Organising WOC simulation week
The final step on the road to the World Orienteering Championships was the WOC Simulation Week.
https://woc2026.com/2026-woc-simulation-week/
This week of training races was designed to mirror, as closely as possible, the official WOC competition program that athletes would face just two weeks later. The week began with a couple of model event training sessions before moving straight into competition with a Sprint Qualification in the morning in Celle Ligure, featuring three qualification heats, followed by the Sprint Final in the afternoon in Boccadasse.
The program then continued with the Knock-Out Sprint Qualification in Quarto dei Mille. Like the previous day's Sprint Finals, this race was held on a brand-new map created specifically for the occasion, providing teams with an additional high-quality technical challenge.
The Knock-Out Sprint finals took place in Masone, in the Ligurian hinterland, with butterfly-loop quarter-finals followed by semi-finals and finals. The schedule and race dynamics closely replicated those of the World Championships, while allowing every athlete to run every round, creating an extremely valuable training opportunity.
The week concluded with a four-leg Sprint Relay in Spotorno, designed with the same format, course characteristics, and race dynamics as the World Championships.
These maps represent the final technical preparation before WOC and showcase the work carried out to provide athletes with the highest possible standard of training.
