-round-1-5/welcome/

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