Natalia Gemperle

Natalia Mikhailovna Gemperle (, née Vinogradova, born 9 December 1990) is a Russian-born Swiss orienteering competitor. She competes for the clubs Alfta-Ösa and OLK Aargus

Early life Natalia Mikhailovna Vinogradova was born and raised in Moscow. At the time of her birth, Moscow was still the capital of the Soviet Union. According to Gemperle, she started orienteering with her twin sister Olga at the age of ten. a bronze medal in the middle distance, and a gold medal with the Russian relay team.

Conversion from Russia to Switzerland In 2016, Gemperle married Swiss orienteering coach Rolf Gemperle, previously the head coach of the Austrian national team. Gemperle credits Rolf with improving her orienteering to the level required to compete for medals.

Gemperle became eligible for Swiss citizenship in 2022, which according to World Athletics was granted before 11 January 2022, and received her passport in March 2022. However, Gemperle was unable to compete for Switzerland in Orienteering until 2023 due to IOF rules stating runners can only compete for one country in a calendar year (Gemperle competed for Russia in a World Ranking Event in Turkey in early 2022.) Gemperle was planning to make the change to Switzerland already before the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Despite being banned from Orienteering, Gemperle was still able to compete for Switzerland in athletics during 2022, where she came 7th at the European championships in the Mountain Running Up & Down Senior Race.

Competing for Switzerland Gemperle made her debut for Switzerland in 2023. In her first year of eligibility, Gemperle won a silver medal in the middle distance at the World Orienteering Championships held in Switzerland, and was also part of the Swiss relay team winning the silver medals. She won her first gold medal for Switzerland with the Swiss sprint relay team in the 2024 World Orienteering Championships.

She won a silver medal in the middle distance at the 2024 European Orienteering Championships in Hungary, behind Simona Aebersold.

Personal life Gemperle has a twin named Olga. In 2020, Gemperle gave birth to a daughter. Gemperle's husband has a previous child from an earlier marriage, Eline Gemperle (born 2000), who also competes for Switzerland at an international level.