Victorians on the World Stage – International Results Upcoming International Events Orienteering Australia has announced a number of national teams to compete overseas this year. Congratulations to the Victorians selected, and best of luck to all! World Games, China, 7-17 August – Milla Key World MTBO Championships, Poland, 11-17 August – James Robertson, Maya Bennette World Cup Round 2/European Orienteering Championships, Belgium, 24-30 August – tba There will also be plenty of Victorians in action at the World Masters Games in Girona, Spain, August 8-15. Junior World Orienteering Championships, Italy SPRINT RELAY Once again the Aussie Juniors have blitzed the Sprint Relay at JWOC, going even better than last year with 6th place, and a podium place! The number 1 team, led out by Victorian Milla Key, were 7th team across the line, 6th country, and first non-European team. What a way to start the week! It was an incredibly exciting race from start to finish, requiring a photo finish to determine 2nd and 3rd, and just over 1 minute separating first from eighth! Read more on OA’s facebook page Results SPRINT The blistering heat continued as the juniors tackled the picturesque but hilly terrain. Henri completed his race well, finishing just inside the top half of the field – a fantastic effort in his first individual JWOC race. Milla had an unfortunate mispunch towards the end of her race, after running strongly. The team had another reason to celebrate with Australia’s second top 10 finish for the week, with Nea Shingler finishing 7th! Read more on OA’s facebook page Results LONG DISTANCE This was always going to be a physically challenging day in the mountains. After the disappointment of the Sprint, Milla was able to turn things around big time, finishing a fantastic 27th in the Long Distance to be Australia’s top performer, and the first Aussie woman to finish in the top 50 at JWOC since 2018. Henri also performed impressively on debut, again finishing comfortably midfield. The team has a well earned rest day before the final races. Read more on OA’s facebook page Results MIDDLE DISTANCE It was another brilliant day for Milla, finishing 24th in the Middle Distance race – again the best performing Aussie, and the first non-European – beating team mate Nea Shingler by just 6 seconds to give Australia two women in the top 25! Milla’s time was only 5 minutes behind the winner, showing how close this competition is, and how costly even small errors can be. Henri was once again steady on debut, and should be very pleased with his week. Only the forest relay remains – Milla is running second leg in Australia 1, while Henri will bring things home for Australia 2. Read more on OA’s facebook page Results FOREST RELAY Our Victorian juniors finished their week in fine style in the forest relay. Henri was the final runner in the Mens no 2 team, crossing the line in 36th place. Milla ran the middle leg for the Womens no 1 team, moving the team up 8 places from 19th to 11th – a remarkable achievement after a week full of remarkable achievements! The team finished in 15th position. Congratulations and well done Milla and Henri! Results JWOC The Junior World Orienteering Championships start on June 28, and there are two Victorians in the Aussie team! Milla Key and Henri du Toit will be representing their country in the Green and Gold, as they compete in Trentino, Italy in the Sprint, Sprint Relay, Middle Distance, Long Distance and Forest Relay. You can follow all the action via the JWOC Live Centre website, or through the IOF Live website for JWOC World Orienteering Championships, Finland After the highs of JWOC week, attention switches to the World Championships, in Kuopio, Finland, from July 7-12. Victorians in the Australian WOC team are Matt Doyle and Kylian Wymer, and coaches are Natasha Key and Aston Key. Milla Key is a reserve. Team members Brodie Nankervis and Caitlin Young are Victorian residents, although they compete for their home states. Follow their progress at https://orienteering.sport/event/world-orienteering-championships-2025/welcome/, with GPS tracking and live results. Team Australia Photos WOC MIDDLE DISTANCE QUALIFYING AND FINAL Matt Doyle had a fantastic qualifying race, finishing 9th in his heat and 35th overall, of the 60 runners who went through to the Final. Caitlin Young was the other Aussie qualifier, finishing 13th in her heat and 20th overall. Kylian Wymer was just out of the qualifying range, in 20th. Brodie Nankervis is not competing in the Middle Distance. Results In the Final, Matt held his position to finish 35th, while Caitlyn came in 43rd. Here’s what Matt had to say after his race: “I’m satisfied with my performance today, a few wobbles but my best WOC result. Looking forward to racing the relay on Saturday.” Results WOC LONG DISTANCE While neither of the Victorians contested the tough Long Distance, Australia achieved some excellent results, with Leith Soden and Brodie Nankervis finishing 43rd and 44th in the Mens course, and Caitlyn Young and Emily Sorenson in 38th and 48th place respectively. WOC RELAY Matt was the only Victorian to be selected for a Relay team, running the second leg. He finished in 20th place, with the Australian Mens team placing 22nd. The Aussie women improved with each leg, finishing 16th overall. Share this