The Junior World Orienteering Championships (JWOC) makes its eagerly anticipated return to the calendar this weekend having been one of the casualties of recent times. JWOC had been postponed from its original date but the commitment and support of the Portuguese Orienteering Federation and the continuous effort of the event organisers have ensured that there will be a competition this year.

Taking place in Aguiar da Beira, a small county in the centre of Portugal with an impressive forest area, exquisite sights and historical monuments. First introduced to Orienteering in 2014, many races have been held in the area since with countless orienteers returning for competitions and training camps. The area has a moderate to high climb and large areas of bare rock can be found, runnability varies a lot from place to place providing an excellent challenge for the athletes.

Great Britain will be sending a team of 12 athletes with differing levels of international experience due to the pandemic over the last few years. Supported by Pete Tryner, Tom Bray, Peter Hodkinson and Megan Wright, the team will hope that the recent success of the seniors at the World Orienteering Championships can inspire some good performances at these championships also.

It's been a busy time for some athletes with four members of the team having travelled from Hungary where they recently competed in the European Youth Orienteering Championships (EYOC). The trio of Isobel Howard, Iris Macmillan and Imogen Pieters came together to record the highest placed GB team in the relays in 11^th place and will hope that the experience gained at EYOC will help towards the competition next week. Five of the athletes featuring at JWOC will go on to further compete at the World University Championships next month.

All of the events can be watched live- https://jwoc2022.pt/jwoc-live-center-sprint-11th-july/ which will also have the start lists, live GPS and results when they are available.

The team in full:

Support Staff:

• Pete Tryner
• Tom Bray
• Peter Hodkinson
• Megan Wright

Programme of Events: