June 29-July 4, 2026
The US sent a full team of six young men and six young women to this year’s Junior World Orienteering Championships, which took place in Karlskrona, Sweden.
Read all about the event from the athletes’ perspective in the US Orienteering Team’s blog.
Sprint and Sprint Relay
All photos by Evalin Brautigam
The 2026 JWOC competition week kicked off with the Sprint competition in Trossö, the historic centre of Karlskrona. The courses proved challenging, as the organizers used artificial barriers to make selecting a route a little bit tricker.
The Mixed Sprint Relay is a race between teams of four athletes–two women and two men—in a fast, head-to-head competition with a total winning time of under one hour. The top US team was USA 2, with Sophie Howes, Mori Finlayson-Johnecheck, Mikhail Biryukov, and Anna Green, coming in 48th.
- Sprint Results
- Livelox Sprint
- Sprint Relay Results
- Sprint relay maps legs 1 & 4 and legs 2 & 3
- Photo album by Evalin Brautigam
- Organizer albums Sprint | Sprint Relay
Long and Middle
The individual forest races took place in typical western Swedish terrain, which is to say that it was pretty tough! The women faced a 9.9 km course and the men a 12.6 km course, and the transition from sprint the day before to a long day in the forest was a challenging one for many.
- Long Results Men | Women
- Livelox Long
- Middle Results Men | Women
- Livelox Middle
- Photo album by Evalin Brautigam
- Organizer albums Long | Middle
Relay
The final race of 2026 JWOC was the forest relay, which consists of teams of three men and three women, racing separately. The best US women’s team finished 24th , while the best US men’s Team finished 21st.