Celebration: Portuguese Orienteering Federation blows out 25 candles

Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you... On the day that Portuguese Orienteering Federation celebrates 25 years of existence, it is towards Portugal that we turn our attention, recovering a text originally published in the IOF's newsletter 02/2014 [HERE] and now updated.

In this big world of orienteering, Portugal is not only the small and beautiful country where the sun shines and produces warmth in winter and where, in Carnival mode, the Portugal O' Meeting takes place; add to this the huge variety of terrain and the many training camps for all tastes and sizes. Combine the organisational capacity of the clubs, the quality of the mappers and course planners, the willingness of the athletes and the hospitality of the Portuguese people, and you have a cocktail of ingredients able to attract thousands of orienteers from around the world to the Portuguese forests every year.

The day when the Portuguese Orienteering Federation celebrates its 25 years, we make appointment with the history of orienteering in this “garden by the sea”. Camilo de Mendonça, Higino Esteves and Augusto Almeida, three of the five Presidents that Portuguese Orienteering Federation has had until the present day, join us on a fascinating journey of four decades, helping us to understand the era between the pioneer moments of the 70s and 80s and the moment of blowing the 25 candles.

Once upon a time...

Nobody knows for sure when orienteering came to Portugal. It is recognised, however, that it was in the military environment that it was first tried, there remaining over the years in an apparent limbo, unable to overcome the thick and dark walls of the barracks and get out to the public in general.

The first sure records about an orienteering event in Portugal are from 1973 and the first Armed Forces National Championships, held in Mafra, near Lisbon. But it is in the early 80s that orienteering in Portugal changed direction, giving rise to the welcome process of “demilitarisation”. It is around this time that the first contacts with civil society were established and the first proper orienteering maps were made public and accessible to all.

Camilo de Mendonça, the first President of the Portuguese Orienteering Federation, remembers those pioneering times: “What I remember the most were the numerous training and dissemination activities carried out throughout the country, and the contact with people coming from many different age groups and professional backgrounds. They ran at the time as eager pioneers to disclose the sport to a population that has embraced it enthusiastically”, he says.

“Running and orienteering”, an inconvenient concept

Coming from an activity known as “running and orienteering”, orienteering as we knew it first had to fight a battle to withdraw from its original name the word “running”, something that could eventually demotivate those who didn’t like to run and also cutting out the numerous possible other disciplines, including people with disabilities or those wishing to practice it by bike or on horseback.

Starting in 1985 several experts, especially from Sweden, came to Portugal to co-operate in teaching and mapping. This initiative involved the creation of infrastructures for the reception of training groups that would come to Portugal in a mix of tourism and orienteering. It proved highly successful, because on these groups were some world-class athletes who participated in the races. And two particular visitors, Sven Kinborg and Rolf Anderson, were professional cartographers whose work resulted in the preparation of maps all over the country.

Peo Bengtsson, the “father” of Portuguese orienteering

The collaboration and the immense interest of the IOF helped in the work of spreading the sport and monitoring the process of evolution. The foundation of the Portuguese Orienteering Federation, on November 19th 1990, and the consequent accession of Portugal to the IOF as a full member, turned out to be the logical corollary of the whole process. “It was a time when we overcame all the difficulties, motivated by the ideal of seeing the birth and growth of orienteering,” recalls Camilo de Mendonça.

In addition to the investment in staff training abroad, the tourist visits based on orienteering and the consequent organisation of “international” events eventually attracted the attention of the media and led to orienteering becoming known by the public in general. The great promoter of “tourism orienteering”, Peo Bengtsson, is considered by many as the “father” of orienteering in Portugal. Other major developments also occurred, in particular visits of teams from various countries such as Sweden, Switzerland and Finland.

It is also around this time that Anne Braggins, accompanied by several personalities from different countries, carried out some demonstrations of Trail Orienteering in Portugal. The organisation of the first Iberian Orienteering Championships, in 1992, was another important step towards the promotion of relations with Spain, not only based on the competitive aspects but also through holding clinics in several areas.

“All parents can look back on the enjoyment of the early years of their children”

In 1994 Camilo de Mendonça came to the end of his term as President. They were years of intense dedication to a cause at the expense of almost everything else, and he felt it was time for the sport to move to a new phase in its life. That moment came naturally and orienteering went on its way with Higino Esteves, a man who had accompanied Camilo de Mendonça for some time and who was, at the time, the solution of natural continuity.

Camilo de Mendonça and his last words: “I think the way we devoted ourselves from the first moment (whilst recognising the sacrifices that we subjected our families to and the damage caused to our careers), the financial resources that we applied in the project and especially all our effort and enthusiasm, all contributed to the rapid development of orienteering.”

“This is the feeling that we all have, and for us a still more rewarding reason. All parents can look back on the enjoyment of the early years of their children. Watching them grow and make blunders, educating them for better or worse, it’s all part of the pro­cess. They have their genes, and the records are always there to remember. They gain autonomy, they mature, they generate a larger family, but are always our children! I don’t believe any parents repent of having generated something.”

Higino Esteves, the second President

When in March 1994 Higino Esteves accepted the responsibility to hold the destinies of the Portuguese Orienteering Federation, the great challenge was to amplify the promotion of the sport within the general public, especially in schools, and to develop orienteering as a sport, with quality events that appealed to practitioners from all over the country. Thus appeared the first National Orienteering Championships (today known as the Portugal Cup), with a set of events supported by the Portuguese Federation in order to raise the organisational quality.

Higino Esteves recalls: “The early days were very difficult. We needed an office, a phone, a fax, a computer, a full-time technician, an administrative service, a car painted in white and orange...”

In March 1995 the Portuguese Orienteering Federation’s first Head Office was set up in Mafra, in the same place where it would work uninterruptedly for seventeen years. “It was an important moment, coinciding with the organisation of the Mafra O’ Meeting which was attended by the IOF’s then Secretary General, Lennart Levin as well as the Directors of the Portuguese orienteering clubs – I think at that time there were already 14 (!) - and several representatives of national sports bodies. The Federation now operated as a sports federation, in fact in the service of all practitioners, and most of all for potential practitioners.”

A place on the map

Among the highlights of the eight years that he was at the helm of the Portuguese Orienteering Federation, Higino Esteves recalls his participation in the IOF Congress, in July 1996 in Jerusalem, where he promoted his application for being an IOF Board member, as well as the application for the organisation in 1998 in Portugal of the IOF’s Congress commemorating the orienteering centenary and also the application for the organisation in Portugal of the final round of the 2000 World Cup. Despite the hard battle with some of the major powers in our sport, it was with excitement that he witnessed the success of all three applications. Higino Esteves was the first Latin to sit on the IOF’s Council and Portugal won, in short, a place on the orienteering world map.

Another highlight relates to the foundation of the Brazilian Orienteering Confederation on January 11th 1999, a ceremony in which Higino Esteves was present on behalf of the IOF but of course also as President of the Portuguese Orienteering Federation. Also the victory of Joaquim Sousa in the Latin Countries Cup in October 1999 was the first major international result in the Elite category, at a time when Portugal was still in an embryonic stage in development of the project for Elite Competition.

And we cannot forget the Portugal O’ Meeting which began in 1996. When in 2002 Higino Esteves left the Portuguese Orienteering Federation’s destinies to his successor, his mood was of satisfaction for the accomplishments achieved and full confidence in the future of orienteering. “I had the privilege of working with a team of giants. As people, as sports officials, as orienteering athletes”, he concludes.

To take care of finances

In 2002 the economic and financial situation of the Portuguese Orienteering Federation was anything but comfortable. For Augusto Almeida, the man who succeeded Higino Esteves in the lead of the institution, the challenge was to restore the needed cred­ibility: “In my way of seeing things, it is unthinkable to live beyond the financial capability of any citizen or institution. Hence the first concern had to do with the resolution of the financial troubles and then restoring the good name of the Federation with the strategic partners – local authorities, the army, the Institute of Sport”, he recalls.

This mission was accomplished, and so it was time to face a new phase in the Federation’s life with the creation of measures focusing on youth, either through facilities in the affiliation process or in supporting teams who work with young people. Quickly the number of young participants grew from a few dozen to many hundreds, and with visible results both nationally and internationally.

In 2007, Portuguese orienteering enjoyed the first gold medal in its history, won by Diogo Miguel at the European Youth Orienteering Championships in Hungary. In the following year, Vera Alvarez won the gold medal in the World Schools Orienteering Championships in Scotland.

World Masters Orienteering Championships 2008: a milestone

During the presidential term of Augusto Almeida, the 2008 World Masters Orienteering Championships is an indispensable reference point. The interest of the Portuguese Government and its commitment to support the event, along with good preparation and homework well done, were determinants. The final result was fantastic and none of the nearly 3,500 participants from around the world proved to be indifferent to the quality of the event. Augusto Almeida reveals the secret of success: “Our sport spins in the strict sphere of volunteering. Indeed we have very good people, people where everything they do, they do perfectly. There is an outlook towards very positive, sustained work that makes the results appear. There are many people working towards the same goal and that makes for great, consistent and rigorous application”, he concludes.

The first decade of the new millennium ended with the organisation in Portugal of another great event. Indeed, the World MTB Orienteering Championships held in 2010 in Montalegre, in the north-east of the country, resulted in a week of intense competition at the highest level. The event was sadly marked by a serious injury suffered by the Czech Republic athlete Hana Dolezalova, but once again the quality and organisational capacity of Portugal was strengthened.

It is also at this time that Portuguese Trail Orienteering re-emerged in an organised and consistent manner, based mostly on the work done within the DAHP – the Adapted Sports Centre of Prelada Hospital. And a word for the establishment on November 26th 2007 of the Orientovar, the Portuguese orienteering blog that quickly established itself as a true platform of convergence for orienteers world-wide.

Economic crisis hangs evolution process

In recent years one can see that there has been increased attention given to Portugal and its orienteering. Maybe not so much for the athletes’ results – although Davide Machado has reached 7th place in IOF’s MTB orienteering ranking, and presence in the World Orienteering Championships A-Finals is now much more common – but more especially for the quality of its organisation. And here the Portugal O’ Meeting emerges as an authentic flag of the sport in Portugal, especially since 2007. Year after year, the number of foreigners who attend the country around the Carnival days is increasing, getting the best out of both the competitions and the favourable weather conditions at that time of year, and the many training camps that are on offer.

In terms of membership, Portugal has now 2284 affiliated in the Portuguese Orienteering Federation, with 145 new members entered in 2015 so far. But the numbers are not more than numbers, and the reality is that the numbers of Portuguese participants on the courses organised week after week all over the country have been decreasing, as a result of the country’s very punitive economic situation. At least, this is the opinion of Augusto Almeida: “If we remember that since 2003 our society has been losing purchasing power, in many cases in a quite dramatic way, it is easy to realise that, in times of containment, people have to cut out what is secondary. And this is the fundamental reason for the poor adherence to current events and to the sport. Fortunately, in the case of youngsters the situation is less acute. The clubs that work with the training offer good conditions, providing support for the various costs. But as soon as the socio-economic conditions of the people improve, we will see a new ´boom´ appearing almost immediately”, he says with optimism.

New and larger challenges

2013 was another remarkable year for the level of organisation in Portugal. First it was the World Schools Orienteering Championships and later the European Youth Orienteering Championships, and then the final round of the MTB Orienteering World Cup as well as the World Masters MTB Orienteering Championships that brought to Portugal orienteers from all over the world. In 2014, Portugal hold in Palmela and Sesimbra de European Orienteering Championships and the European Trail Orienteering Championships. In 2015, MTBO returned to Portugal with the European Championships and the World Master Championships. In 2016 it will be time for receiving again, this time at Bairrada region, the World MTB orienteering Championships and still the first round of the Unofficial European Cup in Trail Orienteering in Lisbon. Last but not least, Portugal was appointed for organizing the World Trail Orienteering Championships, in Viseu, in 2019.

Only very sporadically now do we hear the question “What is it orienteering?” The competitive level of our athletes in various disciplines is growing exponentially. 2015 is a very good example of that, with Luis Gonçalves and Inês Domingues reaching, in Croatia, the 6th and 7th places in the TempO Final of the World Trail Orienteering Championships. The challenges are always great, because the organisational level already achieved is quite high and still evolving very positively. Above all there is concern about “democratising” the importance of the various disciplines. Foot orienteering, Trail orienteering, Adapted orienteering, Adventure Racing, MTB orienteering and, in 2016, also Rogaining, are disciplines that, irrespective of their various merits, deserve equal attention for a sustained growth.

Joaquim Margarido

Orienteering Achievement of 2015: Vote now!

16 athletes from 9 countries are nominated for the annual poll to find the most impressive achievements in international orienteering. The poll is organized by World of O – the major internet presence for international orienteering news. Voting is open until December 21st.

Winning a Gold medal at the World Championships is always a great achievement – but sometimes winning a Bronze medal can be an even bigger achievement – based on what your starting point was. The stories behind the medals and the great achievements is what makes the sport truly fascinating! In “The Orienteering Achievement of the Year” these stories are highlighted – to make it possible to get a background for the amazing achievements.

Voting is open from December 16th until December 21st using the following links:

     The Orienteering Achievement of 2015 - Men

     The Orienteering Achievement of 2015 - Women

In the women's class Ida Bobach (Denmark), Maja Alm (Denmark), Annika Billstam (Sweden), Merja Rantanen (Finland), Mari Fasting (Norway), Galina Vinogradova (Russia), Tove Alexandersson (Sweden) and Nadiya Volynska (Ukraine) are nominated. In the men's class Daniel Hubmann (Switzerland), Lucas Basset (France), Thierry Gueorgiou (France), Olli Ojanaho (Finland), Jonas Leandersson (Sweden), Olle Boström (Sweden), Olav Lundanes (Norway) and Tim Robertson (New Zealand) are nominated.

The international sponsors for the Orienteering Achievement of 2015 are PWT Five Days Toscana (Italy), Andalucia O-Meeting (Spain), Easter 4 (Slovenia), O-Ringen (Sweden), Swiss O-week (Switzerland), Antalya Orienteering Festival (Turkey), Sprint Scotland (Scotland), Suunto Games (Estonia) and OOCup (Slovenia, Italy and Austria). Prizes valued to 5000 Euro are drawn among lucky voters & the ones suggesting nominations.

More info: http://poll.worldofo.com/2015/.

[Press release: Jan Kocbach / World of O]

Andreas Waldmann: "The gold in the Relay was something very special for all of us"

From the Junior World title to the Elite World title goes the time of just one year. Andreas Waldmann - with Kevin Haselsberger and Bernhard Schachinger - made history in Liberec, last August, holding the first place in the exciting Relay that ended the World MTB Orienteering Championships 2015. To the Portuguese Orienteering Blog, the young Austrian athlete remembers that great moment and much more.

The first question is always the easiest: Who is Andreas Waldmann?

Andreas Waldmann (A. W.) - I was born in 1994, in Vienna. I grew up in Vienna, I went to school in Vienna and, at the moment, I study electrical engineering at the Technical University of Vienna. Lots of “Viennas” (laughs).

What came first: Orienteering or bicycle?

A. W. - I always tried lots of sports and spent many time outdoor. Somewhen, at the age of 10, I had my first Mountain bike. I liked riding it but I just did it occasionally. When I was 13, my sports teacher at school took me to a FootO event. Then I became more and more attracted to Orienteering. Firstly I was doing the Vienna's school cup, then I joined my orienteering club, some Austrian Cups in FootO followed and very soon I did my first MTBO course.

Why MTBO? Can you remember the first rides and the very first moment when you said to yourself: “ - That's it, MTBO is my sport!”

A. W. - I really enjoyed MTBO since the beginning, so I kept going on. I was not very fast at that time but also not slow, so I joined the Austrian Youth Team and I started to train on a regular basis. With the time, my training effort and the number of races increased. It was more a floating process, actuallty.

What's the best advice you've ever received? Is there someone that you admire, that you see as your idol in MTBO?

A. W. - There were so many advices I've received, from so many different people. And I'm thankful for every single one of them.

I must confess I was surprised seeing you taking the JWOC's Long Distance gold last year, and even more with such a difference for the second placed (almost seven minutes, as much as I remember). Did you expect it? How did you do that?

A. W. - I still remember the exact time difference: 6:47. Actually, I still have no explanation for that. As 2014 was my last year in Junior class and I had already won a medal in 2013. my goal was definitely to win a medal again. Beforehand, in the Sprint and the Middle Distance races, I felt under pressure. There, I did quite good races and was 6th and 8th. Before the Long distance I talked a lot with the coaches and they managed that I was able to see things very relaxed, which was not easy because I really liked to win a medal. When I started in the Long distance I was able to just concentrate on the course and didn't think on results. And, somehow, this resulted in a brilliant race, free of mistakes!

How was to “jump” to the Elite this season?

A. W. - When I stepped up to Elite I already had some experience in the Men Elite class. Nevertheless I didn't really know what results to expect, so I was pretty surprised when I got 5th in the first World Cup race 2015, the Mass Start in Hungary! To keep it simple, the system in Junior and Elite class is the same: You get a map and you have to ride the course as fast as possible (that's it, isn't it?). The difference is that, in Elite class, you have no chance to compensate a mistake. The time you already lost will prevent you to get a top position - at least this is the way I see it.

What goals have you designed for 2015? How did you prepare for the big challenges?

A. W. - My goal for 2015 was to reach one top-10 result in a World Cup race and to qualify for the Austria Relay's first team. As in previous years, I tried to train according to my plan and reach the peak of my physical and mental shape at the World Championships.

You could get a great 12th place in the Middle Distance of the European Championships. Do you feel happy with the Portuguese campaign?

A. W. - I think this year's European Championships were brilliant organised! The terrains were great and the courses were challenging. It was the first time I've been in Portugal and I liked the Portuguese landscape a lot! I look already forward to getting back there!

And then, the World Championships and that fantastic gold medal in the Relay. I was following the race thanks to the GPS data and I couldn't believe in my eyes, you firmly keeping the first place against two “sacred monsters”, Jussi and Anton. Amazing. I have to say that you, the Austrian MTBO Team, deserve “The MTB Orienteering Achievement of the Year 2015”. I'm talking too much, aren't I?

A. W. - For me it's still kind of a dream that came true. When I started my leg, I knew that we were in a good position but I didn't really think about the current ranking and, until I reached the spectators control, I didn't realise that our team was in the lead! Then I tried to go on like I did on the previous controls and when I punched the last control and saw my teammates, Kevin [Haselsberger] and Berni [Bernhard Schachinger], waiting for me at the finish line... it was just unbelievable!

How important was this medal, in personal terms but also for the MTB Orienteering in Austria?

A. W. - In the Austrian team we have a very good team spirit and the gold in the Relay was something very special for all of us. Personally, I'm very proud on this medal, naturally.

Taking a look on the Austrian MTBO team (athletes, coaches, organizers, federation), how do you see the future?

A. W. - We are all very motivated and working together really well. This summer the IOF elected the Austrian application to organize the World Championships 2018. Of course, that challenge is one of our main goals in the upcoming years for our team.

How do you evaluate the present moment of MTB orienteering worldwide? Are we following in the right way?

A. W. - I think MTBO is developing pretty well. The international competitions' level is very high and it's even getting higher. Also the live-broadcastings like we had this year in the World Championships, in Czech Republic, is a great improvement as well.

Some time ago, we could hear Thierry Gueorgiou saying that “it's in the Winter that you win the medals of the Summer”. Do you agree? How are you planning your winter season?

A. W. - In winter you definitely have to build a solid basis that you can be fast in summer. Naturally it is no guarantee that you'll win any medals, but without winter training you won't have big chances. I will train a lot on the hometrainer and I will also try to do some alternative trainings like cross-country skiing. In addition to that I'll do some weight-lifting and running and maybe I'll go on a trainings camp in the South.

What are your main goals for 2016? Is Portugal in your plans?

A. W. - As every year, I will focus on the World Championships. Normally, the Portuguese terrain fits me, so I look forward to the World Championships 2016. And hopefully the weather it's getting hot!

What advice do you leave to those youngsters who are starting now in MTBO?

A. W. - Look at the map, ride your bike and, most of all, HAVE FUN!!! :)

[Photo: Rainer Burmann / fotoburmann.at]

Joaquim Margarido

Daniel Hubmann: "When you always play safe, you can't win anything"

On the Portuguese Orienteering Blog we have with us, today, Daniel Hubmann, one of the most complete and brilliant orienteers of all time. Full of successes over the past decade, his career met in 2015 some of the highest moments so far getting the world titles of Long Distance and Relay, winning the World Cup and achieving the IOF World Ranking's leadership.

We are meeting the end of a great season and your results along the year will be, naturally, an important part of our Interview. But, for now, I would start by asking you about the “gold medal” born on 9th september. How things are going with little Lina?

Daniel Hubmann (D. H.) - Things are going very well with her so far and we are thankful for our little sunshine every day.

What means for you to enter the father's club? What changes you're facing in your sporting life and how does it affects your commitment with Orienteering?

D. H. - It means a lot to me and it's for sure a big step in my life. I have been a professional orienteer for nine years now and I have the feeling that it can also be good for the orienteering part to change the routines a bit and to get some new challenges. The whole organisation around training and competing will be even more important and I also have to set other priorities in some parts, so that everything works well together.

Taking a look over the last months, did you expect, since the beginning, to do such a great season?

D. H. - I didn't really expect it, but when you are training hard all winter, you need to have some goals and dreams. Every athlete knows that a lot can happen and some things you can't influence, but also knows when you always play safe, you can't win anything. Therefore, I'm very happy with my season.

You started the season at Tasmania, with a 2nd place in the World Cup, finishing it with two victories at Arosa, in your home country, in the World Cup's last round. Between the first and the last race, there's a period of time of exactly ten months. Where is the secret of being on top for such a long time?

D. H. - The good thing about the races in Tasmania was that they were held a few months earlier than the other races and I therefore had enough time to get in good shape again until WOC. It might look as if I was on a good level from January until October, but my shape wasn't on that level all the time. Partly because I've planned to have some lows in between, but also because I had some problems with my shin splints in April.

Turning our attention to the World Orienteering Championships, in Scotland, I would like to hear your impressions about the competition. How did you see the gold in the Middle Distance, three seconds over Lucas Basset? And what about the fight in the Long Distance with Tero and Olav and the gold in the Relay?

D. H. - WOC in Scotland started with a frustration - the sixth place in the Sprint. I felt well prepared, but even though the race had not the challenges I had expected, I did a huge route choice mistake. But this made me even more eager to do well in the Middle. It looks like I found the right balance between attacking and doing a very stable race. I didn't have any super leg times but, on the other hand, I managed to run a clean race. Of course I was also lucky winning the race with a three seconds margin only, but for me this was kind of a compensation since I've missed three WOC gold medals by two seconds or less in the past. Winning the relay one day later was something which has been our goal for many years and something many Swiss orienteering fans expected from us. We had tried different tactics and fought many times but we never managed to get it all together. This year everything was perfect for us and it almost was a bit strange that the relay was decided so early.

Having already won two golds took some pressure away from me, but I still started ambitious into the Long Distance race. Since we expected a real orienteering highlight, I really wanted to do well also there. The 2nd place was again a great result, although it hurt a bit when I realised that I even had some chances to win it. However, it was a great WOC for me and I'm very happy about it.

“Great fun to ride with the world's best mountain bikers”, is something that we could read, recently, on your Facebook page. Tell me what other things you intend to do, apart Orienteering, before to start training seriously for the next season? How important is to feel free from maps for a while?

D. H. - This year my “off season” was a bit longer and I didn't really focus on training for six weeks, but it still was a busy time with many meetings with sponsors and other events. As a professional athlete this is also part of my job and I really like to do different things and to meet other people.

Are you planning to fly to Portugal next winter, for a Training Camp? Will you enter the Portugal O' Meeting 2016?

D. H. - I've planned to stay four weeks in Spain and Portugal together with my family this winter. First I'll train in Alicante and in the end also in Portugal, but so far no races are planned. Portugal is always nice because there are so many good maps and the weather is usually better than in Switzerland during the winter months.

You have the Middle Distance European and World titles to defend, as the World Cup winning overall and the IOF World ranking leadership. Will it be possible to achieve all that in 2016? Are those your main goals for the season?

D. H. - Starting in all these events as a defending champion is nice, but it doesn't help me much next season. My main focus will of course be on the international races like EOC, WOC and World Cup. These are already several races and there will be a lot of traveling again, which is not that easy to combine with family life. I might therefore skip some other races, such as Tiomila or Jukola, in order to get some free space in between.

For those who see Daniel Hubmann as an example, an inspiration, specially for the young athletes, what is your advice?

D. H. - Train hard, but never forget to have fun too. You need to know when to be serious and when not. I usually have some time for funny things in training camps, for example in 2012 in Portugal [HERE].

[Photo: Swiss Orienteering / Rémy Steinegger]

Joaquim Margarido

Per Frost: "We made my idea of the IOF Studio becoming reality"

Ongoing process that has seen great improvement in recent years, the television broadcasting of Orienteering events knew another important chapter at Ylläs, Finland, in the Ski Orienteering World Cup 2015/2016's opening round. Today, on Portuguese Orienteering Blog's tribune, Per Frost, one of the masterminds of the initiative, presents the SkiO Studio, lists the challenges and points out goals for the future.

Could you present the IOF Studio, at Ylläs? What resources – human and material - did you have and what about the working conditions?

Per Frost (P. F.) - The IOF Studio was an idea I had been thinking of over a long time, especially since I was responsible for creating the daily highlight editions from WOC in Scotland. What was done there was that the live-broadcast is edited down to around 10 minutes with the most interesting of the race. Some TV-networks prefer to broadcast that version instead of the whole race since it is easier to schedule. My idea for this live broadcasts was to take the most exciting out of the live production and make it more easy-accessible to the viewers who did not have the time to watch it live. By creating this concept with the studio, we had a good establishment of the venue and also a natural way to introduce the commentators (in this case me, as the “host” and Hans-Jörgen Kvåle, as the “expert”.

Since it is not live, we do also have much better possibilities to bring into more cameras as they can be a normal camcorder and does not have to rely on live technique. The big difference if you compare Ski-O World Cup with WOC, for example, is that we could then use the action cameras in the live production. Every camera that has to have live wireless transmission is quite expensive, so that is why we wanted to use them “off-line”. There is however quite many work-hours that needs to be put in, in order to prepare the highlights. The race footage from the live production is mixed with improved GPS-analysis that Hans-Jörgen had chosen and extra video material from the forest, for example from the start and from the skiing camera-operators. The studio show itself was actually broadcasted live every day with the same live equipment as on the races, so we commented on the video in the same time as it was playing for the viewers. John, our technical manager, took the role as director on switching cameras, playing out highlights and overlook streaming.

Tell me about the homework, the days before. How did you prepare the work and share responsibilities?

P. F. - We where two people from Sweden, me and John Kumlin, who served as the technical manager. We are both orienteers so the sport knowledge was already there. He did the same task on last year´s ESOC and was the project manager for live productions at O-ringen this summer, so we divided the productions based on the tasks that needs more technical knowledge and the ones that needs content experience. I was responsible for the content part. What was most important on beforehand was to prepare what could be prepared in terms of the intro animation and such content and also getting information and sending instructions to the students we were cooperating with. There was a team consisting of eight students and two teachers from a tv-education in Tornio, one of the closest cities which helped us with lending out a lot of equipment and the students got to do some “sharp” practice in the live productions. Luckily, the organizers had done a great job in planning the arena as well as getting us good internet connections, something that is crucial for this kind of streaming.

Your task was to follow the event, having in mind to broadcast it in the best way (in this case by internet). What were the biggest challenges? Did you have to improve a lot?

P. F. - The main challenge is, of course, that it is more difficult the less budget you have. It is certainly easier to create a good production if you have a big team of experts around you, but until then my ideology is to focus on a few certain tasks and make them as good as possible. That is something I have learned after being into this business of both TV and orienteering for the last years. For example, if we do not have the resources for having live cameras out in the forest, then it might be a better idea to put camcorders there and make it look good in the post production rather than doing something in between with poor quality.

Me and John are normally working with TV, so the biggest challenge for us was to manage the students and tell them what to do. The Ski-O Marketing manager Hans-Jörgen Kvåle, was also in our team and got responsibility for knowing what was interesting in the race at the moment, who to follow and what to show on GPS-tracking.

We could see your cameraman following downhill some athletes, and it was scary (!). Tell me about the technical (and physical) challenges you have to face in order to offer a transmission as best as possible?

P. F. - Yes! It was in fact two very ski-orienteering talented persons from the local organization that helped us with the filming and they did a great job! They waited at one control for a good athlete to come and then followed as long as they could manage. I think we captured some really decisive moments there. For example, when you can see how fast Tove Alexandersson, Tatiana Oborina and Mariya Kechkina are skiing on the tiny tracks whilst still reading their maps and also when we got a crash between two athletes in the sprint relay on tape, something that was decisive for the outcome of the race. In this production, we chose to not use that camera on live transmission, but only for recording for post-production such as the live studio. The reason for that is simply economical. In Scotland WOC, we used one action camera live, but that requires a lot more of expensive equipment and can only be used in a limited area. A similar setup has been used on 10mila.

Now I will reveal a secret: My team was actually first with using the live action camera for orienteering live streaming :) Already in Ski-O WOC in 2011, which was my first live production whatsoever, we got to borrow some equipment for live transmission, the one that was later developed for 10mila [HERE]. The challenge, however, is that the image quality of such live pictures is very uncertain compared to cable-connectors, so one does rather want to use cable connected cameras to be safe with those pictures.

Have you thought in a certain number of hits for each transmission? The overall result was as expected?

P. F. - We have had between 700 and 1300 viewers on the live events, which I would consider as OK for this event. Not very much advertisement was made on beforehand and we also wanted to first try out the studio concept before advertise it more. To compare, 10mila use to have some 3000-4000 online viewers, so I would say this was OK.

In your opinion, this kind of very particular projects are something that interest only experienced orienteers or it can be a good way to reach more people and attract more participants to our sport? How?

P. F. - Something that I always want to keep in mind in working with this projects is that the result will end up in more visibility for the sport. The productions are only a tool for making that happen. Therefore, we use the strategy of try to think how we can get most out of each race. There might be a few hundred or over one thousand orienteers watching the event, and we want of course to make them satisfied. However, when we have this production in place, we can use the same footage to send to various TV networks like the national broadcasters of the winning athletes for use in the evening news. Normally, we cut out the footage of that athlete racing and then we record an interview in their native language. This is something we have been doing for quite many years now, and I would say that it have resulted in a gain of public knowledge about our sport. If just some 30 seconds of orienteering is shown in the evening news, we can instantly reach out to millions of viewers in the national sport news. This concept has been proven over and over again in the nordic countries as well as countries like Russia, Bulgaria, Estonia, Romania and Switzerland. We can also send footage to Eurovision, which is the organization of almost all European national broadcasters.

I'm sure you're already thinking in a similar situation for next events, which will be in Germany and Austria. Is there anything that you're thinking to change or improve? Will you have Emily Benham still in the team (she is great, although she talks too fast, but this is surely my fault)?

P. F. - In Germany and Austria there will be different challenges compared to Finland, as usually most economical ones to get the resources on place to be able to transmit the atmosphere and excitement of ski orienteering to the audience, but I think we took a good step towards creating something new and interesting with the studio, so I hope that part will be more developed. Emily was great as a commentator, especially since she had not prepared for doing this here in Finland on beforehand Being a native English speaker with such extensive knowledge of the sport and how to explain it to others is really a great asset and important for creating a good show. I hope she will be involved also in the future (and in a few years also in commenting MTBO of course).

How important can be this kind of work towards the Olympic project?

P. F. - Absolutely crucial. What we do now is what Biathlon understood and did 20 years ago: “If the media doesn't come to us, maybe we will have to get to them and show our sport?”. I do also think that ski orienteering is a very good arena for testing ideas that later can be transferred into foot orienteering. For example, we were first with touch free punching as well as sprint and sprint relay.

And what about you, Per. How important was the experience for you? Will you be more confident the next time?

P. F. - I can say that Ski orienteering is basically half of my education in media work, which is nowadays also my profession. Back in 2009, my club was organising the Junior World Championships in Ski-O. There I got the chance to do something of this completely new thing “Youtube” and from that and on, I have done something in ski orienteering on IOF major level each year. However, I have also studied media production at university and my student mates have always got some strange explanation why I have missed some weeks each winter, like “Per is in Kazakhstan, or Per is in Siberia...”, so I will try to finalise my examina now before the next World Cup round. I would despite that say that it has been a school just as important as the official one to really have some on-hands work by promoting Ski orienteering and a great bonus to also see all this places and get to know amazing people.

What I will bring from now is for sure the knowledge of that we made my idea of the IOF Studio becoming reality and also the great feedback we have got from it! I think the future looks bright since the Finnish organizers, both in Lapland which held this round and the one for next season's ESOC have shown interest in really making their events more visible by this kind of actions. There might as well be some really good things coming out of the fact that ski-O will be included in the Universiade in Krasnoyarsk 2019, the second biggest winter sports event worldwide after the Olympic Games. Those preparations are already going and the way towards that will mean a lot for the development! I do also hope I will be able to find my place in this journey, since I really believe that our sport has some exciting years to come!

[Photo: Jyrki Kola / facebook.com/jyrki.kola]

Joaquim Margarido