Best of Orienteering

Poll: Orienteering Achievement of 2012 - Women

Note! This poll is closed for voting! You can still see the nominees below.

Welcome to the poll for the Orienteering Achievement of 2012 - Women, organized by World of O. The poll will be open from December 4th until December 10th.
Instructions: Tick off for your favourite, and submit your vote at the bottom of the page.
Note! You can recommend your favourite to your friends on Facebook by clicking the "Recommend" button below each nominated athlete.

» Runner profile Simone Niggli

    Vote for Simone Niggli

Simone Niggli
Nominated for
Unbeatable after childbirth break: Victory in 11 of 13 World Cup races, 3 EOC gold medals, 3 WOC gold medals, winner of overall World Cup and winner of Nordic Orienteering Tour.

Story
At EOC in May Simone Niggli made her comeback on international level after being away from orienteering in 2011 due childbirth. After her previous childbirth in 2009 Niggli struggled with the technique in the first races - this time the Swiss superstar had learned her lesson and was close to unbeatable! What a comeback season: Victory in 11 of 13 World Cup races, 3 EOC gold medals, 3 WOC gold medals, winner of overall World Cup and winner of Nordic Orienteering Tour. Niggli was dominating before, but this year she has taken it to yet another level. Knowing that she runs faster and orienteers better than the rest of the women field in 95 of 100 cases, Niggli has a self confidence that makes her stand out. This autumn Niggli decided to continue chasing for medals - at least Finland in 2013 and probably also Italy in 2014. - My enjoyment and motivation for high performance sport is still huge, I can feel that in me, says Niggli about her decision.

» Runner profile Tove Alexandersson

    Vote for Tove Alexandersson

Tove Alexandersson
Nominated for
Still a junior - winning WOC middle distance silver in the senior class and anchoring the Swedish WOC relay team to silver medals.

Story
In 2011 Tove Alexandersson was only allowed to run the relay at the World Championships in the senior class. That gave Alexandersson her first WOC medal - a bronze. This year Alexandersson got two chances in the senior WOC - giving her two medals. A silver medal in the middle distance - and a silver medal in the relay. In the relay the young Swede - still being a junior - anchored the Swedish team, securing a popular medal for the Swedish team. Still very young - but also very strong mentally! Add to this her 5th place in the overall World Cup, 2 gold medals and one silver medal at the Junior World Championships, and a lot of top positions in ski-orienteering - and you’ve got to take of your hat for what this Swedish junior has achieved!



    Vote for Swiss WOC Relay Team

Swiss WOC Relay Team
Nominated for
WOC relay gold for the Swiss: Judith Wyder and Ines Brodmann served Simone Niggli perfectly - Niggli took the gold home.

Story
The Swiss women have been working hard towards the big goal: The WOC relay at home ground in Switzerland. And all the way from the start, the Swiss women showed the world (and Switzerland) that Swiss female orientering is not only about Simone Niggli. Judith Wyder and Ines Brodmann served Niggli perfectly - sending Niggli out into the forest in second position on the last leg. Niggli had a minute to catch up leading Sweden - and a secure gap of more than two minutes down to the rest of the field. A very special title for Niggli - and a great achievement by a team which performed at its best the day it really counted!

» Runner profile Emma Klingenberg

    Vote for Emma Klingenberg

Emma Klingenberg
Nominated for
Still a junior, knocking out all of the World orienteering elite in the NORT KnockOut sprint taking her first World Cup victory. Also: 3 x Top 3 in the NORT sprint races!

Story
Nominated for the Ultimate Junior of 2008 after being the youngest Junior World Orienteering champion ever, winning the sprint distance at JWOC in Gothenburg in 2008. In 2012 the fast Danish runner is still a junior - but now she fights in the very top in the sprint in the senior class. With her victory in the KnockOut-sprint in Göteborg in the Nordic Orienteering Tour, Klingenberg was one of two women beating Simone Niggli in World Cup races this year. In addition to the KnockOut sprint, Klingenberg finished second in the first sprint race in NORT and 3rd in the last sprint race in NORT. Add to that a 6th place at the sprint at the European Championships. A pretty amazing achievement by a junior!

» Runner profile Emily Kemp

    Vote for Emily Kemp

Emily Kemp
Nominated for
First North American JWOC or WOC medal with her JWOC bronze at the long distance in Slovakia.

Story
- There are no limits to dream, Thierry Gueorgiou told in an interview with the Portuguese Orienteering Blog in March this year. - We have the case, for example, of this great little orienteer from Canada, Emily Kemp, who is part of our training group. [...] When you dream and when you work to achieve the results, you can get there.
Then in July the dream of Emily Kemp came through - a medal in the JWOC long distance. Achieving the dream was a result of tough choices and a lot of hard work! - At 18 it was a big, huge, really scary deal moving all the way across the ocean; I remember saying goodbye to my family, walking through the security gates with a one way ticket to France and thinking "what on earth have I gotten myself into"?

» Runner profile Minna Kauppi

    Vote for Minna Kauppi

Minna Kauppi
Nominated for
From illness to WOC gold - a short way from the bottom to the top! Gold in WOC middle - second overall in the World Cup and three more WOC and EOC medals!

Story
When she finds the fighting-spirit, she’s unbeatable. When she fails, she does it in the most entertaining ways! 2012 did not start well for the Finnish superstar Minna Kauppi. Months of illness is not easy for an elite athlete - and when the heart is not OK it is even tougher. Here is what Kauppi wrote on her blog in the middle of January: - I'm lost. I've got no map and my compass is broken. I've probably had (or still have) an iflammation in my heart muscle. Even though EKG and ultrasounds are more or less normal and even the other tests only show minor symptoms, my head knows that my heart's not okay. There's no chance for Sports at the moment, but I've been testing some lighter excercises instead. Two months later, Kauppi reported to be running for real again. Another two months, and she took one silver and one bronze medal back to Finland from EOC. At WOC Kauppi looked fully recovered, beating the “unbeatable” Simone Niggli in the middle distance. Add to that a silver medal in the long distance and a second place in the overall World Cup. A short way from the bottom to the top!



    Vote for Russia EOC Relay Team

Russia EOC Relay Team
Nominated for
Historical relay victory: The first gold medal ever for the Russian women - winning the EOC relay. Natalia Efimova, Svetlana Miranova and Tatiana Riabkina.

Story
- It is so important medal for us because we never got a gold medal. We have some silver and bronze in relay but never gold. Even in individual races we don’t have any gold, so for us it is really big event, anchor woman Tatiana Riabkina revealed to the EOC interviewer after the historical gold medal. The women’s EOC relay race at Lugnet arena was full of surprises and drama. Natalia Efimova and Svetlana Miranova served Riabkina a very good starting position: After the second leg, Switzerland was in the lead with one and half minute ahead of chasing teams of Finland, Russia, and Sweden. Riabkina proved yet again that she is one of the very best orienteers in the world. In the last meters the Russian sprinted away from Minna Kauppi - making this one of the absolute highlights of her career! - We were so surprised that she could run so fast, faster than Minna, impossible! But she did it, Mironova smiled after the race.

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