The 2016 World Universities Orienteering Championships starts this Sunday (31 July 2016) in Miskolc, Hungary.

The first race is the Sprint race at Lillafüred. Lillafüred is a popular tourist resort including hotels, lakes and gardens which should make for an exciting race.

The team is a good mix of experience and neo-seniors all looking to either achieve top results and race against some of the top seniors in the world.

The full programme is as follows and can be followed at the WUOC website http://wuoc2016.hu/

1. Sprint Race (Sunday 31st July)
2. Long Distance Race (Monday 1st August)
3. Mixed Sprint Relay (Tuesday 2nd August)
4. Middle Distance Race (Wednesday 3rd August)
5. Relay A team/B team (Thursday 4th August)

Charlotte Ward (Sprint, Mixed Sprint Relay), says:  "The World University Champs are going to be a fantastic experience, and are such a unique set of races. It will be great to race against my peers from other countries and interesting to see the rising stars of the future. The whole GB team is really strong and we are looking forward to producing stand-out performances to take forward to this year’s World Orienteering Championships, and competitions beyond. I am so excited to have the chance to race in Hungary, and hope that we can make all of our coaches and supporters proud!" 

Kris Jones (Sprint, Mixed Sprint Relay, Middle and Relay), commented:  "I am looking forward to the World University Orienteering Championships. Not only do they promise to be exciting, high quality races with strong competition, but they also give me a chance to represent my university and British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) on a global stage. Through my sporting career university sport has been vital to my continued improvement as an athlete and as such I have great pride in representing BUCS in these championships. I hope I can deliver performances which reflect the high standard of support I have received throughout my time at university."

Thanks to BUCS, British Orienteering, Individual institutions, Noname (team competition kit), Kukri (team leisure wear) and 100%Me for their support.

The full team this year and their disciplines are below:

Team Manager: Ed Nicholas

Coach: Mark Nixon

Physio: Jack Dawkins (University of Bath)

Item posted by Jennie Taylor, Marketing Manager on behalf of Ed Nichols, Team Manager.