World orienteering champion Daniel Hubmann is not thinking about quitting yet: he has already encountered bears, lovers and a corpse in the forest

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He runs and runs and runs. Although Daniel Hubmann celebrated his 40th birthday this year, he is still an orienteering professional. And a successful one at that. In 2023 he became world champion for the ninth time and won his 29th World Cup medal overall. Yet this title is very special, says the Thurgau resident: “It was my first World Cup at home, because I could not participate in Lausanne in 2012 due to a torn Achilles tendon. Winning the relay in front of my home crowd at my age was great.”

Compared to before, 2023 was a quiet and unspectacular year for Hubmann, because the father of two children has already experienced a lot while practicing his sport.

“I was terrified”

In 2011 he caught a naked, active romantic couple red-handed during the World Cup in France: “You don’t have to envy me for this experience. The couple was not my age…”

In 2012, he discovered a body in the woods during a training session: “The man was between 30 and 40 years old, pale in the face and lying on his back. I immediately realized he was dead.”

In 2013 he met a bear in Finland: “I was really terrified. The bear could have eaten me! At first I wanted to escape through a tree. But when I started screaming, the bear turned and ran away.”

It is quite possible that Hubmann will still experience some things in 2024, because dismissal is not yet an option. ‘I still have a lot of fun with it. And the world title showed that I can still compete with the best.”

Source : Blick