If you haven’t been to O-Ringen before, it is the world’s largest multi-day orienteering event, held annually in July in Sweden. It features five stages of orienteering races, each on a different map. It’s a truly iconic experience for orienteers of all ages and levels as you are in amongst the largest orienteering competition globally. Here is a brief run-down of the event this year, with some placings for those in the top 60. It was an was extra special event this year with Felix Hunt placing first on the podium in the elite sprint race. 

It feels more like a festival or Olympics for orienteers. Apart from the competition there is also a massive shopping area which is so large it is more like a trade show. There is childcare, string courses & labyrinths for young ones, and an ‘orienteering school’ for those who want to freshen up their skills. Each day has 9-10 starts with a sponsor or host for each start. It is advertised on your bib, so it is easy to recognise, and regulars will tell you there are also often long walks to the start. O-Ringen also has die-hard fans. Greta spoke to a man on a bus heading to an event who told her it was his 52nd consecutive O-Ringen event! 

PRE O-RINGEN  
Indoor sprint. In a 6 floor science block with the first two controls gently easing you into it, then a very hard 3rd control in which the route took you to the very top, then the bottom and up another four floors. In the evening a youth sprint relay for juniors with lots of spectators watching and cheering.

ETAPP / DAY 1 Arena Odensjö South of Jönköping
It was a rather warm start – 29 degrees for a long event with lots of marshes and the programme describes it as a ‘patchwork of different terrain types’ with varying amount of crags, stones and knolls and hills with ‘sharp’ features and a variety of tracks. The running was a bit slower due to the blueberry bushes, heather & bracken. Tane says he took the first event cautiously, choosing a few tracks , so he had a relatively smooth run.

DAY 1 Results:
14 Felix Hunt M20E – PAPO
26 Tane Cambridge M40 – PAPO
35 Greta Knarston W35 Short – PAPO
37 Martin Crosby M65 – AKL OC
38 Martin Peat M40 Short – PAPO
57 Lisa Haycock W35 Short – OBOP

ETAPP / DAY 2 Same area as yesterday
A middle event so more technical than the first day and more blueberries in the undergrowth. Those who went north on the first day went south today and vice versa. The north version started by climbing onto a detailed hill. The south version had flatter areas and steeper and higher hills.  

DAY 2 RESULTS:
7 Felix Hunt M20E – PAPO
30 Greta Knarston W35 Short – PAPO
39 Tane Cambridge M40 – PAPO
53 Martin Peat M40 Short – PAPO
54 Martin Crosby M65 – AKL OC

REST DAY / ELITE SPRINT was a Husqvarna sprint for the elites (20E & 21E) and another indoor orienteering course for others in a five level building, with once again a tricky 3rd control.  This is where it all came together for Felix with a podium win. He had not been feeling well during JWOC, up against the top Scandinavians on their own terrain Felix nailed it. Felix says it was quite blocky town centre, and technical course with lots of barriers, “you were always changing direction… I did not put too much pressure on myself, it was really fun and  such a cool experience”. He remembers all the Australian and Kiwi fans screaming down the finish chute, so he knew he was in the lead, “I don’t think I’ll ever forget it”. The announcer almost called him out as An Australian on the podium, but it was rectified, very quickly.

ELITE SPRINT RESULTS:
1 Felix Hunt M20E  – PAPO
23 Jakob Knoef M20E – PAPO / ESPOON SUNNTA (FIN)
56 Riley Croxford M20E – NOC
71 Phoebe Hunt W20E – PAPO
MP Sam Carryer M20E – AKL OC

ETAPP / DAY 3
And a new area to start from using Arena Tenhult south east of city of Jönköping in Småland Forest which was more open and sparse. It was a middle distance that had more hills and a lot fewer marshes. The programme describes it as ‘steep and runnable mature forest [that] is mixed with plantation and a good track network.  

DAY 3 RESULTS:
10 Greta Knarston W35 Short – PAPO
22 Tane Cambridge M40 – PAPO
40 Sara Prince (Etappstart Black 5.0) – PAPO
43 Martin Peat M40 Short – PAPO
52 James Wright M18 – PAPO
56 Riley Coxford M20E – NOC
58 Martin Crosby HM5 – AKL OC

ETAPP / DAY 4
Arena Månsarp south of Jönköping ‘encompassing every stage of forestry work”. It was a long event with mixture of terrain more hilly than the first two days but moderately hilly with vague contours near the finish. You needed differing speeds to match the terrain. Tane says the end of the course was almost like sections on sand dunes terrain in Woodhill – without the sand!

DAY 4 RESULTS:
6 Felix Hunt M21E – PAPO
20 Greta Knarston W35 Short – PAPO
25 Martin Crosby M65 – AKL OC
28 Tane Cambridge M40 – PAPO
44 Martin Peat M40 Short – PAPO
45 Leo Croxford M18 – NOC
53 Jakob Knoef M20E – PAPO / ESPOON SUNNTA (FIN)

ETAPP / DAY 5 Arena Månsarp again for another long distance to finish the week running west and north of the arena. It was a chasing start courses with courses  going through spruce and cultivated areas. Felix was super happy to start head to head racing against many athletes he competed against in JWOC.  The terrain features a magnetic rock which the elites passed by. Tane had very similar leg to the one he did in 20O5 on the same map, and 20 years ago it was leg 4-5 and  he took 12.01 mins. This year the leg was similar taking him 12.34 mins to run.

DAY 5 RESULTS: (these are the stage time results – in some cases these are different to the overall result):
10 Greta Knarston W35 Short – PAPO
13 Felix Hunt M21E- PAPO
29 Tane Cambridge M40 – PAPO
31 Jakob Knoef M20E – PAPO / ESPOON SUNNTA (FIN)
48 Martin Peat M40 Short – PAPO
59 Lisa Haycock W35 Short – OBOP
59 Phoebe Hunt W20E – PAPO

The final standout moment from O-Ringen was Felix finishing 6th overall across all stages  –  a truly special achievement, made even more meaningful as it marked his final race as a Junior Elite. “I was buzzing for ages afterwards,” Felix said, reflecting on his Elite Sprint and the overall experience. “O-Ringen is such a unique event – it’s bigger than anything we have in New Zealand. The forest was amazing to run through, really soft underfoot, and the terrain and maps were just insane.”