In August, Daniel Hubmann (SUI) won his 8th World Orienteering Championships gold medal in Sprint in Latvia. This was his 27th World Championships medal overall. More than deservedly, he is our Athlete of August 2018!
Daniel Hubmann has won the World Cup overall 6 times and has a great chance to win this year as well, especially as two of the three remaining races are Sprint Orienteering. He is currently leading the World Ranking in Sprint Orienteering and 2nd in the World Ranking in Orienteering.
In Latvia, he finished his Sprint race early and had to wait for the others to finish, following the split times closely. “Of course I was nervous, and I knew it could be a medal or not”, he says. “In Sprint, only seconds can stand between you and the podium.” At the end, he won the gold medal with 1 second before Tim Robertson from New Zealand.
Hubmann has trained as a carpenter, and when he was younger he used to work part time. Since 2007 he has focused on his sport full time.
Daniel Hubmann took part in his first orienteering race at the age of 11. He was successful in all age classes from a young age, and orienteering was always his number one sport. When asked what he would advise the young orienteers to do, he says: “Of course you need to work hard, but having fun is at least as crucial. I believe that hard work over a few years pays off, and a lot is connected to your motivation and your willingness.”
The World Games is a multi-sport event staged every four years by the International World Games Association under the patronage of the International Olympic Committee. The 11th edition of The World Games will be held in Birmingham, Alabama, USA, 15-25 July 2021. 3,600 athletes from over 30 sports and 100 countries will take part in the Games.