Leader of the Pack

This week sees the Junior World Orienteering Championships (JWOC) 2026, taking place in Karlskrona, Sweden, from 29 June to 4 July. The championship programme includes the Sprint, Sprint Relay, Long Distance, Middle Distance and Relay races.

Among the athletes representing Great Britain is our own SN runner, Jocie Hilton, who was one of six women selected for the GB team.

Today (3 July) features the Middle Distance race, held in Bussevik on the Torhamn Peninsula. The terrain consists of pine, oak and beech forest interspersed with open rock surfaces that offer fast running and demanding route-choice decisions. With generally high runnability and a largely flat landscape, the courses place a premium on technical precision, concentration, and smooth navigation.

Jocie had an early start at 9:03 a.m. local time and immediately set the pace in the fast, technically challenging terrain. It appears that all her recent training, dedication and the support of her coach paid off, as she crossed the finish line in the fastest time of the day. This earned her the honour of taking the leader's chair and the attention of the television cameras (which if only for a short time, so early in the day, is a place many athletes never get to experience) leaving the rest of the field to chase her time. Well done Jocie for eventually being in the top half of the field at the end of the day.