The World Orienteering Championships (or WOC for short) is an annual
orienteering
Orienteering is a group of sports that require navigational skills using a map and compass to navigate from point to point in diverse and usually unfamiliar terrain whilst moving at speed. Participants are given a topographical map, usually a s ...
event organized by the
International Orienteering Federation
The International Orienteering Federation (IOF) is the international governing body of the sport of orienteering. The IOF head office is located in Karlstad, Sweden. The IOF governs four orienteering disciplines: foot orienteering, mountain bike ...
. The first World Championships was held in
Fiskars, Finland
Fiskars (Swedish; fi, Fiskari) is a village, now part of the town of Raseborg, in western Uusimaa, Finland. The village is the site of the former Fiskars Bruk, which was founded in 1649 and gave rise to the company Fiskars.
The most notable ar ...
in 1966. They were held biennially up to 2003 (with the exception of 1978 and 1979). Since 2003, competitions have been held annually. Participating nations have to be members of the International Orienteering Federation (IOF).
Originally, there were only two competitions: an individual race and a relay. In 1991, a short distance race (roughly 20–25 minutes) was added and a sprint race was added in 2001. The middle distance (roughly 30–35 minutes) replaced the short distance in 2003. In 2014, a sprint relay was added with two men and two women participating and with starting order woman-man-man-woman.
History
The IOF was founded on 21 May 1961 at a Congress held in Copenhagen,
Denmark
)
, song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast")
, song_type = National and royal anthem
, image_map = EU-Denmark.svg
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark
...
by the orienteering national federations of
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...
, Czechoslovakia,
Denmark
)
, song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast")
, song_type = National and royal anthem
, image_map = EU-Denmark.svg
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark
...
, the Federal Republic of Germany, the German Democratic Republic,
Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
,
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
,
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
,
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
and
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
.
Their main goal was to standardize the sport and streamline international competition rules. A group of people work with these tasks, and at the 1963 IOF Congress, the work was approved and a technical committee was created. This led to the first international orienteering competition; the 1962 European Championships in
Løten
Løten is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Hedemarken. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Løten. Other villages in the municipality include Ådalsbruk, He ...
, Norway. The first
European Orienteering Championships
The European Orienteering Championships were first held in 1962. They have been held biennially since 2000. From 2020, the European Orienteering Championships will be held annually, with sprint events and forest events in alternate years.
Format
T ...
(EOC) consisted of only one competition; individual. In the following EOC, in
Le Brassus
Le Brassus is a village in the Vallée de Joux in the Canton of Vaud, Switzerland. It is part of the municipality Le Chenit.[COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...]
the first sprint only WOC 2020 was cancelled. Instead Sprint and Sprint Relay was added to the WOC program for 2021 following the old championship program, otherwise there would not have been sprint comptitions in the world championships for four years (2019-2022). In 2022 the first sprint only WOC was organized in Denmark, and the new competition format Knockout Sprint made its debut.
Format
The competition format has changed several times. From the beginning in 1966, the World Championships consisted of only two competitions: an individual race and a relay. In 1991, a short distance race (roughly 20–25 minutes) was added and a sprint race was added in 2001. The middle distance (roughly 30–35 minutes) replaced the short distance in 2003. On IOF's 23rd congress in
Lausanne
, neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR-74), ...
in 2012, it was decided that a sprint relay event would be added in the
2014
File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...
World Championships in Italy.
The sprint relay is competed in urban areas and consists of four-orienteer mixed-gender teams with starting order woman-man-man-woman.
Current competition format
The current championship events are:
Event timeline
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DateFormat = yyyy
Period = from:1966 till:2026
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ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:1 start:2003
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id:sprintrelay value:rgb(0.920,0.5,0.375)
id:sprint value:rgb(1,0.7019,0)
id:short value:rgb(0.5,0.764,0.1098)
id:middle value:rgb(0.5,0.6784,0.3176)
id:individual value:rgb(0.404,0.776,0.867)
id:classic value:rgb(0.6,0.741,0.855)
id:long value:rgb(0.5,0.7098,0.835)
id:relay value:rgb(0.984,0.5,0.373)
PlotData=
width:20 align:center mark:(line,white) shift:(0,$dy)
bar:Knockout fontsize:S from:2022 till:end color:white text:Knockout Spr.
from:2022 till:2023 color:knockout
from:2024 till:2025 color:knockout
at:2022 mark:(line,black)
bar:SprintRelay fontsize:S from:2014 till:end color:white text:Sprint Relay
from:2014 till:2019 color:sprintrelay
from:2021 till:2023 color:sprintrelay
from:2024 till:2025 color:sprintrelay
at:2014 mark:(line,black)
bar:Sprint color:sprint
from:2001 till:2002
from:2003 till:2019 text:Sprint
from:2021 till:2023
from:2024 till:2025
at:2001 mark:(line,black)
bar:Middle
from:1991 till:2003 color:white text:Short Distance
from:1991 till:1992 color:short
from:1993 till:1994 color:short
from:1995 till:1996 color:short
from:1997 till:1998 color:short
from:1999 till:2000 color:short
from:2001 till:2002 color:short
from:2003 till:2020 color:middle text:Middle Distance
from:2021 till:2022 color:middle
from:2023 till:2024 color:middle
from:2025 till:2026 color:middle
at:1991 mark:(line,black)
at:2003 mark:(line,black)
bar:Long
from:start till:1991 color:white text:Individual orienteering
from:start till:1967 color:individual
from:1968 till:1969 color:individual
from:1970 till:1971 color:individual
from:1972 till:1973 color:individual
from:1974 till:1975 color:individual
from:1976 till:1977 color:individual
from:1978 till:1980 color:individual
from:1981 till:1982 color:individual
from:1983 till:1984 color:individual
from:1985 till:1986 color:individual
from:1987 till:1988 color:individual
from:1989 till:1990 color:individual
from:1991 till:2003 color:white text:Classic distance
from:1991 till:1992 color:classic
from:1993 till:1994 color:classic
from:1995 till:1996 color:classic
from:1997 till:1998 color:classic
from:1999 till:2000 color:classic
from:2001 till:2002 color:classic
from:2003 till:2020 color:long text:Long Distance
from:2021 till:2022 color:long
from:2023 till:2024 color:long
from:2025 till:2026 color:long
at:1991 mark:(line,black)
at:2003 mark:(line,black)
bar:Relay
from:start till:1981 color:white text:Relay, 4 men, 3 women
from:start till:1967 color:relay
from:1968 till:1969 color:relay
from:1970 till:1971 color:relay
from:1972 till:1973 color:relay
from:1974 till:1975 color:relay
from:1976 till:1977 color:relay
from:1978 till:1980 color:relay
from:1981 till:2003 color:white text:Relay, 4 men, 4 women
from:1981 till:1982 color:relay
from:1983 till:1984 color:relay
from:1985 till:1986 color:relay
from:1987 till:1988 color:relay
from:1989 till:1990 color:relay
from:1991 till:1992 color:relay
from:1993 till:1994 color:relay
from:1995 till:1996 color:relay
from:1997 till:1998 color:relay
from:1999 till:2000 color:relay
from:2001 till:2002 color:relay
from:2003 till:2020 color:relay text:Relay, 3 men, 3 women
from:2021 till:2022 color:relay
from:2023 till:2024 color:relay
from:2025 till:2026 color:relay
at:1981 mark:(line,black)
at:2003 mark:(line,black)
Venues
Multiple winners
Men
Boldface denotes active athletes and highest medal count among all athletes (including these who not included in these tables) per type.
Women
Boldface denotes active athletes and highest medal count among all athletes (including these who not included in these tables) per type.
Mixed
;Sprint Relay
All-time medal table
(Updated after WOC 2022)
See also
*
List of World Orienteering Championships medalists (men)
*
List of World Orienteering Championships medalists (women)
*
List of World Orienteering Championships medalists (mixed events)
References
External links
International Orienteering FederationWorld Orienteering Championships, senior statistics 1966–2005
;WOC
World Orienteering Championships 2004World Orienteering Championships 2005World Orienteering Championships 2006World Orienteering Championships 2007World Orienteering Championships 2008
World Orienteering Championships 2009World Orienteering Championships 2010World Orienteering Championships 2011World Orienteering Championships 2012World Orienteering Championships 2013World Orienteering Championships 2014
World Orienteering Championships 2015World Orienteering Championships 2016World Orienteering Championships 2017World Orienteering Championships 2018World Orienteering Championships 2019World Orienteering Championships 2020
{{Main world championships