Kristian Jones or Kris Jones (born 3 April 1991) is a competitor in

orienteering Orienteering is a group of sports that involve using a map and compass to navigation, navigate from point to point in diverse and usually unfamiliar terrain whilst moving at speed. Participants are given a topographical map, usually a specia ...

and

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competitio ...

, competing for

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

. He also competes for

Lillomarka Lillomarka is an area located to the northeast of Oslo, Norway. It is a part of Oslomarka and serves as a popular recreational area. Lillomarka is bordered by Maridalen and Nordmarka in the west, Nittedal and Gjelleråsen in the east, the subu ...

OK in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

, Forth Valley orienteers and

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

Orienteering

Jones has had most success in Sprint Orienteering, winning medals in the European Championships and the Junior World Championships, and winning the Jan Kjellstrom Orienteering Festival Sprint 3 times in a row from 2016 to 2018. He also has success in the

British Orienteering Championships The British Orienteering Championships are the highest level of competition in Orienteering in the United Kingdom, along with the Jan Kjellström International Festival of Orienteering, JK Orienteering Festival. 1967 saw the first British Champion ...

, winning both the Middle and Sprint twice. in 2016, Jones came 4th in all 3 disciplines he competed in (Sprint, Mixed Sprint Relay and Relay) at the World Championships in Stromstad,

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, the closest he has come to a medal in the

World Orienteering Championships The World Orienteering Championships (often abbreviated as WOC) is an international orienteering competition which has been organized by the International Orienteering Federation (IOF) since 1966. The World Orienteering Championships is considere ...

. In 2018, Jones received a bronze medal at the European Championships, after

Daniel Hubmann Daniel Hubmann (born 16 April 1983 in Eschlikon, Thurgau) is a Swiss orienteering competitor. Hubmann is the most successful male Swiss orienteer of all time, with 9 Gold medals at the World Orienteering Championships. In 2023, with his victory ...

and Matthias Kyburz (both from

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

) shared the gold medal. He also won the first leg of the

Jukola relay The Jukola Relay is an orienteering relay race held annually in Finland since 1949. Jukola is the biggest orienteering relay event in the world. The race takes place on a Saturday between 13 and 19 June in sites around Finland. The northern ...

, although his team were eventually disqualified. In 2022, Jones was a part of the Great Britain team that came second in the Sprint Relay at the

, along with Charlotte Ward,

Ralph Street Ralph Street (born 1990) is a British orienteering competitor. He was part of the British team that came second in the sprint relay at the 2022 World Orienteering Championships. His team included Megan Carter Davies, Kris Jones and Charlotte ...

and

Megan Carter Davies Megan Mitchell (; born 1996) is a British orienteering competitor. She became sprint world champion at the 2022 World Orienteering Championships. This made her only the third British athlete to become world champion in an individual discipline, ...

. Jones finished the penultimate leg with a one second lead over the Swedish team, but

Tove Alexandersson Tove Alexandersson (born 7 September 1992) is a Sweden, Swedish Foot orienteering, foot orienteer, ski orienteering, ski orienteer, skyrunner, trail running, trail runner, ski mountaineering, ski mountaineer and SkySnow, skysnow runner. Alexande ...

won the last leg, leading Sweden to victory. Jones also placed third in the sprint discipline before being disqualified.

Athletics

In Athletics, Jones was selected to run the 10,000m at the European Cup for Great Britain in 2017, held in

Minsk Minsk (, ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administra ...

. He did not finish due to a calf injury. The injury also forced him to miss the World Sprint Orienteering Championships three weeks later. In December 2018, Jones was a last minute call up for the British team at the

2018 European Cross Country Championships The 2018 European Cross Country Championships was the 25th edition of the cross country running competition for European athletes. It was hosted in Tilburg, Netherlands.Tilburg Tilburg () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands, in the southern Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant. With a population of 22 ...

. He exceeded expectations, coming 12th in the senior men's race and becoming the 2nd counter for Great Britain as they won the silver in the team competition. On 17 October 2020, Jones competed in the

2020 World Athletics Half Marathon Championships The 2020 World Athletics Half Marathon Championships, originally scheduled for 29 March 2020 in Gdynia, Poland, was postponed until 17 October 2020, due to the coronavirus pandemic. On , the mass participation race was cancelled, while the elite ...

for Great Britain. The race was held in

Gdynia Gdynia is a city in northern Poland and a seaport on the Baltic Sea coast. With an estimated population of 257,000, it is the List of cities in Poland, 12th-largest city in Poland and the second-largest in the Pomeranian Voivodeship after Gdańsk ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, having been postponed due to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

. Jones placed 60th in the Elite race, in a time of 1:03:05. In 2022, Jones came fifth at the 2022 World Mountain and Trail Running Championships in the 40k event, and won a Bronze medal in the Team Short Trail with

Jonathan Albon Jonathan Albon (born 19 April 1989) is a British sky runner and obstacle course racer who has won three Skyrunner World Series. Biography Originally from Great Dunmow in Essex, Albon later moved to live in Bergen, Norway. He twice won the fin ...

and Billy Cartwright. Jones also competed in the 2023 World Mountain and Trail Running Championships, where he came 8th in the short trail competition and won the gold medal for the team competition in the same event along with Jonathan Albon and Thomas Roach.

References

External links

*
Kristian Jones
at World of O Runners {{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Kristian 1991 births Living people British orienteers Male orienteers Foot orienteers Junior World Orienteering Championships medalists