From 17 to 20 July, the European Youth Orienteering Championships for under-18s will take place in and around Brno. Two athletes from our team have earned a place and will represent our country at the championships.
In the girls' under-16 class, Vihra Ruseva earned her place at the European championships after winning 5 of the 7 selection races, and in one of the races she was 2nd, just 1 second behind. Vihra will test her skills against 101 other athletes from 33 countries. Her older sister, Marta Ruseva, is also part of the national team in the class above – W18. Marta will compete against 106 athletes from 32 countries.
The model events take place today (17.07), and the championship programme opens with a physically demanding long distance on Friday (18.07), where route choice will be decisive on the steep slopes the organisers have prepared. On Saturday (19.07) the sprint distance will be held in one of Brno's newly built districts. After the gruelling long distance, the athletes will have to shift up several gears and deal with lots of controls, fences and streets artificially closed off by the organisers. Somewhat traditionally, the championships will end with a relay on Sunday (20.07), with the organisers planning to use the same arena as for the long distance, but this time the courses will run through much flatter terrain. All races will be streamed live and completely free on this YouTube channel. You can find out more about the competition on the official championship website.
We wish the best of luck to all the athletes representing the Bulgarian national team at EYOC 2025.