Simone Niggli-Luder

Simone Niggli-Luder (born 9 January 1978) is a Swiss orienteering athlete who has twice won (in 2003 and 2005) all four women's competitions at the world championships. She is widely seen as one of the greatest orienteers of all time.

Simone Niggli-Luder

Simone Niggli-Luder in 2006.
Personal information
Nationality	Swiss
Born	(1978-01-09) 9 January 1978 Burgdorf
Alma mater	University of Bern
Years active	1988 - 2013
Sport
Sport	Orienteering
Club	OLV Hindelbank
Medal record Women's orienteering Representing Switzerland World Championships 2001 Tampere Long 2003 Rapperswil-Jona Sprint 2003 Rapperswil-Jona Middle 2003 Rapperswil-Jona Long 2003 Rapperswil-Jona Relay 2004 Västerås Sprint 2005 Aichi Sprint 2005 Aichi Middle 2005 Aichi Long 2005 Aichi Relay 2006 Aarhus Middle 2006 Aarhus Long 2007 Kyiv Sprint 2007 Kyiv Middle 2009 Miskolc Long 2010 Trondheim Sprint 2010 Trondheim Long 2012 Lausanne Sprint 2012 Lausanne Long 2012 Lausanne Relay 2013 Vuokatti Sprint 2013 Vuokatti Middle 2013 Vuokatti Long 2006 Aarhus Sprint 2010 Trondheim Middle 2001 Tampere Sprint 2006 Aarhus Relay 2007 Kyiv Long 2009 Miskolc Middle 2009 Miskolc Sprint 2013 Vuokatti Relay World Games 2005 Duisburg Middle 2005 Duisburg Relay World Cup 2002 WC Overall 2004 WC Overall 2005 WC Overall 2006 WC Overall 2007 WC Overall 2009 WC Overall 2010 WC Overall 2012 WC Overall 2013 WC Overall 2000 WC Overall European Championships 2002 Sümeg Classic 2004 Roskilde Sprint 2004 Roskilde Long 2006 Otepää Sprint 2006 Otepää Long 2010 Primorsko Middle 2010 Primorsko Long 2012 Falun Sprint 2012 Falun Middle 2012 Falun Long 2000 Truskavets Short 2002 Sümeg Relay 2006 Otepää Relay 2010 Primorsko Sprint 2010 Primorsko Relay Nordic Championships 2007 Bornholm Middle 2007 Bornholm Long 2001 Mikkeli Classic 2005 Notodden Sprint 2005 Notodden Middle 2005 Notodden Long 2007 Bornholm Relay 2005 Notodden Relay Junior World Championships 1997 Leopoldsburg Classic 1996 Govora Relay 1997 Leopoldsburg Relay 1998 Reims Relay

Personal life

Born as Simone Luder, she grew up in Burgdorf in the Canton of Bern. She studied biology at the University of Bern, where she graduated in 2003. That same year, she married Matthias Niggli, also a Swiss orienteering athlete. They currently live in Münsingen near Bern and in Ulricehamn, Sweden.

Orienteering achievements

She began competing in orienteering early on, joining the Swiss club OLV Hindelbank; at the age of ten, she participated in her first competition. Since then, her palmarès has been impressive: she won a gold medal at the junior world championships in 1997, has been 20 times Swiss champion, won the Finnish championships once and the Swedish championships nine times, has won the world cup five times, and won seven gold medals at European championships and a total of 23 gold medals at world championships.

In 2003, she won all four women's competitions of the world championships held at Rapperswil in Switzerland (sprint, middle, and long distance, and— together with Birgitte Wolf and Vroni König-Salmi— the relay). She managed to repeat this extraordinary feat two years later at the world championships in Aichi, Japan.

Simone Niggli-Luder and Marianne Andersen at World Orienteering Championships 2007

Simone Niggli-Luder and Frenchman Thierry Gueorgiou, middle distance gold medalists, World Orienteering Championships 2007

At the European Championships in 2006 in Otepää, Estonia, she won gold in the sprint and long distance competitions, and finished fifth in the middle distance competition. The Swiss team finished second in the relay, beaten only by the Finnish team. At the world championships 2007 in Kyiv, Ukraine, she again won gold on the middle and sprint distances and finished third on the long distance, behind two Finnish athletes who shared first place.

Niggli-Luder took time off from competitive orienteering in 2008 to give birth to her first child and again in 2011, twins. She made a successful return to the international orienteering scene in 2009 by winning bronze medals in the middle and sprint distances at the World Orienteering Championships in Miskolc, Hungary, and the gold medal in the long distance. At the World Championships 2013 at Vuokatti, Finland, she won all three single competitions (sprint, middle, and long distance) and finished third in the team relay event (together with Sara Luescher and Judith Wyder).

In 2001, she spent one year in Finland, running for the Finnish club Turun Suunnistajat, and won the Finnish championship. She ran for the Swedish club Ulricehamns OK after July 2003. In September 2013, Niggli-Luder announced that she was retiring from elite orienteering at the end of the year, after the last World Cup race in New Zealand. Niggli holds over 60 World Cup race victories.

World Championship results

Year
	Age	Long	Middle	Sprint	Relay	Sprint Relay
1999	21	—	15	—	—	—
2001	23	Gold	4	Bronze	4	—
2003	25	Gold	Gold	Gold	Gold	—
2004	26	4	6	Gold	4	—
2005	27	Gold	Gold	Gold	Gold	—
2006	28	Gold	Gold	Silver	3	—
2007	29	Bronze	Gold	Gold	4	—
2008	30	—	—	—	—	—
2009	31	Gold	Bronze	Bronze	4	—
2010	32	Gold	Silver	Gold	4	—
2011	33	—	—	—	—	—
2012	34	Gold	5	Gold	Gold	—
2013	35	Gold	Gold	Gold	Bronze	—

External links

• Official website
• Simone Niggli-Luder at World Athletics
• Simone Niggli-Luder at the International Orienteering Federation
• Simone Niggli-Luder at World of O