Final battle for 2024 World Cup titles in Finland

These forest races counted as the fourth round in this year’s Orienteering World Cup, which has taken us to fast and demanding sprint races in Switzerland and Italy, before moving into the forests for the European Championships in Hungary in August. 

This competition will also give the athletes a taste of what to expect for WOC 2025 as the forests around Eastern Finland will welcome back athletes next July, and the larger GB team will enable opportunities to train and race in this terrain for more athletes. 

The Finnish terrain is relatively flat with no steep slopes or high cliffs and has both areas with many details and some with few details to navigate in. Thursday was the first day of competition, where athletes were on the start line for the Long-Distance race.

The Womens race provided yet another master class from the winner Tove Alexandersson who excelled in not only fitness, but also in route choices on the long legs. Great Britain’s Megan Carter-Davies finished in 22^nd place with Grace Molloy in 35^th.

In the Mens Ralph Street returned from injury to finish inside the top 20 in 17^th place, with Joshua Dudley having his first World Cup race this year to finish in 37^th.

Friday gave the athletes a chance to rest, before they headed back out into the forests on Saturday for the middle. Megan once again had a good run to finish inside the top 20 in 18^th with both Ralph and Grace inside the top 30 (29^th and 30^th respectively).

Performance Manager Pippa Archer commented on the day “Today’s World Cup Final middle distance race was fast and furious with the men’s and women’s winners both finishing in under the estimated winning time.

Sunday’s relays will be the highlight of the week as the athletes get the chance to run with their teammates in the final race of the international season.

The athletes have been eagerly looking forward to the relays all week. We have a strong mix of experience and enthusiasm across the teams and it has been exciting to see the athletes pull together and prepare for what is always their favourite race!”

The GB team did well in the Relays to get a top 20 place. The Mens team of Simon Harden, Ralph Street and Joshua Dudley came home in 14^th with the Womens team of Jo Shepherd, Grace Molloy and Megan Carter-Davies in 17^th.

The GB team did well in the relays with both our men's and women's teams placing 8th nation. The Men's team were Simon Harden, Ralph Street and Joshua Dudley and the Womens team: Jo Shepherd, Grace Molloy and Megan Carter-Davies.

Relay results