Hot off the back of World Cup Round 1, which took place in Switzerland this past weekend, we look ahead to the upcoming World Cup Round 2 competition which takes place in Genoa from Saturday 1 June to Sunday 2 June. 

Event programme

The International orienteering competition of World Cup Round 2 will take place in the the historic city of Genoa. Our athletes can expect the terrain to consist of narrow streets and passages with some steep inclines as they strive to complete the courses in the quickest times. 

Saturday 1 June: Indivdual Sprint

Sunday 2 June: Sprint Relay 

KO Sprint

The 2024 Orienteering World Cup got underway in Switzerland under very variable weather conditions. As the first runners in the men’s qualification got underway the sun was shining, but halfway through heavy rain made the short tricky courses even more complicated.

Due to the weather being so bad, the Womens start was delayed by 30mins and the rain eased, so that the rest of the qualification could go ahead.

Of the British Team, Ralph Street, Nathan Lawson, Rachel Brown and Cecilie Andersen made it out of the qualification heats into the quarter finals the following day.

Fortunately, the previous day’s heavy rain was nowhere to be seen, and the sun shone in central Olten that hosted all of the Saturday’s races.

Joey Hadorn (SUI) and Tove Alexandersson (SWE) took the first Orienteering World Cup wins of 2024, on a flat and fast urban terrain course in the old town centre. The semi-finals featured “runner choice”, leaving the athletes with 20 seconds before the start to decide one of three course options. It was at this point that Ralph Street along with Sweden’s Hanna Lundberg missed out on the top 2 to earn a place in the final.

Unfortunately, Cecilie Andersen, Nathan Lawson and Rachel Brown did not make it out of the competitive quarter finals, all with close finishes.

In an extremely exciting development, the IOF have today announced that the World Orienteering Championships 2024, which is taking place from 12-16 July 2024 in Edinburgh, will be broadcast live via eurovisionsport.com in France, Germany and the UK.  

The news comes as the International Orienteering Federation, IOF, has entered a partnership with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the world’s leading alliance for public service media. 

This means that even if you are unable to attend the event as a spectator or participant in the WOC Tour 2024, you will be able to follow and support Team GB by watching all the live action for free! All you need to do is sign up to access the coverage.  

Follow the action together as a club! 

Get involved in the spirit of WOC 2024 from wherever you are based by setting up a WOC 2024 watch party for your club members! It’s a great opportunity to see Team GB in action as the events unfold and support the national team as they embark on the competition.  

Can’t wait until WOC 2024? Highlights from other International Competitions starts this weekend. 

 That’s right, from 25 May you will be able to catch all the highlights from the Orienteering World Cup Round 1 in Switzerland! Watch the event live via IOF TV.  

You will be able to watch back on how our athletes navigated the course around the ‘railway central’ of Switzerland – Olten. Here is the full upcoming programme of orienteering events that will be broadcast: 

2024 International Orienteering Programme 

May 25-26 
Orienteering World Cup Round 1, Switzerland – highlights only 

June 1-2 
Orienteering World Cup Round 2, Italy – highlights only 

July 12-16 
World Orienteering Championships, Scotland – live broadcast 

August 17-20 
European Orienteering Championships, World Cup Round 3, Hungary – highlights only 

September 26-29, Finland 
Orienteering World Cup Round 4, Finland – highlights only 

For full details, please read the IOF's press release. 

Mike Hamilton, Chief Executive, is to retire from British Orienteering after 11 years.

In the 11 years with British Orienteering there have been many significant changes both in the sport and in the organisation. Within the sport, the growth of urban and sprint events from international to local level has broadened the appeal to a range of people living in cities and urban areas, the technology has revolutionised the sport with electronic timing, now at almost every event. Mike led the change from a large council to a board of directors and consistently ensured that British Orienteering has kept pace with good practices expected of all governing bodies of sport.

Mike has worked tirelessly over his time at British Orienteering and will be missed. He announced his intention to retire at 1^st June and has agreed with the board to operate part time for an extended period of notice whilst a suitable replacement is found.

Judith Holt, British Orienteering chair thanked Mike on behalf of the board and membership:

“Mike has worked with energy and passion to support the development of the sport of orienteering, in particular in developing policies and practices which, while often unnoticed by the average competitor, are critical to enabling us to continue to run our sport. He has been an inspiring leader and has built up an enormous breadth of knowledge about the management and governance of orienteering; many people in the organisation will sorely miss being able to turn to him for answers.

Thank you, Mike, for your dedication to orienteering for the past 11 years and your organisational legacy. We wish you well in your retirement.”

Mike’s contribution to British Orienteering was recently recognised by the Sport and Recreation Alliance who following a nomination by the board awarded him the Emeritus Award. The award which has been in existence for over 10 years is presented to an individual for their life-long or sustained service to grassroots sport and recreation.

The British Orienteering Board Directors have confirmed that a recognition of Mike’s contribution to the sport will be made at the Association and Club Conference.