British Orienteering is proud to reaffirm our commitment to clean sport
by backing UK Anti-Doping’s (UKAD’s) Clean Sport Week campaign from 13 - 17 May.

Clean Sport Week is UKAD’s national awareness week championing clean sport,
education and anti-doping initiatives with sports across the UK.

This year’s Clean Sport Week theme is “Journey to the Podium”. Throughout the
week, UKAD will be showcasing the importance of the clean sport journey through the
lens of athletes and the elite sport community. Anti-doping should be a key part of
every athlete and support personnel’s journey – it should never be an afterthought.

Clean sport is an essential part of our athletes’ journeys to the podium / in professional
sport. It takes a lifetime of work, commitment and a network of support to help athletes
perform at the very top. This effort can be taken away in a moment by doping.
Creating a culture of clean sport is essential for the health and welfare of our athletes
and the integrity of Orienteering.

We all have a responsibility to keep sport clean, to raise awareness of anti-doping and
to celebrate the successes of athletes - through hard work, determination and by
competing clean.

We encourage anyone in our sporting community that would like to learn more about
anti-doping to sign up to UKAD’s Clean Sport Hub where there are free education
courses for athletes, students, coaches and practitioners.

Follow @ukantidoping on social media to see a range of educational and exciting
content throughout the week. To find out more about UKAD’s Clean Sport Week
initiative click here.

For anyone who works in sport, don’t miss UKAD’s Clean Sport Week event on
Tuesday 14 March, taking place on the Loughborough University campus. The event
will focus on the para-athlete’s journey to the podium. You can register your interest in
attending here.

British Orienteering is delighted to announce the GBR team selected to race at the World University Orienteering Championships.

The World University Orienteering Championships (WUOC) are held every two years, with the 2024 GBR team competing in Bankso, Bulgaria from 1 to 5 August.

British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) selects and enters the team, working in partnership with British Orienteering. The team announcement can be found on the BUCS website.

Women's Team:

Rachel Brown (University of Edinburgh)

Fiona Bunn (University of Edinburgh)

Eilidh Campbell (University of Edinburgh)

Isobel Howard (University of Edinburgh)

Niamh Hunter (University of Edinburgh)

Laura King (Uppsala University)

Men's Team:

Jim Bailey (University of Edinburgh)

David Bunn (University of Edinburgh)

Euan Tryner (University of Edinburgh)

Peter Molloy (University of Cambridge)

Freddie Carcas (Boise State University)

Eddie Narbett (Bradley University)

The Sprint World Orienteering Championships 2024 (WOC 2024), which will take place in Edinburgh from 12-16 July 2024, is delighted to announce Heart Research UK’s Heart of Scotland Appeal as the Official Charity Partner of the event.

The Heart of Scotland Appeal works towards research and community projects in Scotland aimed at reducing the number of people affected by heart diseases. Currently 48 people a day die from cardiovascular disease in Scotland.

The partnership with WOC 2024 aims to raise awareness of the risks of heart diseases amongst the orienteering community, promoting heart health through exercise. The partnership will also help raise funds and awareness for the Heart of Scotland appeal, with all money raised distributed to research projects across Scotland.

The partnership will also be looking to explore opportunities for people to fundraise and take part in the WOC Tour – the amateur races running during WOC 2024. Additionally, various social media collaborations and storytelling activities will help raise awareness of the great work the charity do, in the build up to and during the World Championships in July.

“Heart Research UK’s Heart of Scotland Appeal are delighted to be the official charity partner of the World Orienteering Championships 2024 in Edinburgh. Heart diseases are unfortunately prevalent in Scotland; however, we know that orienteering is a great form of cardiovascular exercise that works out both your heart and your mind,” said Mary Campbell, Director of Income Generation at Heart Research UK.

“Getting outside and trying orienteering, whether in the Scottish countryside or your local town or city, can really benefit both your aerobic and anaerobic fitness, both of which are key to increasing your heart’s strength, reducing your blood pressure, and resting heart rate. We are dedicated to doing all we can to raise awareness of the impact of heart diseases on families up and down the country. The money raised through this partnership will be spent right here in Scotland on lifesaving medical research into the prevention, treatment and cure of heart diseases.”

WOC 2024 Event Director Andy Mitchelmore said of the partnership: “Orienteering is a great form of exercise for all ages and the perfect sport for helping heart health. This is why we felt that a partnership with Heart Research UK’s Heart of Scotland Appeal was such a great fit with WOC 2024 and why we are delighted to have them on board as our Official Charity Partner.”

“We hope we can work together to raise awareness about the work they do in Scotland and help raise funds to support their projects across Scotland. We know the orienteering community will get behind the charity and in July Edinburgh will welcome the orienteering community from around the world, whilst at the same time raising funds for this fantastic cause.”

WOC 2024 is organised by Scottish 6 Days Orienteering in conjunction with Scottish Orienteering, British Orienteering and the International Orienteering Federation, with primary event partners EventScotland, part of VisitScotland’s Events Directorate, and The City of Edinburgh Council.

To find out more about WOC 2024 visit the official website. Sign up to the WOC Tour here, and for Heart Research UK’s Heart of Scotland Appeal visit their website.

On Friday 14 May, athletes from a total of 28 Nations met in St-Blaise for the Knock-out Sprint Qualification races. It is a community which lies a few kilometers east of the European Orienteering Championships main city on the Lake of Neuchâtel, Switzerland. The finish arena of the competition was located directly on the shore of the lake at the local boat harbour.

The race was divided into three start heats each for the men and the women. 12 athletes could qualify from each heat for the final races. Three athletes represented Great Britain, Thomas Wilson and Jo Shepherd finished 24th and 25th respectively and unfortunately missed out on the Quarter Finals. GBR Megan Carter- Davies finished 4th in her heat and progressed to the Quarter Finals which took place yesterday (Saturday 15 May).

Megan raced in Quarter Final 1 and finished 2nd to move into the Semi-Finals later in the day.  Faced with a strong field she ran a solid race but failed to make the Final.

The qualification race for the athletes was a little over 3 kilometers long with 50 meters climb. 20 control points had to be found in a running time of less than a quarter of an hour. Longer sections between the individual controls were equally challenging for the participants as were the technically difficult passages in the narrow alleyways and roads of the village with the character of an Italian little town. Beginning rain created slippery conditions in the women’s race and added to the challenge.

The first two places in the Semi-Finals heats secured a ticket for the final of the best 6 athletes. There were almost two kilometres to be covered per round and between 12 and 19 control points to be found. The constant contact with the opponents and the many changes of directions ensured that full concentration was required to advance another round.

The final of the Knock-out Sprint was the second of three medal decisions at the EGK European Orienteering Championships (EOC) 2021 on Saturday. In rainy and nasty weather conditions in Neuchâtel, the Swiss Matthias Kyburz for the men and Tove Alexandersson for the women showed convincing races.

Tove Alexandersson (SWE) and Simona Aebersold (SUI) demonstrated their skills in the women’s competition right from the start. They were the fastest athletes in the quarter-finals, semi-finals and ultimately in the finals. The Swede won the final race with an eight-second lead over the Swiss with a running time of just over seven minutes. The Norwegian Benjaminsen completed the podium 18 seconds behind.

The decision was much narrower in the men’s Final. Winner Kyburz was only one second ahead of his team-mate Hadorn; third placed Norwegian Fosser was only three seconds behind the gold medalist. There were almost three medals in sight for the EOC host country Switzerland. Ricardo Rancan only missed the podium by a second in fourth place and was awarded an EOC 2021 diploma.

Yannick Michiels did not qualify for the finals of the six best men. The Belgian who was considered a favourite for a medal was surprisingly eliminated in the quarter-final.

The format of the Knock-out sprints in orienteering is still young. The discipline also celebrated its inauguration at the European championships. On Final day of the Knock-out Sprints yesterday, the 36 best athletes were at the start who had recommended themselves for the finals in the qualifying races the previous day.

A full overview and results can be found here.

Watch slideshow from the Knock-out Sprints here.