InsideOrient-1_15-3

News in Brief
Vice President Mike Dowling (to the
right) at The World Games 2013
with Jose Fernando Gomez Rueda.
Photo: Anna Jacobson
National quotas for Orienteering
World Cup competitions determined
The national quotas for the 2015 Orienteering World Cup competitions 4-6
and 10-11 have been determined on the basis of the Federation League standings
as of 1st January 2015.
The federations getting eight places in the men’s class will be Switzerland,
Sweden, Norway, Finland, Russia and Great Britain.
The federations with 8 places in the women’s class will be Switzerland, Sweden,
Finland, Norway, Russia and Great Britain. All other federations will get 6
places in these competitions.
Check here the current standings in the Federation League Table.
The IOF Competition Programme Review Project
At the 2014 General Assembly,
member federations of the IOF were
advised of details of the IOF Competition
Review project. This project seeks
to examine the competition structure
of the IOF across all disciplines of the
sport. It will provide a progress report
at the 2015 Presidents’ Conference and
the intention is that the project will be
concluded by the 2016 General Assembly
in Sweden.
The lead project group for the project
is chaired by IOF Vice President
Mike Dowling (AUS) and also includes
Council members Mikko Salonen (FIN)
and Nik Suter (SUI), Susanne Söderholm
(SWE) and Jan Kocbach (NOR).
In addition there are a number of Expert
Groups across a range of key areas
for consultation and feedback and
a Reference Group for benchmarking
any outcomes and proposals to be submitted
to Council.
Work to date has consisted of a review
of the IOF World Cup programme
for foot orienteering, and a paper was
endorsed by Council at its October
meeting that establishes a roadmap
for the future of this discipline’s World
Cup programme. Council endorsed
one of the key suggestions from the
road map, that the future of the World
Cup in foot orienteering must be on a
more “commercial” footing if it is to
be sustainable and attractive to stakeholders
into the future.
Over the last two months, the lead
project group has been examining the
Nordic federations’ proposal for splitting
the World Championships into
“urban”-based and “forest”-based formats
in alternate years. An initial analysis
of the proposal has raised many
questions. Accordingly, member federations
and expert groups within the
project framework will receive a paper
from the lead project group seeking
feedback in response to these questions.
Project group chair Mike Dowling
says, “At the 2014 General Assembly
it was indicated that this project will
be a complex process. It is very important
that the wider project and all the
sub-tasks within the project are carefully
thought through and analysed
for what might be the consequences
for any major changes to our competition
programme. In the area of our
World Championships, we must listen
to and consult with our member federations
as to the structure and future of
our world championships in foot orienteering,
as it is our most important
“product” in the global development
of our sport.”
Orienteering promoted on
The World Games Channel
Both the European Ski Orienteering Championships from Lenzerheide, Switzerland,
and the World Ski Orienteering Championships from Hamar, Norway,
were shown live on The World Games Channel. The Channel is created to promote
the sports that are in The World Games programme.
This is the second time that the European Ski Orienteering Championships
have been broadcast on the channel. The 2014 Championships can still be found
on the channel, as also highlights from the World Orienteering Championships
and orienteering events from The World Games 2013.
Orienteering on The World Games Channel
The World Games 2021 to be held in USA
The International World Games Association (IWGA) announced on 22nd January
that the 2021 edition of The World Games will be held in Birmingham, USA.
“This was a great, historical day for Birmingham, Alabama”, the newly appointed
organisers said, and continued: “We will make you proud. These will
be the best World Games ever.”
The other two applicants were Ufa, Russia, and Lima, Peru. Orienteering has
been part of The World Games programme since 2001. The 2017 Games will be
held in Wrochlaw, Poland.
How to produce a school map
A new manual on how to produce a school map has been made by Swiss Orienteering
and translated by Sergio Grifoni, former IOF Map Commission member.
You can find the manual here.
SFR Punching System provisionally approved
for FootO World Ranking Events
The IOF Council has decided to grant provisional approval for the use of SFR
Punching System in Foot Orienteering World Ranking Events.
The provisional approval will expire in two years and it is possible for SFR to
seek final approval after a minimum of one year period.
Håkan Blomgren
new chair of the
IOF IT Commission
Håkan Blomgren (SWE), leader of
the IOF IT Services project, has been
appointed new chairman of the IOF
IT Commission.
Other members of the Commission
are Finn Arildsen (DEN), Björn Heinemann
(GER) and Henning Spjelkavik
(NOR).
IOF Event
organisers and
dates approved
The IOF Council has appointed Lithuania
organiser of the World Trail
Orienteering Championships 2017.
The events will be held 10-16 July.
Lithuania will also organise the
World Masters MTB Orienteering
Championships 2016, in conjunction
with a MTB Orienteering World
Cup round.
The proposed dates for the World
MTB Orienteering Championships
2017 to be organised in Lithuania
were approved, and the Championships
will be held between 19- 27
August 2017.
Finland has been awarded the
World Masters Ski Orienteering
Championships 2017. The dates for
the events are 5-12 February.
The dates for the World Orienteering
Championships 2018 in
Latvia have been approved. The
Championships will be organised
27 July – 5 August 2018.
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