Individual/Classic/Long Distance
This event was called "Individual" from 1966 to 1989 and "Classic distance" from 1991 to 2001. Since 2003 it is called "Long distance".
This is a list of medalists from the World Orienteering Championships in men's orienteering. [1] [2]
This event was called "Individual" from 1966 to 1989 and "Classic distance" from 1991 to 2001. Since 2003 it is called "Long distance".
This event was first held in 1991. The format was changed and renamed "Middle Distance" in 2003 with the introduction of the Sprint discipline.
This event was first held in 2001.
This event was first held in 2022.
| Year | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Length and controls |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 |  Matthias Kyburz |  August Mollen | Jonatan Gustafsson | 2.4 km, 11 controls |
2009 Note: ^ In the 3rd leg Martin Johansson (Sweden) was in the lead when he suffered a serious injury; Thierry Gueorgiou (France), Anders Nordberg (Norway), and Michal Smola (Czech Republic) gave up their lead positions and rescued him. Interpretation of International Orienteering Federation (IOF) competition rules was at issue: rule 26.13 states "The organiser must void a competition if at any point it becomes clear that circumstances have arisen which make the competition unfair or dangerous for the competitors." After much deliberation on whether or not to void the relay, the organizers declared that it stood. [3] [4]
Table updated after the 2019 Championships.
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Norway | 39 | 21 | 27 | 87 |
| 2 | Sweden | 20 | 21 | 24 | 65 |
| 3 | Switzerland | 16 | 25 | 20 | 61 |
| 4 |  France | 14 | 7 | 10 | 31 |
| 5 |  Russia (1993–present) | 8 | 7 | 3 | 18 |
| 6 |  Finland | 6 | 22 | 12 | 40 |
| 7 |  Denmark | 3 | 1 | 3 | 7 |
| 8 |  Great Britain | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| 9 |  Ukraine | 1 | 2 | 4 | 7 |
| 10 |  Czech Republic (1993–present) | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| 11 | Czechoslovakia (1966–91) | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| 12 |  Latvia | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| 13 |  New Zealand | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 14 |  Hungary | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
 Italy | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
 Soviet Union (1966–91) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Totals (16 entries) | 112 | 112 | 113 | 337 | |
| Rank | Athlete | Country | From | To | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thierry Gueorgiou | France | 2003 | 2017 | 14 | 5 | 4 | 23 |
| 2 | Olav Lundanes | Norway | 2010 | 2019 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 17 |
| 3 | Daniel Hubmann |  Switzerland | 2005 | 2019 | 8 | 11 | 9 | 28 |
| 4 | Øyvin Thon | Norway | 1979 | 1989 | 7 | 1 | - | 8 |
| 5 | Andrey Khramov | Russia | 2005 | 2015 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 13 |
| 6 | Petter Thoresen | Norway | 1989 | 1997 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 8 |
| 7 | Valentin Novikov | Russia | 2004 | 2013 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 11 |
| 8 | Matthias Kyburz | Switzerland | 2012 | 2018 | 4 | 4 | - | 8 |
| 9 | Bjørnar Valstad | Norway | 1991 | 2004 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 10 |
| 10 | Tore Sagvolden | Norway | 1979 | 1987 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 8 |
| Country | Athlete | From | To | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| France | Thierry Gueorgiou | 2003 | 2017 | 14 | 5 | 4 | 23 |
| Norway | Olav Lundanes | 2010 | 2019 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 17 |
| Switzerland | Daniel Hubmann | 2005 | 2019 | 8 | 11 | 9 | 28 |
| Russia | Andrey Khramov | 2005 | 2015 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 10 |
| Sweden | Rolf Pettersson (by the gold first ranking system) | 1972 | 1979 | 4 | 2 | - | 6 |
| Jörgen Mårtensson (by total number of medals) | 1981 | 1997 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 10 | |
| Denmark | Søren Bobach | 2014 | 2015 | 3 | 1 | - | 4 |
| Finland | Jani Lakanen | 1999 | 2006 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 8 |
| United Kingdom | Jamie Stevenson | 2003 | 2008 | 2 | - | 2 | 4 |
| Ukraine | Yuri Omeltchenko | 1995 | 2004 | 1 | 2 | - | 3 |
| Latvia | Edgars Bertuks* | 2012 | 2013 | 1 | - | 2 | 3 |
| Czech Republic | Tomáš Dlabaja & Jan Procházka & Jan Šedivý (by the gold first ranking system) | 2012 2012 2012 | 2012 2012 2012 | 1 1 1 | - - - | - - - | 1 1 1 |
| Rudolf Ropek (by total number of medals) | 2001 | 2003 | - | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Czechoslovakia | Petr Kozak (by the gold first ranking system) | 1991 | 1991 | 1 | - | - | 1 |
| Zdenek Lenhart & Jaroslav Kačmarčík (by total number of medals) | 1970 1979 | 1979 1983 | - - | - 1 | 2 1 | 2 2 | |
| New Zealand | Tim Robertson * | 2018 | 2018 | - | 1 | - | 1 |
| Hungary | Zoltán Boros & János Sotér & Géza Vajda & András Hegedus | 1972 1972 1972 1972 | 1972 1972 1972 1972 | - - - - | - - - - | 1 1 1 1 | 1 1 1 1 |
| Italy | Mikhail Mamleev* | 2009 | 2009 | - | - | 1 | 1 |
| Soviet Union | Sixten Sild* | 1991 | 1991 | - | - | 1 | 1 |
An asterisk (*) marks athletes who are the only representatives of their respective countries to win a medal.
Orienteering is a group of sports that involve using a map and compass to navigate from point to point in diverse and usually unfamiliar terrain whilst moving at speed. Participants are given a topographical map, usually a specially prepared orienteering map, which they use to find control points. Originally a training exercise in land navigation for military officers, orienteering has developed many variations. Among these, the oldest and the most popular is foot orienteering. For the purposes of this article, foot orienteering serves as a point of departure for discussion of all other variations, but almost any sport that involves racing against a clock and requires navigation with a map is a type of orienteering.
Jamie Stevenson is a British orienteering champion. In 2003 he won the gold medal in the sprint distance at the World Orienteering Championships. He was the first and, to-date, the only British male orienteering world champion.
The World Orienteering Championships is an annual orienteering event organized by the International Orienteering Federation. The first World Championships was held in Fiskars, Finland in 1966. They were held biennially up to 2003. Since 2003, competitions have been held annually. Participating nations have to be members of the International Orienteering Federation (IOF).
Thierry Gueorgiou is a French orienteer who holds the record for gold medals won at the World Orienteering Championships for a male athlete, with 14 gold medals between 2003 and 2017. Gueorgiou has won more than 20 gold medals in international competitions, including the World Orienteering Championships (WOC) middle distance event a record eight times: 2003–2005, 2007–2009, 2011 and 2017.
The Junior World Orienteering Championships (JWOC) are an annual orienteering competition. They were first held in 1990. Entry is open to national teams aged 20 and below as of 31 December in the year of competition. Representative countries must be members of the International Orienteering Federation (IOF).
Heli Jukkola is a Finnish orienteering competitor. She won the Long Distance World Orienteering Championships in 2007, and achieved second place in 2005. In the Middle Distance category, she finished second in 2007 and third in both 2003 and 2004. Jukkola is a two-time Relay World Champion, winning in 2006 and 2007 as a member of the Finnish team. She also earned a silver medal in 2004.
Valentin Yuryevich Novikov is a Russian orienteering competitor. He is the brother of Leonid Novikov.
Johanna Asklöf is a Finnish orienteering competitor and World champion.
Anders Nordberg is a Norwegian orienteering competitor. He received a bronze medal at the 2004 World Orienteering Championship, and again a bronze medal in 2007. He finished second in the overall World Cup 2007.
Tatiana Ryabkina is a Russian orienteering competitor. She won the O-Ringen in 2012 and had international success.
The World Ski Orienteering Championships (Ski-WOC) is the official event to award the titles of World Champions in ski orienteering. The World Championships is organized every odd year. The programme includes Sprint, Middle and Long Distance competitions, and a Relay for both men and women. The first Ski-WOC was held in 1975.
François Gonon is a French orienteering competitor. He has received gold and silver medals with the French relay team in both world championships and European championships. He currently competes for the French orienteering club O'JURA and for the Swedish orienteering club IFK Göteborg.
Michal Smola is a Czech orienteering competitor, silver medalist from the world championships, and junior world champion. He became Junior World Champion in the short distance in Nove Mesto na Morave in 2000, and with the Czech team in relay in 2000 and in 2001. His best achievement by September 2009 is silver medal in the middle distance at the 2008 World Orienteering Championship in Olomouc.
Martin Johansson is a Swedish orienteering, ski-orienteering, and cross-country skiing competitor, a medallist at the orienteering world championships, and a 2004 Junior World Champion in relay. He received bronze medals in sprint at the World Orienteering Championships in Kyiv 2007 and Olomouc 2008. His brother, Lars, is a member of the Rockford Icehogs
Jon Duncan is a British orienteering competitor and world champion.
Foot orienteering is the oldest formal orienteering sport, and the one with the most "starts" per year. Usually, a FootO is a timed race in which participants start at staggered intervals, are individually timed, and are expected to perform all navigation on their own. The control points are shown on the orienteering map and must be visited in the specified order. Standings are determined first by successful completion of the course, then by shortest time on course.
Karin Schmalfeld is a German orienteering competitor.
Zsuzsa Fey is a Romanian orienteering competitor. She won a gold medal in the relay event at the 1996 Junior World Orienteering Championships in Govora.
Ida Bobach is a Danish orienteering competitor who was Junior World Champion in 2009, and became triple Junior World Champion from 2010, when she won the sprint, long distance and the relay. She represents the club OK Pan Århus, and since 2007, has received training from Danish national coach Lars Lindstrøm. In 2015 she won gold medals at the World Championships in the long and Relay.
