Foot orienteering (usually referred to as simply Orienteering or FootO for short) is the oldest formal

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 ...

sport, and the one with the most "starts" per year. Usually, a FootO is a timed race in which participants start at staggered intervals, are individually

time Time is the continued sequence of existence and event (philosophy), events that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various me ...

d, and are expected to perform all

navigation Navigation is a field of study that focuses on the process of monitoring and controlling the movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another.Bowditch, 2003:799. The field of navigation includes four general categories: land navigation ...

on their own. The control points are shown on the

orienteering map An orienteering map is a map specially prepared for use in orienteering events. It is a large-scale topographic map with extra markings to help the participant navigate through the course. These maps are much more detailed than general-purpose to ...

and must be visited in the specified order. Standings are determined first by successful completion of the

course Course may refer to: Directions or navigation * Course (navigation), the path of travel * Course (orienteering), a series of control points visited by orienteers during a competition, marked with red/white flags in the terrain, and corresponding ...

, then by shortest time on course. FootO is one of four orienteering disciplines governed 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 bik ...

History

The history of orienteering began in the late 19th century in

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 countries, Nordic c ...

. 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. 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.

Formats

The official formats in the

World Orienteering Championships The World Orienteering Championships (or WOC for short) is an annual orienteering event organized by the International Orienteering Federation. The first World Championships was held in Fiskars, Finland in 1966. They were held biennially up to 2 ...

, which is followed by most regional and national championships, include the following:

Long distance

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 to 80 minutes for women, in physically demanding terrain with large-scale route choices and varying scale of technical difficulties.

Middle distance

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

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.

Relay

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.

Sprint relay

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.

IOF events

World championships

The

are held annually. ,

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

has been dominant.

International championships

* Junior World Orienteering Championships * World Masters Orienteering Championships *

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 ...

References

Orienteering

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 ...

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