Keen competition in World Masters Championships

Keen competition in World Masters Championships

Ski orienteers aged 35 and upwards took part this week in the World Masters SkiO Championships, held in conjunction with the European SkiO Championships in Lenzerheide, Switzerland. Kyösti Jäppinen from Finland was the oldest gold medal winner, competing in the class for men aged 85 and older.

Ninety-five men and thirty-nine women competed for the World Masters titles. Two sets of medals were on offer, the first on the combined results from two Middle Distance races and the second being a single Long Distance race. Several competitors showed their superior strength in both formats and went home with two gold medals. As is often the case, Finland demonstrated that it is a very active ski orienteering nation with many of the gold medals taking the long journey north.

2015 World Masters Ski Orienteering Champions

(* indicates champion in both Middle and Long; M = Middle, L = Long)

W35  Lubova Pavlukova LAT *

W40  Ursi Ruppenthal SUI *

W45  Virpi Palmen FIN *

W50  Rita Linko FIN *

W55  Kirsi Kihlström FIN *

W60  Renate Tröβe GER (M), Irina Stepanova RUS (L)

W65  Tamara Bortnovskaia RUS (M), Tatiana Svistun RUS (L)

W70  Sharon Crawford USA (M), Galina Vershinina RUS (L)

M35  Bernd Kohlschmidt GER *

M40  Mika Häkkinen FIN *

M45  Antti Virtanen FIN *

M50  Asko Sippola FIN *

M55  Pasi Martikainen FIN (M), Tapio Mannila FIN (L)

M60  Harald Männel GER *

M65  Heikki Saarinen FIN *

M70  Tapari Kesti FIN (M), Pertti Ahtiainen FIN (L)

M75  Toivo Ryyppö FIN (M), Gunnar Østerbø NOR (L)

M80  Veikko Suutari FIN *

M85  Kyösti Jäppinen FIN *