CHENGDU, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) -- Switzerland's Riccardo Rancan won the first gold medal of The World Games 2025 on Friday, finishing the men's middle distance orienteering event in 45 minutes and 22 seconds.
With traditional powerhouse Norway absent from the Games, the Swiss team entered as a favorite in the discipline. Rancan, 29, is a semi-professional athlete who also works part-time as a robotics engineer.
The Swiss team began its selection process for the Games earlier this year, and Rancan learned six months ago that he had a chance to travel to China.
"The contact from China told me that it'd be very hot in Chengdu in the summer, so I did a lot of preparation," said Rancan. "I came here three days ago. I needed to acclimate quickly with hot and humid conditions. I think I managed quite well."
Orienteering, a sport that originated in Sweden over a century ago, requires athletes to navigate unfamiliar terrain using only a map and compass. Competitors race against the clock to reach a series of control points in order. The fastest finisher wins.
Rancan told Xinhua that his strategy was to avoid going out too fast and to maintain a steady pace.
"It was a really tough race for everyone. The middle distance may not be my best discipline. I think it's more of sprint. I was very surprised to win the race. It's really cool and a big honor to win the first gold of the Games," he said.
He also expressed surprise at the size of the crowd and praised the event's organization.
"Switzerland is a small country, and normally you don't see many people at one place, especially in the orienteering event. It's such a big dimension here, and it worked seamlessly," said Rancan. "Orienteering is a small sport compared to the communities like athletics, but many Swiss people know it because we do it a lot in the schools."
Orienteering became an official World Games sport in 2001. Since then, 26 gold medals have been awarded in the discipline, with Switzerland claiming 10. Norway and Sweden have each won three.
Rancan said the unpredictability of the sport is part of its appeal.
"You go to the start, and it's like a bit of adventure. The most challenging part is to keep focus until the end," he said. "You might not be perfect, but you don't know what your competitors are doing. So you need to find out in the end."
Balancing sport and work, Rancan said, sometimes requires him to "switch off his head and set the priorities on sport."
"I'm happy that I have a flexible job. When I'm more at home, I can work a bit more. It really fits well like in the winter training. I joined a lot of training camps and raced a lot in a variety of terrains and I can gain a lot of experience in reading the map, getting to know the different styles of the course design," he said.
The three-day orienteering competition in Chengdu includes five events: men's and women's middle distance, men's and women's sprint, and the mixed sprint relay. A total of 80 athletes from 24 countries and regions are participating.
"It's a rest day tomorrow and I want to see the pandas. Otherwise, I don't have too much time to visit around, but I think we already had a good feeling during the opening ceremony," said Rancan. ■
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