World and Norwegian champion Audun died of cancer: – Completely indescribably sad

(Drammens Tidende): – The 25 years he has lived, they have been 25 great years. That’s what we’ve been talking about since yesterday.

Isa Heggedal is choked with tears. She and her husband Bjørn Baklid trained Audun Heimdal “for all the years”, as Heggedal says. Audun Heimdal managed to become a meritorious orienteering runner, both on foot and on skis, before he died of cancer on the night of Saturday. Heimdal fell asleep quietly with his family around him.

Heimdal was 25 years old and died after a period of illness, writes the orienteering association.

When Drammens Tidende talks to Isa Heggedal on the phone, she is with Audun’s parents, Tove Heimdal and Geir Holm Gundersen.

– It is terribly tough. But they are strong, they both stand upright. We in the orientation group in Konnerud are one big family. There are several from the group who have been here both yesterday and today, says Heggedal further.

Audun moved to Trondheim to study in autumn 2016. After that, he has run orienteering for NTNUI (Norwegian Technical and Natural Sciences Universities’ Sports Association), while ski orienteering has been carried out with Konnerud IL on his chest.

Honorary member

In March 2021, he became world champion in ski orienteering. A feat that made Konnerud IL make him an honorary member of the club. The same happened to Jørgen Baklid, who also became world champion in ski orienteering in 2021.

– This is a great loss for the orienteering community. Audun was the first honorary member of Konnerud based on sporting results. He and Jørgen both became honorary members, continues Heggedal.

2022 started with participation in the EC in ski orienteering in January, where he came fourth. He then won a medal in the NM in February.

– It wasn’t long ago that he was top-trained, says Heggedal.

At Easter, Audun Heimdal was diagnosed with stomach cancer. Heggedal says that it was a type of cancer the doctors were unable to treat.

– He was a wonderful person. He has had an incredible amount to say for the environment in all the years he has been involved. He has achieved incredible results. A loyal and nice boy to deal with. He showed up at all the training sessions, never complained. Was never the one who took up the most space, but always a role model. He did what he could to be the best. He is someone everyone has respected – that everyone has looked up to.

In addition to the WC gold, Heimdal had WC silver in orienteering, and a double-digit number of NM gold on his track record.

When Drammens Tidende interviewed Heimdal in the summer of 2021, he said the following about the goals he had set for the future:

– Becoming the first man to be world champion in both orienteering and ski orienteering would have been fun.

Role model

Chairman of the orientation initiative in Konnerud IL, Morten Herman Vogt, says that Audun Heimdal was a role model for young and old.

– It is completely indescribably sad. He was a completely unique person. He was very good at looking after and helping those around him, says Vogt.

He continues:

– Audun was a role model for both young and old. He mastered all parts of the sport.

– With Audun Heimdal, Norwegian orienteering has lost a fantastic athlete and person. Audun was not the one who shouted the loudest or took up the most space, but with his demeanor he has been a great role model for those around him. Both in the club Konnerud, where he grew up, and now in recent years in NTNUI and on the national teams, says president of the Norwegian Orienteering Association, Leif Størmer, to his own website.

Just under a year ago, he was in a separate class during the NM week in orienteering. There he won the intermediate distance by two minutes, before winning the relay the next day for another gold.

– Audun has meant a lot to many people, and he will be sorely missed, says Størmer.

Heimdal was a part-time student and took a master’s in materials engineering at NTNU, he would have finished his education next summer. He leaves behind parents, a girlfriend, a younger brother and an orientation environment that is a poorer profile.