Last week the 2026 World Orienteering Championships took place in Genoa, Italy. WOC alternates between sprint and forest disciplines each year, and this year was a Sprint WOC.
WOC is the pinnacle of the orienteering calendar, and team GB athletes had been preparing for over 2 years, starting with a World Cup in Genoa in 2024, followed by various training camps, competitions, physical training and endless map-geeking since. The Genoa urban terrain is typified by many narrow streets and alleyways, in a relatively hilly city with many steps and changes in level. The course setters also made use of barriers to increase the route choice, leading to high quality competition across all the sprint disciplines.
Team GB comprised a mixture of experienced athletes plus senior WOC debuts from Imogen Pieters and Eddie Narbett. Unfortunately, Ralph Street who had been selected was unable to travel due to illness, with his races being covered from within the rest of the team.
Individual Sprint
The championships opened with the individual sprint qualifier and final on the same day in Sestri Ponente, to the west of Genoa. The courses were relentlessly technical from the start needing careful route choice and flawless execution. There were three heats each for men and women, with the top 15 in each heat progressing to the final. In our men's team, all of Eddie Narbett, Nathan Lawson and Peter Molloy put in solid performances to qualify comfortably in 8th, 9th and 9th respectively in their heats. In the women’s races, Grace Molloy and Cecilie Andersen qualified in 10th and 14th respectively, with Imogen Pieters sadly missing out on qualification.
After recovering and keeping cool - a key theme for the week in over 30 degrees heat every day - the individual sprint finals took place in a similar area using the same arena. Top GB result in the individual sprint was Grace Molloy in 19th.
Women Sprint Final Results
- 19th Grace Molloy
- 37th Cecilie Andersen
Men Sprint Final Results
- 27th Eddie Narbett
- 29th Nathan Lawson
- 30th Peter Molloy
Images below: Peter Molloy, Grace Molloy. Credit: Rob Lines.
Knock-Out Sprint
The week continued with the knock-out sprint, which comprises a qualification round of three heats for each of men and women, with the top 12 in each heat progressing through quarter finals, semi finals and final. After the individual sprint, Eddie Narbett and Grace Molloy continued their steady form to qualify in 6th and 12th, while and Imogen Pieters bounced back to qualify in 11th - a great result for her WOC team debut. It was a nail-biting wait for the others but sadly it was not to be for Fiona Bunn, Peter Molloy and Freddie Carcas who all missed out on qualification.
The next day, the competition moved to the centre of Genoa for the knock-out sprint finals. KOS finals are characterised by intense head-to-head racing, with butterfly loops, arena passages, and map flips designed to break up the flow; focussed navigation and disciplined execution are required throughout. Three qualify from each of the six quarter finals to progress to the semis. Sadly, this was the end of the road for our athletes, with Grace and Eddie narrowly missing out in 4th, and Imogen finishing 6th in her race.
Women's Knockout Sprint Finals Results
- Grace Molloy 4th in quarter final
- Imogen Pieters 6th in quarter final
Men's Knockout Sprint Finals Results
- Eddie Narbett 4th in quarter final
Images below: Eddie Narbett & Grace Molloy. Credit: Rob Lines.
Mixed Sprint Relay
The final competition was the mixed sprint relay, with one team per nation, and running order woman - man - man - woman. Unfortunately, Peter Molloy had been taken ill after the KO sprint qualification race, so Eddie Narbett and Nathan Lawson stepped into the team to replace Peter and Ralph Street who had originally been selected, with Imogen Pieters and Grace Molloy completing the team. The courses visited a new part of the city, with some brutal climbing to an intricate park, down and up another big hill by sprint standards, and finishing through narrow streets and artificial barriers back to the arena. This is the ultimate test, racing head-to-head against the very best in the world, and making precise orienteering decisions while in oxygen debt from the heat, the climbs and the speed of the top runners. Unfortunately, Imogen on first leg took some wrong alleyways and lost contact with the leading pack, but the whole team kept pushing throughout the course, finishing 16th overall.
Mixed Sprint Relay results
- Leg 1: Imogen Pieters - 22nd on leg
- Leg 2: Eddie Narbett - 18th on leg, handing over in 19th
- Leg 3: Nathan Lawson - 13th on leg, handing over in 17th
- Leg 4 Grace Molloy - 10th on leg, finishing in 16th
Image below: Imogen Pieters in the Sprint Relay. Credit: Rob Lines.
British Orienteering would like to congratulate every athlete on their performances and the dedication shown in preparing for WOC.
Also, thank you to the staff in Genoa (Duncan and Pippa Archer, Emil Wingstedt, Andy Kitchin), all the staff, coaches, friends and family who supported the athletes during the build-up to the races, to Rob and Ed Lines for their social media coverage during the week, to the GBR supporters who travelled to Genoa to cheer on the team each day, and to the organisers and volunteers in Italy for delivering an excellent World Orienteering Championships.
Full results, splits, maps and tracking can be found in the IOF live center: https://orienteering.sport/event/world-orienteering-championships-2026/
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