WMTBOC 2023

Would this happen in your sport? This is orienteering

Mountain bike orienteering (MTBO) is a fast, dynamic sport where athletes from all over the world are united not only by the desire to win. They are often connected by a friendship that goes beyond usual relationships between competing athletes. After a dramatic crash at last year's World Championship, the Czech representative lost his bike due total damage of the frame. Thanks to the team from Switzerland, he has a new bike this year and his story confirms that the community around orienteering is truly exceptional.

Vojtěch Ludvík, the 2019 world middle distance champion from Denmark, collided with Simon Braendli, the Swiss who holds the title of the world champion over the same course from 2018, during the sprint race at the Swedish championships. Ludvík captured their dangerous-looking collision on camera attached to his helmet. For him, the consequences essentially meant the end of the World Championship as well as the entire season, and with the limited means of an amateur athlete, uncertain prospects for 2023, when the World Championship will be held in the Czech Republic.

Braendli was glad that the crash was not worse and both escaped unharmed and decided to donate the money he won as prize money during the season to buy a new frame for Ludvík. He was joined by his teammates and thanks to them and their donation, Vojtěch Ludvík can once again think about great results. In an international competition at a training camp in Portugal in the spring of 2023, he reconfirmed his qualities when he won the opening long-distance race.

Watch the whole story in a short video: 

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