Simona Aebersold (born 13 April 1998) is a Swiss

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 ...

competitor. She is the daughter of Christian Aebersold, who won 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 ...

3 times.

Career

Aebersold dominated the Junior World Championships between 2015 and 2018, achieving her first gold medal at the age of 17 in the Sprint distance. She won every Junior World sprint event for the next four years, as well as medalling in three relay events, with two silvers and one gold. In 2017, Aebersold won all 3 individual golds and a further medal in the relay, matching the feat achieved the same year by Finnish runner Olli Ojanaho in the men's class. At the start of 2018, Aebersold won her first medal at a senior level in the European Championships, despite still being a junior and eligible to compete at the Junior World Championships. She won the Bronze in the Middle behind Swedish world champion

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 ...

and Marika Teini from

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

. In 2019, at her first

appearance, Aebersold won the bronze medal in the long distance after Alexandersson and Lina Strand. She also won second place in the middle-distance race, 5 seconds behind Alexandersson. In 2021, Aebersold came second in the World Cup, the same position she attained in 2019. On the last race, a middle-distance event in

Cansiglio Cansiglio ( or ) is a plateau in the northern-Italian pre-Alps, included in the provinces of Belluno, Treviso and Pordenone. Cansiglio is home to a very small Language island of Cimbrian. Geography The plateau rises immediately above the plai ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, she came second behind Alexandersson by only 23 seconds- a win would have guaranteed Aebersold the overall World Cup title, with her score only being 25 points behind Alexandersson at the end of the season. Aebersold signed for Swedish club

IFK Göteborg Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna Göteborg (officially IFK Göteborg Fotboll), commonly known as IFK Göteborg, IFK (especially locally) or Blåvitt, is a Swedish professional Football team, football club based in Gothenburg. Founded in 1904, it ...

in 2022. She won a gold medal in the middle distance at the 2024

European Orienteering Championships The European Orienteering Championships were first held in 1962. They have been held biennially since 2000. From 2020, the European Orienteering Championships will be held annually, with sprint events and forest events in alternate years. Format ...

in Hungary, ahead of Natalia Gemperle.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Aebersold, Simona 1998 births Living people Swiss female orienteers Swiss foot orienteers World Games medalists in orienteering World Games gold medalists for Switzerland 21st-century Swiss sportswomen Junior World Orienteering Championships medalists Medalists at the 2022 World Games