Poll: Orienteering Achievement of 2015 - Women

» Runner profile Ida Bobach

    Vote for Ida Bobach

Story
Ida Bobach won three Long distance titles at the Junior World Championships between 2009 and 2011 along with four other JWOC Gold medals and 5 other JWOC medals. Since then she has worked very hard and climbed step by step into the international elite - taking two Silver medals at WOC Middle and getting several Top 3 results in the World Cup. At the end of 2014 Bobach took her first World Cup victory - at the World Cup final Middle distance in Switzerland, and then her first World Cup victory on the Long distance in spring 2015. The fantastic achievements at the World Championships are the result of a lot of hard work over many, many years - crowned with her first two WOC Gold medals at WOC in Scotland.

» Runner profile Maja Alm

    Vote for Maja Alm

Story
Alm was among the fastest runners in the orienteering elite earlier, but in August at WOC in Scotland she had clearly taken another step. With her running speed she could afford to make big mistakes and still win - instead she ran an excellent technical races and won with big margins. The margin in the individual Sprint was 40 seconds - one of the biggest margins in the history of WOC Sprints. Compare that to the margin between the 2nd and 7th place of 17 seconds. The last leg of the Sprint Relay she won with "only" 10 seconds - but with a winning margin of more than a minute for Denmark, Alm did not have to push all the way. Finally she won the first leg in the WOC Relay with more than a minute - again simply running away from the competition. Even though 2015 was clearly the best season in her career, it was the best SO FAR. We can be quite sure that there is more to come...

» Runner profile Annika Billstam

    Vote for Annika Billstam

Story
Others may have won more medals, but the way Annika won her Gold medal in Scotland is really worth remembering. In most of the 2015 season Annika Billstam did not look like a potential World Champion. Mistakes, mistakes, mistakes - and the speed was not really there either. A 57th(!) and 12th place in the World Cup races in Norway and Sweden in the Sprint tells part of that story. Before the start of the WOC Middle she was an outsider - the preview said "if she gets into her championships mode anything can happen - even another Gold medal". And amazingly Billstam did just that - taking the second Gold medal in a row. One of the biggest surprises at the World Championships in Scotland when looking at the results in the 2015 season. And the remainder of the season? DSQ and 22nd place at the World Cup final in Switzerland...

» Runner profile Merja Rantanen

    Vote for Merja Rantanen

Story
Rantanen had always been just outside the medals at the individual races in the World Championships until she took a very popular Bronze medal on home ground in 2013 with the biggest smile of them all. Rantanen took off most of the 2014 season to give birth to her second child. Back at the international scene for WOC in Scotland in 2015 she was again a big surprise when many of the pre-race favourites failed. This time she even climbed another step up on the podium to 2nd place - her best ever individual WOC result and a new highlight of her career.

» Runner profile Mari Fasting

    Vote for Mari Fasting

Story
Fasting is a double junior world champion from 2005 who took the step directly into the senior elite with a 6th place on the Middle distance in WOC 2006. Missed WOC 2007 after a nasty injury to her ear during the a World Cup Long distance race in Sweden, and it took several years before she was back again on top level. Has since worked very hard to get an individual medal at the World Championships, and was very close at WOC in Italy in 2014 where she finished 4th on the Long distance and 5th on the Middle distance - along with another bitter 4th place at the Relay with the Norwegian team. At the start of the 2015 season in Tasmania she showed that she had reached a higher level with her best World Cup result ever - a 2nd place at the Middle distance - putting high pressure on herself ahead of WOC. Full of joy after achieving her goal with a Silver medal at the WOC Long distance in Scotland. Also: Important part of Norway's silver medal at the relay after a strong 2nd leg.

» Runner profile Galina Vinogradova

    Vote for Galina Vinogradova

Story
At her debut in the World Championships in 2008 in Czech Republic Vinogradova performed very well and finished 4th in the Sprint. Since then Vinogradova spent 7 years struggling against difficult circumstances to pass the way from the 4th place to the medal. On the way she became the first ever Russian woman to win a World Cup event in Sprint in 2010 - and got two children. Vinogradoa was also part of the Russian World Games Relay team who won Gold in 2009 and part of the Russian Sprint Relay team that won Bronze at the World Championships in Italy in 2014.

» Runner profile Tove Alexandersson

    Vote for Tove Alexandersson

Story
Alexandersson dominated the start of the season, winning all three World Cup races in Tasmania in January. When the World Cup moved to Norway and Sweden in May, she continued with a 2nd place at the Long distance in Halden and a 4th place at the Middle distance in Munkeby - taking a very clear lead in the overall World Cup. Even at the Sprint qualification in Scotland were Alexandersson won her heat everything looked like the Swede was going to be one of the dominating runners in the World Championships. However, a foot injury which Alexandersson got at O-Ringen just ahead of the World Championships proved to make it impossible for Alexandersson to compete at most of WOC. She only managed a start at the Long distance, but without a top result. In the end the overall World Cup was to be decided at the World Cup final in Arosa with Alexandersson as last starter. The Swede got the wrong map and was allowed to restart the race after noticing on the first control. Alexandersson did not win the race after the restart, but the race was good enough for overall World Cup victory.

» Runner profile Nadiya Volynska

    Vote for Nadiya Volynska

Story
The big positive surprise in the womens class in 2013: Coming from "nowhere" and Winning Bronze in the World Games Middle, fourth place in the World Games Sprint and proving that Colombia was no coincidence by taking third place in the World Cup final Middle distance in Switzerland. Volynska continued to work hard, and took another step with a Silver medal at the European Championships Sprint in 2014. In 2015 the Ukrainian ran herself into the top orienteering elite with a Silver medal at the World Championships Sprint, a 6th place at WOC Middle, a 9th place at WOC Long and two second places in the World Cup.