SZOŠ | Slovak relay team wins bronze at World Orienteering Championships 2025

The World Orienteering Championships (WTOC 2025), which were held this year in Slovakia and Hungary, culminated last weekend. The Slovak part of the championship took place in the beautiful surroundings of the villages of Dolný Lopášov and Píla, while Saturday's relay competition took place in the vicinity of Červený Kameň Castle. We were very happy when Slovak representatives Jonatán Furucz, Šimon Mižúr and Pavol Bukovac took an excellent 3rd place in the strong competition in the Open category and won bronze medals for Slovakia. The representatives of the Czech Republic became the world champions in this category. The Ukrainian relay team triumphed in the category of physically challenged athletes. The announcement of the winners took place on Saturday evening in heavy rain, with the weather troubling the organizers even during the night, when the rain was joined by a relatively strong wind. For this reason, Sunday's TempO competitions also started in unfavorable weather, which fortunately gradually improved during the day. The Italian representative Marcello Lambertina became the TempO World Champion. The youngest representative from the Slovak team, Jonatán Furucz, shone, taking an excellent 7th place, and Pavol Bukovac placed in a solid 19th place among more than 100 starters.

Thanks to the organizers

A big thank you goes to the main organizers of the Slovak part of the championship - Hana Šmelíková, Dušan and Jan Furucz - as well as to all the volunteers from several clubs of the Slovak Orienteering Federation. Their work, commitment and creativity enabled the creation of a unique sporting event, which was praised by participants from all over the world. The WTOC 2025 World Orienteering Championships successfully combined the beauty of Slovak nature with top sporting performance - and once again confirmed that Slovakia has a strong place in orienteering sports.