Spectators

Sprint Qualification Round

Join us on Leith Links from 09:00 for the the exciting opening to the World Orienteering Championships.

The qualification races take place from 09:00 until 11:00 and, with runners starting every minute, you are assured of great views of the world’s top orienteers running in to the finish line at the race arena on the beautiful Leith Links.

With leading times separated by mere seconds, competitors must make lightning-fast decisions and execute their chosen routes without hesitation, all while running as quickly as they can.  The fastest athletes in the sprint competition have recorded 5,000 metre times on the track of under 14 minutes, so high-speed racing is guaranteed.

With courses with winning times predicted to be under 15 minutes in Leith, every second counts as athletes race to secure their place in the finals later in the day.

If you’re not too tired after watching the elite action, then you can watch the public races immediately afterwards!

Opening Ceremony & Sprint Finals

We look forward to seeing you at the Ross Bandstand in West Princes Street Gardens at 14:00 for the official opening ceremony of the World Orienteering Championships.

The Sprint race finals take place immediately afterwards from 15:00 until 18:00 and there will be plenty to do and see in Princes Street Gardens, including a free orienteering maze to have a go at!

The big screen in the gardens will supplement the live action of runners nearby so you can follow what is going on at the more distant parts of the courses.

This afternoon will see runners racing through commercial and residential areas, both historical and modern, with narrow vennels and complex housing schemes providing a variety of orienteering challenges.

This afternoon’s courses will be hillier in the centre of town but we still expect the winners to be taking less than 15 minutes to secure their gold medals.

Knock-out Sprint Qualification Race

The Knock-out Sprint race is the newest format of orienteering where athletes race several short sprints on the same day.

The Qualification Race is a short sprint race with courses that are shorter than Friday’s. The winners will take just 9 minutes to complete their courses so there is no room for error.

Runners will start every minute between 09:00 and 11:00 so there will be plenty of action to see at the race arena at Canal View Primary School in Wester Hailes.

Only the fastest runners will progress to the Finals taking place later the same day in the centre of Edinburgh.

The public races afterwards will take the form of sprint races but most people will take a little longer than the elite athletes they’ve watched earlier!

Knock-out Sprint Finals

Join us in St John’s Street, in central Edinburgh for the culmination of the World Orienteering Championships – the Knock-out Sprint Finals.

Following the qualification round, athletes select which quarter-final they would like to run in (in a pre-defined order). Usually there are 6 athletes in each quarter-final.

Quarter-finals start at 14:25 and each race takes roughly 7 minutes to complete.

The top three from each quarter-final progress to the semi-finals which start just after 16:00 and again the top three move on to the final.

The women’s final is scheduled to start just after 17:30 and the men’s final roughly 20 minutes later – they both promise to be a great spectacle to watch!

Plan to come along and see the athletes in person as they race past and watch the more remote action on the big screen with a live commentator.

The medals will be presented shortly afterwards and then the official closing ceremony will see the IOF flag passed on to the next hosts – Finland.