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Overwhelming success for World Orienteering Day

Orienteering will be in every corner of the world on 11th of May. World Orienteering Day is an event to unite the whole world of orienteering. The project has gathered huge interest from all over the world, and right now there are now 873 locations, in 60 countries, already registered.

Notable among the registered locations, which are spread over all continents, are events in exciting places such as Greenland and New Caledonia.

The events will take place in cities, parks, forests and in school yards. Most of the participants will be youths and school children, but people of all ages are encouraged to take part.

There are many ways to practice orienteering, as indicated by the four main disciplines governed by the IOF, namely Foot Orienteering, Ski Orienteering, Mountain Bike Orienteering and Trail Orienteering. Creative ways of organising such events include night orienteering, using headlamps or flashlights, and indoor orienteering, using artificial landscapes of obstacles.
 

Support from the International Olympic Committee

It is not only schoolchildren who have seen the potential of this event. The International Orienteering Federation recently received a letter from the International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach himself, in support of the first ever World Orienteering Day. In it, he highlights the importance of inspiring young people with the values of sport, and also notes that the activities of World Orienteering Day are well aligned with the key objective of Olympic Agenda 2020: engaging youth through sport. To read the letter in full please click here.

Brian Porteous, President of the International Orienteering Federation, says:
“Not only is this important considering the Olympic ambitions of orienteering, but it also underlines the importance of the sport in inspiring a younger generation to embrace the values of sport that orienteering represents.”

More locations and countries are being registered every day on the digital map here: www.worldorienteeringday.com

For more information and press photos, please contact malin.bjorkqvist@orienteering.org

 

Item uploaded by Jennie Taylor, Marketing Manager on behalf of the International Orienteering Federation

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