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 IOC
It is not only schoolchildren who have
seen the potential of this event. The IOF recently received a letter
from the IOC 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.
- 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, says Brian Porteous, president of the International
Orienteering Federation.
More locations and countries are being
registered every day on the digital map, you will find it here:
www.worldorienteeringday.com.
For more information and press photos,
please contact malin.bjorkqvist@orienteering.org.
[Press release from the International
Orienteering Federation 2016-04-20]
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