Trail Orienteering: The first steps in Brazil

Trail Orienteering has taken another important step towards its establishment in Brazil. Under the motto “Trail Orienteering is the sport where different are equal” the 1st MB/ADAAN TrailO Cup, which brought together a total of 75 competitors, has taken place in Rio de Janeiro. The event was organised by the Admiral Adalberto Nunes Sports Association (ADAAN) along with the Rio de Janeiro Orienteering Federation and took place at the Admiral Adalberto Nunes Physical Education Centre (CEFAN). The competition was open to all, regardless of age, gender or physical ability – so people with less mobility and lower physical strength could compete on equal terms with everyone else. Key leader of the initiative, Cmdt. Rubens Igreja, says that “the organisation of this event is part of a project aiming to develop Trail Orienteering within the Armed Forces and by extension to the civil environment, providing for the social integration of a specific population. Thus promoting the development of Trail Orienteering is a way of promoting social inclusion, health and leisure, according to the guidelines of the Ministry of Sports in Brazil. In a broader sense, it promotes actions of social integration, environmental awareness and healthy sport and leisure practices.”

The support of CEFAN, which offered its facilities and infrastructure, was crucial to enable the event to take place. Distributed by Paralympic and Open Classes, the competitor group proved to be quite mixed, with some experienced orienteers and also a significant participation of athletes who didn’t know the sport and were having their first contact with Orienteering in this competition. The competition was attended by representatives of the Niteroiense Association of Physically Handicapped (ANDEF), which organises activities in health, education, social welfare, community sports and training prominent Paralympic athletes at national and international level, and representatives of the Association of support for people with disabilities in the West Zone (ADEZO), where the work is aimed at the professional training and inclusion of people with disabilities in the labour market, and their social development.

With the ethos of equality to the fore, the competition was marked by a fraternal atmosphere. In the Paralympic Class the contest was particularly tight between Eloi Mandarino and Mara Davila Oliveira, finishing with a tie in the number of correct answers (8 out of 10 possible). Mara was the fastest on the timed controls, but the penalty for an incorrect answer turned Eloi into the big winner. As for the Open Class, there was an absolute tie for first place between Fabricio Zorzanelli and Geraldo Luciano dos Santos.

The competitors didn’t hold back in their kind words to the organisers and were excited about the next steps. The Paralympic athletes expressed their intention to move forward with the founding of a club having Trail orienteering in their flag. The participation of Physical Education teachers from Rio de Janeiro and Paraná was also very important with regard to the presentation of this discipline at schools, and meanwhile the news came that the Brazilian Orienteering Confederation intends to include a ‘taster course’ of Trail Orienteering during the Brazilian Championships.

Cmdt. Igreja’s last words show commitment and ambition: “Organising a competition of this nature is not simple, requiring planning and hard work before, during and after the event. Bearing in mind the experience of our team, we are satisfied with the final result. The Orienteering team MB/ADAAN is aware that it still needs to learn a lot, but is always ambitious. We organised the MB/ADAAN MTBO Cup that is already going for its 4th edition and now dared to organise the 1st MB/ADAAN Trail Orienteering Cup. And in the course of this year there will be even more!”

[Text: Joaquim Margarido. Photo: Ricardo Lorençato. See the original article on IOF Newsletter's last issue at http://orienteering.org/trail-orienteering-the-first-steps-in-brazil/. Published with permission from the International Orienteering Federation]

Davide Machado and WMTBOC 2016: “I will run searching for a dream!”

Six years ago, the Portuguese Davide Machado called attention to himself by taking 7th place in the WMTBOC 2010 Long Distance race, held in Montalegre, Portugal. This was the first major international competition of his career: an unforgettable experience and from which the athlete recalls “the unexpected results, the fantastic atmosphere within the Portuguese team and all aspects of the event.” In addition to the strong motivation towards building a successful racing career, his achievements eventually opened the doors to higher competition status, which meant inclusion in the Lisbon Training Centre to help his development as an athlete. But also “these results, and the conditions that I have been provided with, allowed the continuation and completion of my academic studies,” he says.

- When you look back, what are the differences that separate the Davide of 2010 from the Davide of 2016?

“The Davide of 2016 is a more “grown up” and fulfilled athlete, with stronger personal goals and other priorities. Oh … and more white hair!” (laughs)

- And what similarities persist?

“The same dreams, the same determination, the same convictions!”

In 2016 the WMTBOC is back in Portugal. Anticipating what will be the highlight of the season, many foreign athletes have trained and competed in Portugal during the early part of March, taking part in the two stages of the 2016 Bairrada O ‘Meeting MTBO event, both of which score for the IOF MTBO World Ranking. Somewhat surprisingly Davide Machado ended up being the big winner, in the presence of star names such as Luca Dallavalle, Jussi Laurila and Baptiste Fuchs. A victory in an event that he was about to skip, as he tells us: “The challenge was deciding to participate in this event, after two weeks marked by having to train and with a little inflammation in my knee.” Davide was eventually convinced, and saw his decision thoroughly justified. Looking back at the two stages of the BOM MTBO event, Davide says that “the biggest challenges were the map reading after a few months of absence, and the difficulty of progression in muddy terrain because of the heavy rain in the days beforehand.”

“It can be said that there is already great anticipation for the World Championships,” said Davide Machado, referring to the festive atmosphere that could already be felt in the Bairrada region, which will host the World Championships at the end of July. A region that Davide classifies as “having great potential for the practice of this discipline and that fulfils two fundamental requirements: terrain that is technically difficult and physically demanding.” Among the great attributes of the Bairrada region, Davide lists “the many good maps with large networks of paths, and the physical difficulty due to the unevenness.” And, of course, the good hospitality, gastronomy and beauty of the region, “all of these conditions for a championships of excellence,” in the athlete’s words.

Four months before the event, Davide Machado’s recent success is giving great joy to the Portuguese and, of course, to himself. “Six years after Montalegre, I am a more experienced athlete, more determined. I have dreams, of course, but I also have my feet firmly on the ground. I know my skills, but time has shown me enough to know that everything can change from one moment to another. However, I will be in the Championships as I ever am, sure that I will give my best and I will run searching for a dream!”

[Text and photo: Joaquim Margarido. See the original article on IOF Newsletter's last issue at http://orienteering.org/davide-machado-and-wmtboc-2016-i-will-run-searching-for-a-dream/. Published with permission from the International Orienteering Federation]

Inside Orienteering 03/2015: Behind the Scenes - Jorn Sundby

The Norwegian Jorn Sundby is IOF WOC SEA which means event advising at World Orienteering Championships with TV-development as one key part.

Tell us about your work as IOF WOC SEA?

– The mission is to secure the quality of WOC-events. I have a SEA-assistant for all WOCs, and we also have at least one national controller in our team. In addition, we have different experts within the IOF we can involve in technical details if necessary. The SEA is the main link between the IOF and organizer. One main task is of course to make sure that the IOF rules are strictly followed. Some IOF-rules are different from national rules. We have to approve the solutions chosen by the organizers in all areas, making sure that they not only follow the rules, but also have the quality that we want for our main event. Fairness is the most important guideline in judging all aspects of a WOC. Our aim is to be a support and a help for the organizers (not only a controller). Most WOC organizers do this once in their life time, while the SEA-team have a lot of experience from

many WOCs. In many cases we know what works and what doesn’t work.

Describe your work?

– I started working for IOF ahead of the 2015-season, replacing Bjorn Persson. I had some previous SEA-experience as Bjorn´s assistant at WOC 2014. Right now I have the responsibility of the WOC’s from 2016–2018. Normally we visit the host city once or twice each year in the three years prior to the WOC. Every visit is normally three to four days. Beside the visits we stay in close contact with the organizer through E-mail. For WOC 2016 it is a bit different, both me as the SEA and Unni Strand Karlsen as the assistant SEA lives quite close to the area, so we are visiting more frequently. We might just go for an evening meeting or a day in the forest.

We spend a lot of time on the different things that are different at WOC compared to a “normal” event. This is often where the organizer needs support and advice. Very few have experience with television, with the infrastructure needed, demands for IT, and so on. The demands of an international event, language, fairness for all countries is also new to many. Still, in the end, most time is used on maps and courses. There are many events at a WOC, and we want the best possible quality for the athletes.

What do you like with this job?

– Meeting organizers from different countries and finding good solutions together as a team is very rewarding. There are so many people who spend so many hours for our sport, making these events happen. They all have this desire to make their event as good as absolutely possible, and this is fantastic to see. Especially I enjoy the early part of the event planning, when the main concepts are made. To find an arena and a terrain that can have world class courses, and at the same time give us a great presentation on TV and for spectators. I enjoy the challenge of trying to improve the standard of our events every year to the benefit of all our stakeholders.

The biggest challenge?

– The biggest challenge is to find the concepts that can fulfill all the intentions of a WOC. We need to have world class maps and courses at the same time as we need world class TV-production and presentation. This is often a challenge to combine, many of the best terrains are often in remote areas with struggling mobile connection no internet or infrastructure. The athletes will be happy there, but TV Broadcast and presentation will suffer. They need more infrastructure to be able to do their job. Many arenas that have the necessary infrastructure for the forest event don’t have the best terrain nearby, leading to compromises that in the end neither athletes or TV are happy with. So it is absolutely crucial that we search for the area where we both have access to world class terrain, but also have the infrastructure needed for spectators and media/television.

In such a big organization as a WOC there are many different people with many different opinions. This is often refreshing as it brings different ideas to the table. But sometimes it can be very difficult when decisions need to be made and it is impossible to keep everybody happy. This is a big challenge, most organizers are volunteers and if they are not happy with the decisions they may choose to do other things than organize a WOC… So it is important to have a good and clean communication with all the key people in the organization.

The sprint events are also a big challenge. Held in an urban area, it is very difficult to secure everything with so many people living and moving in the competition area. You always seem to get some unpleasant surprises.

The financial part of the event is also very challenging for most organizers, and it is sometimes necessary to choose second best or third best option because of financial issues.

Give us an example of an incident to avoid.

– The most important is of course to avoid incidents that makes the competition unfair or even cancelled. The most important is to think about possible scenarios and have back-up plans ready. So we spend a lot of time discussing potential problems. What if the area loses power? What if a bus breaks down on the way to the start? What if the competition maps get lost on the way to the start? And so on. The WOC 2015 organizers were great at making such plans. When a bus had problems on the way to the long distance start, they had already thought about this and could make fast decisions on what to do.

How do we prevent incidents as the punching system fail in the World Cup?

– By having done proper testing in advance with the same people, in the same conditions. It is very important that the organizers have test events where they test their systems (and people) in the same roles and with the same goal as in WOC. When people have to do something for the first time at WOC it increases the risk of error. People should have done their task so many times already in tests that they feel safe and know what to do during WOC. Many people were concerned about using punch-free system in WOC 2015 after the failure in June, but the organizer had done a really professional job testing many times and it worked well at WOC.

Who are you?

– I have a mixed background in orienteering. I competed myself at JWOC and Euromeeting for Norway, but I had to give up the national team early due to an injury. I worked as the coach of the Norwegian junior team for four years, and I was one of the assistant coaches of the senior team for four years, helping the athletes with the technical preparations (maps, courses and trainings) for WOC being my main task. So I know a lot about how the coaches think, and how the teams prepare. Beside coaching I have been working in media for the last 25 years. In orienteering I have been an announcer for many World Cup events and also WOC. In television I have been a commentator for the last 15 years, doing winter sports, football, handball, and also some orienteering. I have also been involved in productions from events.

For three years I worked full time for the Norwegian Orienteering Federation as their event manager, this included responsibilities in connection with WOC 2010. I have also been a course setter for many big events, including many Norwegian championships and also World Cup. I am a part time map maker, having maps made for Norwegian championships and for local events. So I have a very mixed background that hopefully can help the understanding of all aspects of a WOC, and to find the best possible solutions.

Can you compare the big orienteering events with other sports event?

– Our sport is very demanding to organize. So many details are important for a successful event, and this makes orienteering one of the more challenging sports to organize. What makes it even more challenging is that we don’t have a fixed arena, we pretty much have to build everything from scratch every time. There are also big costs involved, especially for mapping and TV-production. It is easier (and much cheaper) to put up a couple of cameras at a beach volley or tennis arena than putting several kilometers of heavy cables out in tough forest. One advantage is that our maps can be reused for years after our events, for everyone from elite to youngsters.

Orienteering organizers are generally good in the technical matters of the competition, but many other sports are much more professional in their work with presentation, TV, sponsors and partners. In this area we need to improve.

How can we develop big events in the future?

– I believe that we are moving towards a more professional handling of our main events. This means that some tasks will be done by specialists, who will do the same job every year. This is already the case with areas like TV-production and mapping, but also some other areas, like IT/time-keeping should have a professional team who secure high quality every time. I think this will benefit everyone, especially the organizers, as they can spend more energy on the tasks that they have experience and feel comfortable with, and they can sleep better, knowing that some of their critical tasks are taken care of.

From 2019 the new system with split sprint and forest WOC will start, and it will be very interesting to follow this development. There are some challenges with it, but it also gives us possibilities that we didn’t have before. New countries, new areas can be used, and with fewer events during the week it should be easier to improve the quality of the events held. I am hoping that we can improve the financial side of organizing a WOC, that would make WOC much more attractive and means that we can choose from more and better concepts.

The TV-productions are moving in the right direction now, with more and more countries buying the rights for WOC. Hopefully, within five-six years, we no longer lose money on our TV Broadcasts.

I also hope that the level of the athletes continues to improve, hopefully we will have many countries fighting for medals also in the coming years. I want us to give them some WOC events that gives them positive memories for life, and as long as I have this job I will do everything I can to make that happen!

Photo: Erik Borg

[See the original article at http://orienteering.org/edocker/inside-orienteering/2015-3/InsideOrient%203_15.pdf. Published with permission from the International Orienteering Federation]

Inside Orienteering: Issue 3, November 2015 is now published

The latest issue of the IOF publication Inside Orienteering is now available on the IOF webpage. On it, you may read about the upcoming SkiO Season, meet the new IOF Office in Sweden, follow the first ever Egyptian Sprint Orienteering Championships and much more.

In the last issue of Inside Orienteering, published in June [HERE], you could enjoy a look back at the years that the IOF Office spent in Finland, and remember the hard work and progress that was undergone there. Since then, a lot has been happening behind the scenes. The entire IOF Office has upped sticks and moved, from Finland’s capital Helsinki, to the regional capital Karlstad, in Värmland, Sweden. This is probably one of the main reasons why Inside Orienteering's third issue is been published so late. Written by Kirsty McIntire, “IOF Office – The Beginning of a New Era” is an informal (and nice) presentation of all staff, from Tom Hollowell, the new Secretary General / Chief Executive Officer, to David Wästlund, the Sports Administrator, Malin Björqvist, responsible for the Global Development & Communications Officer, Hans Jørgen Kvåle, the Marketing Manager, Jörn Sundby, IOF Senior Event Adviser for the World Orienteering Championships, Henrik Skoglund, who works with Eventor, Ed Niland, manager of the IOF's Anti-Doping plans and, of course, Kirsty McIntyre, the Office Administrator.

The Winter is here and Erik Borg talks about Ski Orienteering and the “Great motivations with the big events”. The 2018 World Cup Ski Orienteering races will be at Craftsbury Outdoor Center, in northern Vermont, USA, and the subject deserves his special attention. But also the next European Championships, in Obertilliach, Austria, “A perfect location for a Championship”. We can also read a nice interview with Daisy Kudre, expecting to see her “back in the ski-o world with a smiling face”, and another Interview with Juraj Nemec, IOF Event Adviser for the World University Championships and “a door opener on the Olympic Road”. We may also see in the words of Brian Porteous, the IOF President, a reinforcement of this “Olympic project”: “The International Olympic Committee's Agenda 2020 gives us real opportunities to be included especially in the Olympic Winter Games and it is important therefore that all federations who can support and encourage our skiO discipline.”

“Around the World”, José Angel Nieto Poblete presents the “Women and Sports” project, a program developed by the Spanish Orienteering Federation and the National Sports Council; Zoran Milovanovic invites us to the beautiful Al Azhar Park, in Cairo, for the first ever Sprint Orienteering Championships of Egypt; and Dominic Yue left us a general idea about the sixth World Military Games, in Mungyeong, South Korea. Finally, Daniel Hubmann, the current leader of the IOF World Ranking, describes his favorite map: Irbene, in Latvia. In this interview, conducted by Erik Borg, you can read that “he has been on the map only once. It was on the Long Distance at the European

Championship in 2008. Daniel finished second after Dmitry Tsvetkov. The difference between the Russian and Hubmann was 33 seconds on the 16,9 km long course with 33 controls.”

This and much more to read at http://orienteering.org/edocker/inside-orienteering/2015-3/InsideOrient%203_15.pdf.

Joaquim Margarido

Latin Countries Cup: 20 years of History

Spain was the big winner of the Latin Countries Cup 2015, held at Vlessart in early May. Inside Orienteering takes a look at the history of the Cup, which is soon 20 years old, has 17 member countries so far and has served as a bridge, increasingly solid, between Europe and America.

By Joaquim Margarido

Varna, Bulgaria, 1994. The lunch period marked a break in the Congress of the International Orienteering Federation and by a chance, Alexandrescu Constantin and Coman Ciprian, respectively President and General Secretary of the Romanian Orienteering Federation and Livio Guidolin, the General Secretary of the Italian Orienteering Federation and his wife sat down around the same table. From the intersection of conversations to the discovery of what both federations had in common was only a small step.

The chat continued and what started as a simple exchange of complimentary words, soon became more serious however with Alexandrescu’s proposal to organise an Orienteering competition for the Latin Countries. Enthusiastically received by Guidolin and, immediately, by the representatives of Federations of Spain, France and Portugal, also present at Varna, the idea had a practical effect the next Latin Countries Cup – 20 years of history day, with a special meeting aimed to formalise the foundation of the Latin Countries Cup. Name of the competition, goals, timings, composition of the teams, competition classes, results calculation formula, trophies, organisation and participation in expenses, such were the issues on the table. They drafted the project of statutes, and moved it on to the ratification stage by the five founding federations and elected the Italian Livio Guidolin as first General Secretary of the Latin Countries Cup. At Buzau, Romania, between 12th and 15th October 1995, took place the first edition of the Latin Countries Cup – Latinum Certamen, with the Romanian representation being the first one winning the competition.

The years of consolidation

Between 1996 and 1999, Italy, France, Portugal and Spain received by this order, the following editions of the Latin Countries Cup. In the meanwhile, Livio Guidolin gave his place of General Secretary to the Belgian Eric Hully, who remained in office between 1997 and 2005. These will be the years of consolidation. Increasingly, the Latin Countries Cup is stated as the friendly meeting place between Latin orienteers, providing the exchange of knowledge on training, pedagogy and methods of learning, in short, contributing to the development of Orienteering in the countries of Latin origin.

Belgium is admitted as a member of the Latin Countries Cup in 1997 and the 1998’s edition, held in Portugal, witnessed the participation of Brazil, which was accepted as the seventh full member, the first Latin American country to join the Latin Countries Cup. Between 2000 and 2008, the Latin Countries Cup revisited Belgium and the five founding countries. In 2004, again in Portugal, Mozambique is as a guest and accepted as full member the following year, along with Argentina, Colombia and Venezuela, in an edition held in Spain. In 2004, Spain won the right to keep definitively the trophy after winning the Portuguese edition, the third of a series that started in Italy

and continued in France. In the 2005 annual meeting, held in Seville, the Spanish José Angel Nieto Poblete was elected General Secretary of the Latin Countries Cup, place that he still holds and has just renewed until 2017. In 2008, Switzerland is admitted as a full member of the Latin Countries Cup.

A bridge over the Atlantic

The year 2009 represented a step forward in the history of the Cup, with the holding of the 15th edition for the first time outside Europe. In a process that began two years earlier by Itamar Torrezan and was concluded by Otavio Dornelles, Brazil organised an event that got participants from Uruguay and Chile, members no. 13 and 14 of a “club” that continues to grow.

Brazil would be the big winner of this edition, preceding Portugal which obtained in 2010 its first and only triumph in the competition’s history. In 2011, with the return of the competition to Spain, Costa Rica, Peru and Paraguay are admitted as full members, making the number of members 17. In 2014, the Latin Countries Cup crossed the Atlantic for the second time in its history, with the competition taking place in Uruguay. The victory in this edition went to Spain, repeating it already in 2015, in Belgium, in front the strong opposition from Belgians and Italians. In 2016 we will have a new transatlantic voyage, this time to Chile, contributing to the project to merge Europe and Latin America as hosts of the successive editions of the event. The years 2017 and 2019 already have Italy and Portugal as candidates for organising the event. And in 2018, who will be the Latin American country to host the Latin Countries Cup?

[See the original article in the IOF's newsletter Inside Orienteering, at http://orienteering.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/InsideOrient-2_15.pdf. Published with permission from the International Orienteering Federation]

Inside Orienteering 02/2015: Anna Jacobson's last issue

The latest issue of Inside Orienteering, the newsletter of the International Orienteering Federation, is already published. Marked by Anna Jacobson's farewell from the charge of Assistant Secretary General of that organization and Editor-in-Chief of the O-Zine, this is a number with a very special meaning.

Unannounced, the invitation came by surprise. Anna Jacobson wrote me asking my collaboration in the edition of the World Orienteering 2012. She needed an “expert” in MTB Orienteering and... I was the “expert” (?) From the surprise to the doubt was the time of a second. Would I be able to correspond to what she expected from me? Over there, the conditions were simple: it is volunteer work. I just asked to not see “censored” my articles and to let me write about what is happening in the Latin countries. Anna accepted. Me too. When I see, in the latter number, an article about the life and work of the Catalan Carles Llado and a historical review of the Latin Countries Cup, I am sure I did well in accepting the challenge. This always open window, from Italy to Mozambique, from Cuba to Portugal, was my greatest reward in the nearly three years of collaboration.

But this collaboration was not reduced to Orienteering World. In December 2012 I signed, with an Interview to the Swiss Matthias Kyburz, my first article in Inside Orienteering and a photo of mine had Cover honours. The collaboration get more and more closer and in the following two years and half 24 articles were signed by me on 13 numbers. Adding to this 13 interviews for the “Athlete of the Month” and we can have an idea about the scale of this work. Volunteer, I repeat! And always, but always, with the huge support of Anna and the understanding and patience of Clive Allen, “washing” my English.

That is why, alongside of a sense of pride and commitment, I cannot help but feel some sadness today, in the precise day of Anna's departure from the office at Radiokatu. A major overhaul in the structure of the IOF and the changing of the office from Finland to Sweden eventually spell the end of a beautiful story, based on trust and friendship. I know Anna, wherever you go, whatever you do, that you'll always be successful. You're a fighter and your ability to work are the guarantee of a promising future. As for me, I don't know. Officially I've not received any invitation to keep the collaboration with the IOF, in current or new terms. But, about one thing, I'm sure: I'll miss you, Anna!

Joaquim Margarido

Norte Alentejano O' Meeting: The five elements!

What mystery is this, leading hundreds of people to abandon their “comfort zone”, year after year, facing the winter and heading to Portugal to participate in the Norte Alentejano O’ Meeting? The answer comes in the five fingers: Water, Earth, Sun, Stone and ... Orienteering!

Written by Joaquim Margarido

It was in 2007 that the Norte Alentejano O’ Meeting presented its credentials for the first time. Its beginning was in a bet made by Grupo Desportivo dos Quatro Caminhos, and since the very start one became aware of the orienteering potential of this inner region of Portugal. There was a perfect match between the ambitions of the northern club to move forward, and the proposal to put the Norte Alentejo region on the world orienteering map The municipality of Nisa was successively joined by Castelo de Vide, Alter do Chão, Crato, Portalegre and Marvão, changing the initial dream into an undeniable reality: the Norte Alentejano O’ Meeting is, today, an acclaimed event worldwide, both for its technical quality and organisational capacity.

Over nine editions, NAOM grew and consolidated itself. It incorporated the National Championships Sprint and Middle Distance in 2008 and 2012, and has been an IOF World Ranking Event six times. In 2011 it was part of the Portugal O’ Meeting – one of the prestigious events of the regular winter calendar - with the presence of all the world’s best athletes without exception. And last but not least, it has consistently contributed to the promotion and affirmation of Portugal, and in particular the Norte Alentejo region, as a tourist and sports destination of excellence, especially in the winter.

Training Camps complete the offer

To wander through this region of Portugal is to meet with ancient times when the first men settled here, making these lands into their “safe haven”. From prehistory to the Roman civilization, from the Arab and medieval period to the present day, art and culture have strolled hand in hand with a preserved landscape of great beauty, appealing to the good taste and the feelings of each. Reasons why Maria Gabriela Tsukamoto, former Mayor of Nisa, claims that “much more than the courses planned on the maps, more than practising a sport, more than a healthy relationship between the visitors and the locals ... the participants in the NAOM find here endless beauty, spread over a vast natural and architectural heritage.”

The charms from a cultural and landscape angle, combined with a unique gastronomy - where the wine, olive oil and herbs imposed themselves as excellent complements - are major attributes of this region. But to the competitor there, alongside the great competition, there are Training Camps of excellence. Founded in late 2011 by Fernando Costa, a man with great experience in the sports associations and event organization, Orievents has the goal to organise events and to promote orienteering activities for schools and companies. It works jointly with entities related to disability, promotes the training of sports agents, does the communication and sponsorship of events and produces orienteering maps. But it’s in the Training Camps that lies one of Orievents’ biggest offerings, with a current offer of 21 training courses on forest maps and 7 on sprint maps, with many of these workouts created by renowned figures in world orienteering such as Eva Jurenikova, Philippe Adamski or Oleksandr Kratov.

Norte Alentejano O’ Meeting From 2007 to 2015 The Romanian Ionut Zinca and the Finn Riina Kuuselo were the first athletes to sign their names on the event’s Hall of Fame in 2007, opening a list that is growing year by year. The list already includes, among many others, names such as Simone Niggli of Switzerland, the Frenchman Thierry Gueorgiou, the Czech Eva Jurenikova, the Norwegian Olav Lundanes, the Swedish Helena Jansson and the Portuguese Tiago Romão. In 2015 it has been the turn of the Ukrainians Oleksandr Kratov and Nadiya Volynska to be acclaimed as the big winners of NAOM, after two days of high level competition that attracted over 700 participants from 15 different nations to Castelo de Vide and Marvão. To Oleksandr Kratov this year’s NAOM was, “as always happens every time I travel to Portugal, a nice experience. I really enjoyed the courses and the terrain as well. Also the maps were great. Nowadays, the terrain is extremely well mapped, the maps are perfectly readable and it’s a pure joy to run and read them. It’s amazing.” The athlete concluded by saying that NAOM 2015 was “exactly what I was looking for: really nice terrain, high quality maps, really good competition and a top level organisation.” Nadiya Volynska also made a very positive summary of her participation in the 2015 edition of NAOM and in particular the second stage: “I really enjoyed the courses – in a very detailed terrain, greener than usual – so I had to work on my strategy. I had to be more careful, not run too straight, find some around route choices, and it worked. The placement of the controls was something that pleased me a lot, along with the infinity of route choices offered.” Regarding the victory itself, Volynska remarks that “It was very motivating”, adding that, “it was time to take a test race more seriously, pushing hard most of the time and I think that I succeeded.” Also a word to the organisation: “the best there is, at the level of major events in Scandinavia”, she concludes. To learn more about NAOM 2015, please visit http://www.gd4caminhos.com/naom2015.

[See the original article in the IOF's newsletter Inside Orienteering, at http://orienteering.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/InsideOrient-1_15-3.pdf. Published with permission from the International Orienteering Federation]

Orienteering in Costa Rica: A compass in paradise

In North South East West we travel this time to Costa Rica, meeting the two Orienteering Associations currently existing in the country. While we wait for the foundation of a National Federation, we can see that important steps are being taken with a view to wider promotion and practice of the sport.

By Joaquim Margarido

“An occasion where young and less young, of any genre, regardless of their physical skills, practice the same sport at the same time.” This was the perception of Edwin Coto Vega, Coordinator of the Physical Education course in the Atlantic Pole of the University of Costa Rica at Turrialba, about what is called “the sport of the forest.” 8,500 km away from his home in Spain, eyes wide open and the excitement in his face, Edwin Vega had the opportunity to experience ‘real’ Orienteering. What had been conceived only in theory was now revealed in all its splendour, and soon a million ideas swarmed through his brain, so that the big dream of firmly implementing the sport in Costa Rica became just a step away from being materialised.

Edwin Vega wouldn’t have been the only one to cherish this dream. With him - and even before him - others had weighed the pros and cons, realising that this was a challenge that was anything but easy. Mainly because there isn’t in orienteering the ‘immediacy’ that other sports have; it’s a sport that lives from that vital tool the o-map, requires appropriate terrain for its practice, and can involve complex and demanding learning. Moreover, as in most Latin American countries, here too it is football that makes people crazy, and other sports live under this as weaklings, having little support or none at all.

But perhaps the reality of Costa Rica could play in his favour. The country has one of the highest literacy rates in Latin America. The commitment to protect the environment – Costa Rica ranks 5th worldwide in environmental performance – has since the 1970s been a true ‘national cause’, and the ‘Ticos’ are essentially happy (the most recent report from the New Economics Foundation even puts Costa Rica in the lead in the ranking of the happiest countries in the world). It was time to get going!

The pedagogic value of Orienteering

Edwin Coto Vega deserves a prominent place in the history of Orienteering in Costa Rica for several reasons. To mention just one, it was through him that in 2007 the Atlantic Pole of the University of Costa Rica welcomed a Spanish coach who taught an introductory course on the sport. Some attempts to implement the sport in the country had been already made – we can find records of an event in 2003, and regular cooperation between the Spanish club ORCA and the University of Costa Rica from 2005 – but this course in 2007 turned out to be a landmark of a kind. Among those present was Yeimi Jiménez Oviedo, now 36 years old, teaching at the University of Costa Rica and sportive and recreational promoter of that institution. She was destined to be a key player in a growing process, as we shall see below.

We can’t say that Orienteering took root in Costa Rica from the very first moment. The great and decisive leap was to occur only in 2011, following the introduction of new courses in the Sciences of Human Movement. Offered only in Turrialba, due to excellent natural conditions in the suburbs, the Faculty of Natural Environment includes Orienteering on its curriculum. This was because of its pedagogic value, based on the versatility of the sport in its relationship with nature and its adaptability for all ages in an integrated way. So Yeimi Oviedo returned to Orienteering as the core subject of her attention, and through this she came into contact with the Spanish Orienteering Federation. This is where José Angel Nieto Poblete, the Spanish Orienteering Federation’s Vice President and responsible for international cooperation, came into the picture.

Sport for all

The first visit of José Angel Nieto Poblete to Costa Rica, in June 2011, confirmed for Yeimi Oviedo that here is a sport that can provide competition at high level simultaneously with recreational practice. Above all, it puts people in the same space to practice the same sport, regardless of gender, age or physical condition. This confirmation was reinforced when, in September of that year, Yeimi visited Petrer (Spain) for the Latin Countries Cup along with Francisco Solano, another teacher at the University of Costa Rica. “It was wonderful to see the children out in the terrain with their parents, and find people who had their first contact with the sport there alongside elite athletes”, recalls Yeimi.

By this time, Ramiro Agustin Ojeda had moved to Costa Rica, on the shores of the Caribbean Sea. It was his passion for nature, and in particular photography, that made him leave his native Argentina. But a lecture about Orienteering given by José Angel Nieto Poblete at EARTH University awoke a strong curiosity in him. Frequent hunting expeditions meant he was familiar with using a compass, but Orienteering was much more than that, it was a sport appealing to the intellect. Ramiro Ojeda recalls that he was impressed by the high participation levels in many parts of Europe, and how Orienteering provides physical activity for many people, in the outdoors and with respect for nature. And he adds: “We can talk about football, but media attention is restricted to the big stars, millionaire contracts and Federations that act as true multi-nationals. But with Orienteering, I don’t think there is another sport in the world that enables participation for all, regardless of age or physical condition.”

Two Associations, same purpose

There are two properly structured Associations currently existing in Costa Rica, both independent of the military (an unusual situation in Latin American Orienteering) and closely linked to educational institutions. With headquarters in Turrialba, the Asociación Deportiva Orientación of Turrialba has as President Yeimi Jiménez Oviedo, while Ramiro Agustin Ojeda is the President of the Asociación Deportiva Caribeña of Orientación with its headquarters at EARTH University, at Guácimo. With much the same vision and a similar, complementary contribution to development, and although independent of each other, both Associations have achieved noteworthy work. In 2012 the University of Costa Rica and CATIE - Tropical Agronomic Centre of Research and Education, at Turrialba - staged the first National Orienteering Championships, organised by the Association Turrialbeña, and the second Championships in 2013 were organised there too. In the current year, the third National Orienteering Championships have been successfully organised by the Association Caribeña, with a participation that exceeded 100 athletes spread over eleven classes.

Spreading the word

Even a minimally qualified Orienteering cartographer would not find it very difficult to draw a map of the region of Turrialba, as the deep green colour occupies the majority of the space. The vegetation is very abundant and the very dense rain forest houses several species of snakes, some poisonous, which represents an extra factor in planning a forest competition. Despite all the constraints, Yeimi Oviedo and her fellows from the Association Turrialbeña are determined to take forward this project, based in the course of Sciences of Human Movement and for the promotion of the sport. “The main objective for the moment is spreading the word, so that more people know about Orienteering and become interested in its practice”, she says.

Ramiro Ojeda’s vision is coincidental, noting that “currently, our task is to get more people aware of our activities, and make it not a rare thing to see a flag behind a tree or someone running with a map and a compass”. And he goes further: “The reality is that this is an imported and alien sport. The influence of football in Costa Rica is very strong, monopolising the media, the prizes and government and private investment. Maybe in 2015, when the fourth National Championships take place at the State Pole of the University of Costa Rica in San José, we can get some attention from the media and thus get more people keen to find out about Orienteering.”

National Federation on the horizon

For next year, the two Associations are preparing to organise more Orienteering races and are drafting a joint Calendar of events. With the invaluable support of the Spanish Orienteering Federation through José Angel Nieto Poblete, new courses and activities at TEC - Tecnologico of Costa Rica at Cartago – are planned, and in the capital San José these include the National Orienteering Championships, with Gerardo Corrales as General Director. The interest shown in the sport is such that Jose Angel Nieto Poblete has plans of holding an Event Advisers Clinic and a TrailO demonstration. At the Atlantic Pole of the University of Costa Rica people are already working with OCAD, and it is planned that a Mapping Clinic will be held there.

The work on the establishment of a future Orienteering Federation of Costa Rica has already started, about which Jose Angel Nieto Poblete was advised by Alba Quesada Rodriguéz, National Director of ICODER - Costa Rica Institute of Sport and Recreation, and by the Minister of Sports, Carolina Mauri Carabaguías. Looking to the future, Ramiro Ojeda says “so that we can unify criteria in the Associations, we’ll advance towards the creation of a Federation to ensure institutional support”. Yeimi Oviedo goes a step further in adding that “once consolidated, the National Federation we will make the necessary contacts in order to ensure our integration within the International Orienteering Federation.”

[Photo: Jose Angel Nieto Poblete]

[See the original article at http://orienteering.org/edocker/inside-orienteering/2014-5/InsideOrient%205_14p.pdf. Published with permission from the International Orienteering Federation]

Guntars Mankus: "Several factors were in my favour this time"

Multi-faceted athlete, confessed lover of 24-hours Rogaining and Adventure Racing, Guntars Mankus is, at 43, the new World Champion in PreO. A surprise for many - perhaps even for Guntars himself – and something that doesn’t seem to add much to this athlete’s career in looking to the future. After all, TrailO “never was and probably never will be” his main and favourite sport.

By Joaquim Margarido

After the historic gold medal, how do you feel?

“I still haven’t managed to evaluate my emotions, because the recent weeks in my sporting life have been very busy. Apart from my victory at the World Trail Orienteering Championships (WTOC), I’ve also won a gold medal in the Latvian Championships in TrailO and got 2nd place in Stage 3 of the unofficial European Cup in Trail Orienteering, also in Latvia. I was second in xRace, the largest Adventure Race series in Latvia, and I won the silver medal in the Latvian 24-hour Rogaining Championships, in the Mixed Open class”.

Do you have any idea how important the title can be in your sporting career? Will it have any influence on the development of Trail Orienteering in Latvia?

“To be honest, I don’t think this achievement will significantly change either my career or the development of Trail Orienteering in Latvia. There might be some slight increase in the popularity of TrailO and hopefully we will attract some new participants. TrailO is interesting and has enough complexity, but due to specifics and limitations it is almost impossible to make TrailO a mass sport or to make it visually interesting for spectators”.

How did you manage your course on the first day, and how did you feel being in the leading group?

“Already during the Day 1 Model Event I had no problem with the map reading – I was able to recognise all the details quite well. The beginning of the Day1 course was relatively easy and I thought that I would have enough time at the finish. But on the second part, due to several complicated controls, I had to run and make sure I’d fit in the time limit. I think I had no more than 10 seconds of time left at the finish. I answered poorly in the timed controls, but several of my closest competitors struggled there as well”.

Did you have any special strategy for the second day?

“It was clear to me that I should minimise mistakes on the Day 2 course, be- cause my performance in the first day’s timed controls meant that I would have minimal chances of winning in a situation of equal points. Another important task for me on Day 2 was to catch my flight leaving at 6.30 pm from Milan Malpensa airport to Riga! Otherwise I would miss the Latvian Championships in 24-hour Rogaining that was scheduled for mid-day on Saturday. The WTOC organisers did everything to help me fail in this task – there were complicated logistics to and from the start area, division of the course in sections, delayed start, etc. But still, I made it”.

How do you analyse the second day’s course?

“For me, Day 2 was more challenging – there were few detailed areas that al- lowed me to use map-reading skills to find the right answer. As on Day1, in some places the mapper ‘artificially’ made the map and tasks more complex by interpreting the terrain in a way that could confuse the participants. It relates to the land forms and also to the rocks, boulders and other features. I tried to improve my performance in the timed controls, but unfortunately it came out even worse than on Day 1. The course being split into three segments did not interfere with my performance, but I think such an approach was more complex – for both the competitors and the organisers”.

And what about the Team competition? Did you expect the 3rd place from the Latvian team?

“Team competition is sometimes like a lottery because no one can be sure about the result on Day 2, even after a perfect performance on Day 1. For me, the 3rd place was not a huge surprise because this year in ETOC, in Portugal, Latvia was very close to the podium in the Team competition. We lost only by one second to the third-place winners – the Russian team”.

You missed the Prize-giving Ceremony, such a special moment (?)...

“I was not really affected very much by the delay in the publishing of the official results, because I was trying to reach Milan airport to catch my plane. But the fact is that, from the moment I finished to the moment I found out my result, I managed to: run down from the finish to the Event Centre, change clothes and drive to Malpensa airport (320 kms, almost four hours with traffic jams), return the rented car, run through all the airport, check- in, get through security and make it just in time to catch the flight. Only at Malpensa airport, after the security check, did I find out my unofficial result. If that had happened a few hours earlier I would have considered turn- ing around and heading back, but that was not an option anymore”.

Was the organisation at a good level?

“I don’t want to go into details, but I think this year we have witnessed two examples of organising European and World Championships where there was quite a lot of room for improvement. I’m not talking here only about TrailO, but the Championships as a whole. The Italian WTOC organisation sometimes seemed rather chaotic. I hope it will be analysed, and the organisers of future Championships will not repeat the same mistakes again”.

Are we going to see you winning again in the coming years?

“I like TrailO, but it’s hard for me to answer about my future in this discipline. I have to confess that TrailO never was, and probably never will be, my main and favourite sport. Also I realise that I do not put in enough preparation work to constantly compete for top places in the WTOC and the ETOC. The interesting thing about TrailO is that a significant proportion of the outcomes are determined by variable unpredictable factors. For example, specifics of the terrain and how well each competitor can under- stand the style of the cartographer and course setter. Also, sometimes, the luck factor plays a significant role. Several factors were in my favour this time. It’s hard to say how it will be next time”.

I would ask you for a few words to those who want to know everything about TrailO, but are afraid to ask!

“It’s best not to ask, but to try TrailO instead. The more you practice, the more you learn and fewer questions remain”.

[Photo: Janis Tamuzs. See the original article at http://orienteering.org/edocker/inside-orienteering/2014-4/InsideOrient%204_14_p.pdf. Published with permission from the International Orienteering Federation]

Orienteering in Cuba: The Path of Hope

Imagination, passion, will. Three words to describe the culture of Orienteering in Cuba. And hope! With the help of Fidel Bonilla Machín, Dotmaro Valdés Camacho and José Angel Nieto Poblete, we get to know a little about the history of orienteering in the Caribbean archipelago since its beginning in the 1970s up to the present day.

It was in 1972 that orienteering first came to Cuba. Brought by the Bulgarian partisans of the “Georgi Dimitrov” brigade and boosted by Atanas Georgiev, then President of the Bulgarian

Orienteering Federation, orienteering quickly enjoyed huge interest from the authorities of the country who recognised the tremendous value it carried, both at an educational level and from a recreational point of view.

In the early 1970s focus on education was a priority for the Government of Cuba, and important steps were taken with the construction of many new Polytechnic Schools throughout the country. The appearance of orienteering in Cuba turned out to be exactly the right thing in the right place at the right time. Orienteering was especially cherished from the beginning, and quickly included in the Circles of Tourist Recreation school course in 1972/1973, so giving the students at Polytechnic Centres and Pre-Universities the mission to take forward its implementation and development.

The early years

As with all other sports in Cuba, orienteering went through several stages in the process of growth and consolidation, in particular regarding improvement of the means employed, the acquisition of technical skills and the organisation of events. From the initial moments with the Bulgarian brigade until the early 1980s we can look back on a mighty steep development curve in all these areas.

Looking back to the early days, we can see that all the events were single-day. There were no classes or age groups, and there was no stepwise initiation programme that made it possible to get positive results in a consistent way. People trained, it’s a fact, but their lack of technical skills put the competitors at the same level of competence and often the winner was an “honourable” unknown.

The first orienteering work in the Circles of Tourist Recreation was undertaken in August 1973 under the direction of INDER – the National Institute of Sports, Physical Education and Recreation. 1974 began with activity increased in the Circles. At this time the names of Henry Godofredo Caballero, Manuel Pimentel and Dotmaro Valdés Camacho, among others, played a significant role in the promotion and development of the sport. The desire to do more, to do better, was huge. One can guess a first important landmark.

The zenith

In May 1974, during the Inter-Provincial Schools of Physical Education Meeting, Lenin Park was the venue for the first orienteering course in Cuba with a minimum of technical requirements: maps, compasses and control points. Two months later, in an event sponsored by the Circles of Tourist Recreation, the first Relay event was held, and in August the first junior race at national level that was not part of the Tourist Recreation events programme took place, with Dotmaro Valdés Camacho and Alejandro Emilio Ramos Rodríguez doing the course planning. The Cuban Orienteering Federation was also formed in 1974, and four years later Cuba joined the International Orienteering Federation as provisional member, a status that it still holds.

The number of events held all over the country grew exponentially. Competitors became divided into classes, there was development from one-day events to events of several days, a significant number of maps were created and electronic time-keeping was introduced. The rivalry between Universities was huge and unusual in a sport so young, and the training of the athletes was now organised to provide work-out plans at different levels. National seminars and initiatives for the development, protection and stability of orienteering were held. Above all, there was a huge effort by the Cuban Orienteering Federation to align their rules and competition organisation with IOF’s Rules and Guidelines. The popularity of the sport had reached a new peak.

The international contact arose logically in this context of growth of the sport. This was the “golden era”, as defined by Dotmaro Valdés Camacho. He recall some highlights: “We went out into the international arena, participating in several national events organised in the German Democratic Republic, plus the Bulgarian Cup, the 5 Days of Jicin in the former Czechoslovakia, and the O Ringen in Sweden, and we organised an international event in Cuba attended by athletes from all the military socialist countries”.

The settled period

If the 1970s saw the launch of orienteering in Cuba, marked by significant growth of the sport all over the country, the 1980s were the consolidation era. Highly supported by the National Institute of Sports, Physical Education and Recreation, five national events were held each year and international participation was subject to a selection process, with about 15 men and women athletes competing abroad to represent Cuba in at least four annual competitions.

Memorable events were staged at Pinar del Rio, Sancti Spiritus, Las Tunas and Taguasco. Names such as Edel Reina, José Antonio Medero, Yalay Ramos and Mayelin Gómez stand out as strong competitors, whilst Enrique Martín and Ariel García Pérez did an extraordinary job in promotion. Oblivious to the apparent contradiction between competitive practice and recreational activity, the sport of orienteering in Cuba continued to grow, preparing for the great leap... that would not appear.

Regression

Cuba suffered an extended special period of economic crisis, resulting from the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the resurgence of the U.S. embargo from 1992. The economic depression experienced during this special period was particularly hard in the first half of the decade, with the economy contracting by 36% in the period 1990-93. Orienteering, as with all activities and services in Cuba, did not escape the crisis, entering a spiral of recession which would remain for many years.

The current President of the Cuban Orienteering Federation, Fidel Bonilla Machín, speaks of those times where the priority was “to defend the most basic principles of a socialist society”, but remembers that the sport was kept alive during those particularly difficult times “thanks to the tremendous enthusiasm of those who remained attached to orienteering, recognising the importance of the sport in the integral development of teachers, coaches and students”.

Orienteering today

Today, elite orienteers do not exist in Cuba. It is not a priority for the National Institute of Sports, Physical Education and Recreation to invest in orienteering for results, as with boxing, baseball, volleyball and many other sports. But it is undeniably an important mass participation sport, and there is support in developing a large number of events and promoting educational activity. Children study, learn, practice and compete in orienteering in all primary and secondary schools in the country.

Today there are about 1,200 regular orienteering competitors in Cuba, mainly living in 9 of the 15 provinces. The people who annually make contact with the sport amount to more than a hundred thousand through recreational practice, permanent courses, basic educational courses and teaching activities. Fidel Bonilla Machín pinpoints the Federation’s objective: “we aim to see orienteering included in every Physical Education programme”.

The President of the Cuban Orienteering Federation makes a laudatory mention of José Angel Nieto Poblete, Vice-President of the Spanish Orienteering Federation, referring to him as “a good friend who, in the past four years, has put all his interest and dedication into orienteering in Cuba”. He explains his role: “Firstly, acquainting himself with how the Cuban sports system works and then through clinics and seminars, preparing courses and managing contacts with national and international organisations.” And the last words: “There are many orienteers in this country who know him and are grateful for the work he has been doing”, he says.

José Angel Nieto Poblete, Mr. Ambassador Passionate orienteer and committed leader, the Spaniard José Angel Nieto Poblete is a true ambassador of Orienteering, particularly in the South American continent. Chile, Costa Rica, Panama, Uruguay, Guatemala and Cuba are just some of the countries he visits regularly and in which we can see, at the level of promotion and development of our sport, his distinctive mark. Hence, his point of view is crucial in understanding the present state of Orienteering in Cuba. “In Cuba, Orienteering is a very popular sport, practised in the island for several years now and part of the school curriculum. The economic situation in Cuba, however, has made the sport slip to very low levels, and it is currently regarded largely as a recreational activity. But the lovers of this sport work with huge enthusiasm, trying to regain the former levels of popularity. My collaboration with the Cuban Orienteering Federation is focused on development efforts along new lines set by the Government. We seek to take advantage of the work that is developed in the Provinces, using the greater numbers of interested people to achieve the creation of new clubs. There is a dearth of quality maps, but the work being done with the sparse resources available is of great value. Many of the flags, punches and maps used are hand-crafted. This way we can continue to see events happening everywhere. All of this means that we continue our commitment in Cuba, making sure the country is prepared in the best way possible to set up any kind of competition, at any time. In my previous visit to Cuba, in January and February this year, I drew the map of La Habana Vieja and now I’m back to do a revision of the map. Our expectations are that in January 2015 we can organise here a competition at international level, which would of course be a fantastic showcase for our sport and ensure its final projection in Cuba. I hope that all goes well, that the promotion of the event is a success and that ‘orienteering tourists’ might enjoy this truly unique opportunity.”

See the original article at http://orienteering.org/edocker/inside-orienteering/2014-3/InsideOrient%203_14p.pdf. Published with permission from the International Orienteering Federation.

[Photo: Jose Angel Nieto Poblete]

Joaquim Margarido