JEC 2026: Relay Results

The 2026 Junior European Cup kicked off today with the relay in the (rather bramble-filled) forest of Willbrig in central Switzerland. On a day where the host nation took the victory in the men’s and women’s classes, the British team delivered strong performances to place as 8th nation in the men’s category and 11th nation in the women’s category.

Jocie Hilton, who ran last leg for GBR1, said that she pushed hard on the many tracks and paths the runners encountered, and that she enjoyed finding some tracks laid by earlier orienteers through some of the rougher sections of terrain. Jocie conceded that although racing in this forest was perhaps type two fun, she did really enjoy that she was in a competitive, closely matched pack of women throughout the last leg, something that is not always expected so late on in the race.

Michael Bishenden ran first leg for GBR2 and described his run as strong, commenting that he could maintain the speed of the front pack throughout the course. Despite some small mistakes in the more intricate, forked sessions, he finished the leg strongly to hand over not far off the lead. Michael also noted that this performance marked a step up from his run at JEC 2025 relay in Scotland, which bodes extremely well for the future.

Tomorrow the action moves south into the foothills of the alps as the British athletes will tackle a sprint in the village of Sörenberg which promises to offer some varying terrain types and plenty of climb!