JWOC 2024 is over. Thank you, and come again.
Junior World Orienteering Championships 2024, hosted in the Pilsen region, are now history. The championship offered extraordinary sporting performances, several powerful stories, lots of joy, some tears, sleepless nights, and memories for a lifetime. Several tons of food were consumed, hundreds of kilometres of tape were stretched, speakers talked for endless of hours in the arenas, and we prepared thousands of photos for you. Unfortunately, dozens of competitors were stung by dozens of wasps – we are sorry about that, there is no talking to them, really.
The competitors were an extraordinary inspiration for us, and we hope that the organizers’ efforts and the support of the spectators were an inspiration for them. We hope everyone enjoyed their time in Pilsen and the surrounding area.
The championship brought several exceptional sporting stories. Let’s remember the most important ones. We must certainly start with the Swiss team, which dominated the team classification with ease. Swiss competitors consistently and reliably placed in the top positions in all races. They rightfully deserve the title, especially since their consistency in scoring allowed them to surpass the home team, which was eagerly collecting medals.
The Czech team entered the championship with cautious optimism, which they then transformed into their most successful Junior World Championships in history. They clearly dominated the medal rankings – winning 4 gold, 2 silver, and 3 bronze medals. In the long distance race, the Czechs swept the podium, and in the middle distance, they achieved a double victory with Jan Strýček and Lucie Dittrichová winning titles.
We cannot forget the exceptional individual performances. The king of the championship is undoubtedly Matthieu Buehrer from Switzerland. In the opening sprint relays, things didn’t go his way, but then Buehrer won a medal in every race he entered, taking home three golds and one silver. His perfect medal record was thwarted by Jan Strýček’s outstanding performance in the short race where the Czech athlete stole the title for himself.
| Country | Gold | Silver | Bronze | |
| 1 | Czechia | 4 | 2 | 3 |
| 2 | Switzerland | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| 3 | Finland | 2 | ||
| 4 | Norway | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 5 | Sweden | 1 | 2 | |
| 6 | New Zealand | 1 | ||
| 7 | France | 1 |
Lucie Dittrichová from the home team faced the challenging task of defending her gold from the long distance race last year. She did not shy away from the task and added not only the long distance race gold but also gold in the middle and bronze in the relay.
Michaela Novotná also took home three medals, achieving a complete set – gold in the sprint, silver in the long, and bronze in the relay. Viktorie Škáchová also has three medals – silver in the middle race and bronze in both the long and relay.
Elli Punto from Finland became a double world champion, winning titles in both the sprint and relay.
The championship has ended, the closing banquet was a success, and we still have a few things for you to look forward to.
Check out the official photo gallery. New photos from the middle distance and relays have been added. This is not all; the gallery will be complete by the end of the week. Download, share, print, and send the photos – they are yours, enjoy them.
We are preparing a short film about the championship. We will let you know when it’s ready. It will be soon!
The next Junior World Championships will be held in Italy, in Trentino. We wish the organizers the best of luck and strength, and to those who will still be juniors, all the best for the next year of your career.
For those who will no longer be juniors, we wish you determination, resolve, and patience in transitioning to the senior category. It is not easy. Hopefully, the experiences from this year’s championship will help you.
To the younger fans, we must invite you back to the Czech Republic for next year’s European Youth Orienteering Championships.
To all others who enjoyed their time in the Pilsen region, we invite you back to the Czech Republic. Come to EYOC 2025, some of the multi-day summer races in the Czech Republic, or the MTBO 5 Days races organized by the same team as this year’s championship. The Czech Republic lives and breathes orienteering, and we are always happy to see you.
