Participants prepare for the short-distance ski orienteering race. [Photo/chinadaily.com.cn]

The Ordos station of the 2024-2025 National Ski Orienteering Challenge kicked off on Feb 22 in Ordos city, North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region. It attracted over 500 participants from 13 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities, including Beijing, Hebei, and Inner Mongolia.

The competition featured two main events: the short-distance ski orienteering race and the short-distance foot orienteering race. Song Jinjian from Shanxi claimed the men's open category title in the ski orienteering race, while local Ordos athlete Wu Jingjing secured the women's open title.

In the foot orienteering race, Zhang Fu from Ningxia won the men's Group 1 title with an impressive time of 15 min and 11 sec. Fang Zhou from Anhui took first place in the men's Group 2.

Jin Yue from Beijing and Gao Lixia, a local Ordos athlete, claimed the women's Group 1 and Group 2 titles, respectively. Ordos' Liu Yixuan emerged victorious in the youth category, while Zhang Tianhao from Ningxia won the parent-child group championship.

A man arrives at the finish line of the short-distance ski orienteering race. [Photo/chinadaily.com.cn]