“Un’avventura in più” with PWT Italia team.

Daniel Hubmann: 9 world titles, 29 World Championship medals, 6 World Cup overall victories, 32 World Cup victories. Last and not least, 3-time MOC champion. At PWT Italy, we always strive to learn from the best. An athlete with such an impressive track record and a rich history in sports has a lot of experience to share and lessons to impart. Let’s dive in and learn from the best!

• You recently posted on Instagram a ranking of countries where you spent the most time training. Italy is in fourth place, after Sweden, Norway and Finland. What are your main motivations for training here?

Italy has very challenging and nice terrains to train both forest and sprint orienteering. I’m glad that I was able to compete in so many races in Italy, also international events like WOC, EOC and World Cups. In addition I also like the weather, the food and the Italien ambience in general.

• You have a very long career, you are over 40, you are still among the best in the world. Where do you find the motivation to continue at a high level? And have you thought about what you will do once you stop at the high level?

I still enjoy doing orienteering at the highest level. Traveling to other countries and exploring new areas with orienteering is always connected with some adventures and I like that. I have some ideas what to do after my sports career, but at the moment I don’t have a clear plan. Maybe I can build up an organization like PWT Italy in Switzerland 🙂

• What do you think about PWT Italy and what has been done (by PWT/Gabriele Viale) for the development of orienteering in the Mediterranean and also for the PWT Italy team?

I have been in the south part of Italy maybe 10 times in the last 20 years and experienced a lot of amazing training and races. This was only possible because of the work done by PWT Italy and especially Gabriele Viale, who opened the door for orienteering in many places in Italy. They put a lot of passion in our sport and also in the PWT Italy team, which helps young and ambitious athletes to chase their dreams.

• When talking about training plans, do you like to have everything perfectly organized or are you more of a “I do what feels good” kinda person? 

Usually I have a plan in my head and a strategy of how I wanna train. But I do a lot based on my feelings and I trust my instinct, instead of making a lot of detailed plans. 

• You won the MOC Championships three times (2014, 2017, 2018). Do you plan on winning another one this year? 

My season plan is not totally fixed yet and I have to see what’s possible beside the national team program. So far I’ve spent 165 nights in Italy and I’m eager to experience some more.