#61 – Why Sprint Orienteering Will Ruin Your Life

This episode is all about debriefing the Sprint European Championships in Belgium. From the chaos of a 50% disqualification rate in the sprint relay to the all-important question of who could actually beat Natalia Gemperle in an arm wrestle, we’ve got it covered.We also dive into our own EOC experiences: Tim didn’t even make it to all the start lines, Magnus collected more “thanks for coming” treatment in the qualifiers, and Ralph… well, Ralph couldn’t stop ranting about perceived injustices.

The boys are back with a deep dive into the one discipline that ruins friendships and makes grown men cry: sprint orienteering. With EOC 2025 in Belgium fast approaching, we bravely attempt to sound like we know what we’re talking about when it comes to sprint technique. Naturally, it all goes downhill into a full-blown apology section (again).

This is a different episode from the usual because of the tragic events at the World Games where the Italian athlete Mattia Debertolis lost his life

Two weeks ago, all three of us were in the same room in Denmark, talking O-Ringen, the World Games, and the end of sprint camp. We recorded gold. Pure, unfiltered podcast magic.Then we… didn’t release it.Now Tim’s missing, Magnus and Ralph are winging it with a half-baked recap of Belgium’s EOC test races before awkwardly tacking on that “lost” episode at the end.Think of it as time-travel podcasting — if time-travel also involved bad editing and questionable life choices.

The boys are back for a (late) post-WOC debrief and other shenanigans. Crashing Magnus´ parents house and recording together in person for the first time went just as well as you’d expect, with Magnus deleting 2 hours of recording. More apologies are made before diving into all the drama from the WOC middle, long, and relay.We discuss the promotion/relegation, and Tim celebrates his forest PB. Statman Ralph fires off some WOC facts. Plus, a quick look at EYOC – who shined in the long, sprint, and relay?

As the boys are scattered across three time zones, it's a miracle this episode even got made. Magnus wins the Danish KO Champs (possibly after visiting the embargo?), Ralph defends his 17:30 5km, and Tim fears his WOC races will end up on @orienteeringmistakes.With a hectic summer race schedule, we try to unpack the chaos of JWOC—just wrapped up in Italy—while also looking ahead to WOC, which starts tomorrow. It’s been thrilling to follow the rise of future orienteering stars, and now we turn our attention to the biggest races of the year in Finland.

We wrap up the first World Cup round of the season with shouting Swedes, a synced relay, and lots of mistakes. Ralph watched from home and Magnus and Tim give their first hand experiences.Then it’s all eyes on Italy: JWOC kicks off! Also in this episode: memes, map nerdery, and a lot of apologies.

We recap the madness of Jukola: Koovee heartbreak, FTOK glory, French Bracass vibes, and midnight media chaos. Then it's off to Idre World Cup, where two tired boys sit in a Skoda, wondering what the Swedes were doing in the embargo...The night was long, the drama was longer. We have a connoisseur's collection of clips to help you comprehend the chaos. The planner speaks to us about the tough courses, we have immediate reaction from runners fresh out of the forest, and we have reflections from some of the top teams afterwards.Plus: WOC speculation, orienteering mistakes, and memes we probably shouldn’t post.

The Jukola/Venla preview episode is here, now with some actual reasoning behind our decision making! Find out if your favourite team has made our top 10 this time and if not, you can request an apology from us next episodeTim has been spying on World Cup quarantines. Magnus has been hunting for Danish forests that look like Idre. Ralph is preparing for Mikkeli, but his Jukola is going to look a little bit different from normal. Also in this episode: more apologies, Magnus struggles with his English, and we have injury updates from all. The usual stuff then!

Bracass energy only. Isn’t that kind of the whole point of Orienteer Pod? Not too serious, not too credible — but maybe a few laughs. Episode 53 delivers exactly that.Magnus visits Ralph and questions his domestic habits. There’s banana eating, broken French arms, and broken Kiwi ankles, as Tim finds out the hard way that recovering from one injury just means that you are closer to the next one.We chat about the French Bracass Jukola team, debate whether to save more Jukola talk for a proper pre-race show, and send out some long-overdue apologies. Meanwhile, Miloš Nykodým once again finds himself in a standoff with a stick.Plus: receding hairlines, tricky dilemmas, weird things to find while orienteering — and much more.