The 2026 MTBO Season: The Year Sweden Held the Flag High

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Sweden held the MTBO flag high internationally throughout 2026. From the spring Swedish Cup opener in Haninge, via O-Ringen in Gothenburg and the Swedish Championships in Uppsala, to the World Championship week in Dalarna, the season followed a clear progression.

Haninge kicked off the cup

The domestic competition season began in May when Haninge SOK hosted the opening weekend of the Swedish Cup at Rudan. Classic Södertörn terrain with both a sprint and a long distance provided an early benchmark after winter training.

O-Ringen in Gothenburg

In July, the orienteering community gathered in Gothenburg for O-Ringen. A strong field including many international riders took part. Among them, the Swiss national team travelled to Gothenburg to compete in Sweden and prepare ahead of the World Championships.

Although the hilly west-coast terrain and rocky trails differed considerably from the pine heaths waiting in Dalarna later in the summer, the international riders valued the opportunity to get high-tempo competition in Sweden.

Swedish Championships weekend in Uppsala

In mid-August, IF Thor and MTBO Uppland hosted the 2026 Swedish Championships . The weekend featured two competitions on Saturday and one on Sunday:

• Saturday morning: Middle distance at OK Linné's clubhouse with quick decisions in a dense trail network.
• Saturday afternoon: Sprint in a university campus and parkland setting at SLU and Ultuna.
• Sunday: A demanding long distance in Nåsten where endurance and clean route choices proved decisive.

Taking place just over a week before the World Championships, the weekend attracted strong international riders from France, Czechia, Austria and Japan looking for final preparation in Sweden.

World and Junior World Championships in Mora

The centrepiece of the season was the World and Junior World Championships in Mora at the end of August, staged in the pine-heath terrain around Arena Hemus and Moraparken.

The organising team led by Klaus Csúcs put in dedicated long-term work to give all participants well-prepared competitions. Delivering a World Championship requires sustained commitment from volunteers and local clubs, and the event in Mora demonstrated strong Swedish organising capability.

Competitors had differing views on the technical difficulty of the courses. Some found the navigation relatively straightforward to read, while others found it tricky. In practice, much came down to physical form and riding speed. At full speed, sharp focus was needed at every track junction to avoid costly mistakes, requiring a constant balance between pushing the pace and easing off slightly to keep full control of the map reading.

Alongside the championship classes, three days of open public races were held on the same maps, giving recreational and masters riders the chance to cycle in the same terrain.

Swedish medals in Mora

Swedish riders delivered strong results during the championship week in Mora:

• Gabriella Gustafsson won four World Championship medals on home soil in the women's elite class: individual gold medals in both the middle and long distance, silver in the sprint, and silver in the women's relay.
• The women's relay team of Tilda Palm, Elvira Larsson and Gabriella Gustafsson claimed World Championship silver.
• Joel Holmgård won all three individual disciplines in the junior men's class (JWMTBOC), taking three gold medals across the sprint, middle and long distance.
• Signe Feil won a medal in every individual discipline in the junior women's class (JWMTBOC): silver in the sprint, silver in the middle distance and bronze in the long distance.

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Pine-heath terrain and fast trails at Hemus in Mora

Signe Feil cornering on her way to a JWMTBOC medal

Finish-line sprint at Arena Hemus

Team spirit in the Swedish junior squad

Podium ceremony at Moraparken

Klaus Csúcs and the organising team analysing GPS tracks

Photo: Swedish Orienteering Federation

The 2026 Swedish Cup

While international guests featured near the top of the results during the Swedish Championships weekend, the overall 2026 Swedish Cup standings rewarded riders who competed consistently across the domestic season.

Overall winners of the 2026 Swedish Cup:

• M21: Rasmus Nordgren, OK Kåre
• W21: Gabriella Gustafsson, IKHP Huskvarna
• M17–20: Joel Holmgård, Kils OK
• W17–20: Signe Feil, Sundsvalls OK

Looking ahead to 2027

As we close the 2026 season, preparations are already in place for 2027. The new season starts in April with MTBO Camp and the Swedish Cup in Skåne (14–18 April), followed by Karlskrona and the first Swedish Championship weekend in Falun in May, MTBO at O-Ringen in Stockholm in July, and Sätervurpan and the second Swedish Championship weekend in Tranemo in August.