Sprint Knockout
The 2026 World University Orienteering Champs 28 July started with a Knockout sprint qualification elimination round in Vila Real, Portugal. The team faced very high and dry temperatures which lasted all week, but were excited to compete in the network of steep historic stone alleyways and multi-level areas.

Felix qualified through to the Knockout quarter final in oven-like conditions, finishing in third place. Because he finished in the top 12 of his heat he then progressed through to race in one of the 6 quarter finals. Zara came very close, missing qualification by just one place and 4 seconds, while Sam also ran well, finishing only 5 seconds and four places outside the qualifying positions in a competitive men’s field. Felix continued his impressive form for the NZ team placing fourth in the quarter-final, but just missing out to go through to the 3 semi final races. The knockout racing then progressed to the semi final with only the top 2 athletes moving to the final knockout event.

KO Qual results:
MENS HEAT A
3rd Felix Hunt 9:37 (+0:25)
31st Thomas Potts 11:13 (+2:01)
MENS HEAT B
16th Sam Carryer 9:56 (+0:46)
24th Fergus O’Neill 10:19 (+1:09)
MENS HEAT C
18th Jakob Knoef 10:24 (+1:04)
26th Cameron Bonar 10:41 (+1:21)

WOMENS HEAT A
31st Ciara Hoare 12:55 (+3:28)
32nd Isabella Dickie 13:44 (+4:17)
WOMENS HEAT B
34th Kyla Moore 12:55 (+3:05)
37th Lani Murray 13:58 (+4:08)
WOMENS HEAT C
13th Zara Stewart 11:01 (+0:34)
31st Alison Power 12:59 (+2:32)

KO QF result: 
4th Felix Hunt  8:30 (+0:30)

Sprint relay
The Sprint Relay was the next event taking competitors on a rollercoaster tour through the steep streets of Vila Real, with its dramatic setting high above a gorge. The hilly terrain had interesting longer route choices navigating around barriers, stairs and city walls with climbs.

France won in 1:01:26, with Guilhem Verove, the WOC gold and silver medalist, and Cécile Calandry, the 2025 European Champion in Knockout Sprint, anchoring their teams. Australia finished a strong 10th in 1:05:03. NZ team 1 with Zara, Felix, Sam and Alison placed 16th, crossing the line in 1:11:09.

Sprint relay result: 
14th NZL 1  1:11:09 (+10:15)
NZL 2  1:24:47 (+12:21)

Individual Sprint    
A great technical map for the WUOC individual Sprint with plenty of artificial barriers and tricky route choices were the order of the day, challenging many athletes throughout the field.   It felt like every control required the runners to make a choice.

Felix thought the course was planned really well and was tricky from start to finish. Some of the barriers were hard to spot and it was an awesome area.

Zara had a great run and was 17th with only a third of the course to go before some confusion over parallel features. She kept her cool in the later part of the course to pull it back and finish strong.
Sam was happy with his run losing a bit of time over barriers that seemed to appear out of nowhere!
Ciara said it took a few controls to get into the map but enjoyed it after that.

Sprint results:
WOMEN
34th Zara Stewart 17:51  (+2:01)
83rd Ciara Hoare 21:04 (+5:14)
84th Alison Power 21:12  (+5:22)
95th Isabella Dickie 23:06  (+7:16)
99th Kyla Moore 23:19  (+7:29)
100th Lani Murray 24:19   (+8:29)
MEN
37th Felix Hunt 16:34  (+1:29)
49th= Sam  Carryer16:34  (+1:29)
57th Jakob Knoef  17:06  (+2:01)
72nd Fergus O’Neill 17:32  (+2:27)
98th Thomas Potts 18:56  (+3:51)
101st Cameron Bonar 19:15  (+4:10)

Middle distance
The final event in Portugal proved to be just as warm, but the location switched to a sandy, hilly forest in a military training zone, a first for everyone. It was particularly tricky terrain with some low visibility and lots of detail not mapped. Unfortunately illness did affect a few members of the team.

Fergus said it was a hot, fast, and tricky middle distance! He struggled in the control circle and didn’t get the best exit direction on a lot of controls, but managed to keep the speed up when he could.

Ali’s focus for this race was maintaining contact with the map for the entire course. She made one silly mistake in the control circle, but otherwise had a clean race. She definitely wants to come back and run on some more Portuguese forest maps!

Isabella had such a great time on her course, she was happy to start early and beat the heat.
Thomas produced a clean run apart from a couple of costly mistakes in the control circles. Most impressive, however, was his ability to race confidently through a technically demanding course after breaking his compass on the way to the second control.

Middle results:
MEN
58th Fergus O’Neill  33:41 (+8:00)
62nd Jakob Knoef 33:58  (+8:17)
68th Cameron Bonar 35:05  (+9:24)
79th Sam Carryer  36:58   (+11:17)
97th Thomas Potts 4 3:16  (+17:35)
dns Fellx Hunt

WOMEN
50th Zara Stewart 40:56   (+11:56)
80th Alison Power 50:29   (+21:29)
88th Lani Murray 56:16   (+27:16)
97th Ciara Hoare. 1:03:35  (+34:35)
98th Kyla Moore 1:04:07 (+35:07)
99th Isabella Dickie 1:04:30  (+35:30)

Huge thanks to Sarah Stewart for the management, to Fleur & Anya Murray for daily updates and photography, and to Kieran Woods for coaching. 

Photos from the event can be found on Federação Académica do Desporto Universitário (FADU) Portugal University Sports  here
Full results can be found from Tic Tac timing here