foot orienteering

The history of orienteering began in the late 19th century in Sweden. The actual term "orienteering" was first used in 1886 and meant the crossing of unknown land with the aid of a map and a compass.{{cite web|url=http://www.orienteering.org/i3/index.php?/iof2006/iof/past_present|title=Past & present|publisher=International Orienteering Federation|access-date=2008-09-28|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080802131200/http://www.orienteering.org/i3/index.php?%2Fiof2006%2Fiof%2Fpast_present|archive-date=2 August 2008}} The first orienteering competition open to the public was held in Norway in 1897. Notable dates for member nations of the IOF are shown below.

The official formats in the World Orienteering Championships,{{Cite web |url=http://orienteering.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/IOF-Rules-2018-v1.14final.pdf |title=IOF Competition Rules for Foot Orienteering, Appendix 6 |access-date=15 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171215221909/http://orienteering.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/IOF-Rules-2018-v1.14final.pdf |archive-date=15 December 2017 |url-status=dead }} which is followed by most regional and national championships, include the following:

The long distance competition, previously called the classic distance competition, is the longest and toughest individual competition. Long competitions are held in forest, with expected winning time of 90–100 minutes for men and 70–80 minutes for women, in physically demanding terrain with large-scale route choices and varying scale of technical difficulties.

The middle distance competition, previously called the short distance competition, is a relatively shorter race held in forest, with expected winning time of 30–35 minutes in technically complex terrain.

Sprint competitions are high-speed competitions held in urban areas, which is technically easy but with difficult route choices. The expected winning time is 12–15 minutes.

The relay, composed of teams of 3, is a mass start event where different runners are separated by means of forking. The finish order is directly determined at the finish line.

The sprint relay is run by teams of 4, where the first and the last must be women, in urban areas with mass start and forking. It is an exciting and television-friendly event where the runners compete head-to-head at a high-speed.

Knock-Out sprint (KO-Sprint) is the newest form urban orienteering to be added to international competition. It consists of a short qualifier race of around 10–12 minutes to determine the seeding for a subsequent series of very short mass start elimination races of around 6–8 minutes. These elimination races normally consist of six runner with the top two or three progressing, and can contain gaffling, loops, or runner's choice selection. Similar to the sprint relay, it is high paced and television friendly, with the elimination rounds happening quickly one after another.

{{main|World Orienteering Championships}}

The World Orienteering Championships are held annually. {{As of|2022}}, Europe has been dominant.

{{Medals table

| caption =

| host =

| flag_template =

| event =

| team =

| gold_SWE = 68 | silver_SWE = 59 | bronze_SWE = 57

| gold_NOR = 52 | silver_NOR = 51 | bronze_NOR = 46

| gold_SUI = 47 | silver_SUI = 38 | bronze_SUI = 43

| gold_FIN = 24 | silver_FIN = 43 | bronze_FIN = 32

| gold_RUS = 11 | silver_RUS = 12 | bronze_RUS = 15

| gold_FRA = 14 | silver_FRA = 7 | bronze_FRA = 11

| gold_DEN = 12 | silver_DEN = 10 | bronze_DEN = 7

| gold_CZE = 3 | silver_CZE = 4 | bronze_CZE = 5

| gold_GBR = 4 | silver_GBR = 6 | bronze_GBR = 5

| gold_UKR = 1 | silver_UKR = 3 | bronze_UKR = 5

| gold_HUN = 3 | silver_HUN = 1 | bronze_HUN = 2

| gold_AUT = 1 | silver_AUT = 1 | bronze_AUT = 0

| gold_LAT = 1 | silver_LAT = 0 | bronze_LAT = 2

| gold_AUS = 1 | silver_AUS = 0 | bronze_AUS = 0

| gold_TCH = 2 | silver_TCH = 5 | bronze_TCH = 8

| gold_1 = 0 | silver_1 = 2 | bronze_1 = 0 | name_1 = Independent Athletes | skip_1 = yes | note_1 = Due to the Russian doping scandal, Russian athletes competed under neutral flag in 2021.

| gold_URS = 0 | silver_URS = 0 | bronze_URS = 2

| gold_NZL = 0 | silver_NZL = 1 | bronze_NZL = 1

| gold_GER = 0 | silver_GER = 0 | bronze_GER = 1

| gold_ITA = 0 | silver_ITA = 0 | bronze_ITA = 1

| gold_BLR = 0 | silver_BLR = 0 | bronze_BLR = 1

| gold_BEL = 0 | silver_BEL = 0 | bronze_BEL = 1

| gold_NED = 0 | silver_NED = 0 | bronze_NED = 1

}}

• World Orienteering Championships
• Junior World Orienteering Championships
• World Masters Orienteering Championships
• European Orienteering Championships

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Category:Orienteering

Orienteering

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