The Oceania 2026 Carnival burst into life on Saturday with more than 900 competitors taking part in the Oceania Middle Distance Championships at Bogong Creek in Namadgi National Park.
Competitors were treated to a brand-new map and a special piece of Australian terrain. Set in a magnificent alpine valley, Bogong Creek combined open runnable forest, smooth granite, scattered rock and subtle contour detail, providing the rapid map reading, direction changes and technical challenges that define middle-distance orienteering.
For the elite fields, there was plenty at stake. As well as being crowned Oceania Champions, the fastest competitors across the men’s and women’s 21 and 20 elite classes earned a personal place in the Middle Distance at the 2027 World Orienteering Championships (WOC) in Hungary.
Continuing her strong form after finishing 6thin the Middle Distance event at the Junior World Championships, New Zealand’s Rachel Baker recorded the fastest time across the women’s elite classes, winning in 31:46 and securing her place at WOC 2027. Local favourite Grace Crane was just 20 seconds behind in 32:06, with Emily Sorensen a mere 5 seconds back in 32:11.
The men’s race was equally tight, with the top 4 separated by just 33 seconds. Australia’s Leith Soden covered the 5.5km course in 29:56, ahead of New Zealand’s Zefa Fa’avae in 30:15 and Aston Key (AU) in 30:22.
Close racing continued through the age classes. In M18, Evan Rees-Jones (NZ) won by just one second from Matthew Slater (AU). Jenni Adams (AU) took W55 by 4 seconds over Marquita Gelderman (NZ), while Bruce Arthur (AU) claimed M50 only 5 seconds ahead of Rob Walter (AU).
Just as memorable as the racing was the setting, with competitors emerging from the Namadgi bush into an arena framed by the surrounding mountains. Bogong Creek provided a spectacular start to Oceania 2026.
The event was the culmination of considerable work behind the scenes. Fredrik Johansson produced the new Bogong Creek map, Grant Bluett set the courses and Shannon Jones controlled the event. Day organisers Jenny Bourne and Ann Scown were supported by the many volunteers from the Abominable Orienteering Club.
Photos
You can view photos from the Middle via the link below. Please credit the photographer when sharing these photos!
Official photographers for the Carnival are Tom de Jongh (photosbytom) and Kelvin Meng (photosinsitu.com). Other Orienteering Australia certified photographers have also contributed to our albums for the Carnival. Check for the photographer’s name at the bottom left of each photo.
Results
Official results for the Oceania Middle Distance Championship on Eventor.
